Although they are only 17 years old, Vivek Rama and Christopher Wei are successful entrepreneurs. Their clothing brand, Commons Lane, was released on June 14th, 2017 and was an immediate hit. I sat down with Wei in September to discuss the rise of his brand, and the second release.

S: Thanks for sitting down with me.

C: My pleasure, my pleasure.

S: Obviously Commons Lane has been a huge hit, amassing over a $1,000 in sales in just a few months. What has been the key to your success?

C: I think the way that we approach things. We have both a systematic and a creative approach with what we go into. Vivek and I take a lot of pride in our ability to tell stories through our short films, but obviously this is not concrete. We do a lot of things to maintain order within the company, ranging from spreadsheeting all of our expenses to maintaining different folders in our email inbox.

S: If you could use one word to describe the company, what would it be?

C:(laughs).. One word is pretty limited, but I would say modern. Commons Lane takes the clothing designs of previous times and makes it into something that the 21st century teenager will wear. Our whole concept is not as straightforward as most companies, but that is what makes us unique.

S: From a quick look at your website, I notice one thing that is clear throughout. It’s that you constantly talk about breaking from the restraints of society. What do you mean by this?
C: Adults are bound by their jobs: kids by school. Our brand wants to excite people to explore what their life can be outside of these boundaries. If you watch the videos on our website you can see what we mean. Take your life for example, you are bound by your classes, your work, and what society wants for you. If you follow our motto and let yourself fly free, you can truly achieve so much more.

S: What is the next step for your company? Is it expansion or do you plan on selling it?
C: Expansion. Vivek and I have put in so much time into this company and we want to see it through to the end.

S: Thank you for the taking the time to sit down with me.

C: My pleasure.

You can check out the Commons Lane website out below as well as their social media accounts:

Website | Instagram | Youtube