NIMANY Heads West for its Trunk Show in the OC

Using traditional Persian calligraphy in graphic form onto T-shirts became his trademark and soon he expanded his vision to include dresses, scarves, bags, and other accessories. The motifs include a combination of quotes by Rumi and Hafez and Behnoud is careful to note that his designs carry no deliberate literal meaning and certainly nothing political. In fact, his target audience is non-Iranians. “Non-Iranians in New York love it, without knowing what it says. The first people who noticed it and created a demand for it were non-Iranians. We [Iranians] know our culture to death. A lot of people contact me and ask why we don’t advertise or interview with Iranian media, and it’s great that Iranians love this and I knew that was going to happen, and right now 60% of sales are Iranians. I’m focusing on the other 40%. Right now in New York you can walk in the street and spot these T-shirts on non-Iranians and that gives us a great, great feeling.”
Counting Marc Jacobs and John Galliano as his favorite designers, Behnoud loves to see his designs worn by “fashion savvy celebrities like the Olsen twins and the girls who are on the covers of the magazines because of what they wear. I prefer them wearing it to A-list actors because actors usually have stylists. There are some celebrities who style themselves and that’s important.”
For more information on NIMANY and to shop online, visit www.nimany.com.