Faded Levi’s, classic rock-and-roll apparel and strawberry-patterned pants, will all be for the taking of fashion fiends in a Syracuse University student’s apartment. 

The two-day event, a fall collection hosted by “What Goes Around Comes Around” will be held on Oct. 9 and 11 at 1205 Harrison St. The event is being organized by two SU seniors, Jakob Kaplan and Jordan Zwang.  

WGACA is a vintage retail store that was founded in 1993 by SU alumni Gerard Maione and Seth Weisser. The store has since expanded to six locations including Soho, Miami and Beverly Hills.  

The current students’ involvement with WGACA traces back about 30 years ago when Kaplan’s father befriended Gerard Maione, one of the company’s founders, during their time at SU. The two were brothers of the Delta Upsilon fraternity in Syracuse and have maintained that relationship since. Kaplan said Maione is like an uncle to him and they often see one another at family gatherings. 

During one family event, Kaplan asked Maione about becoming part of his business. When the vintage curator agreed, both Zwang and Kaplan quickly worked to a pitch a concept for Maione.  

“For the next few days, we had been working on a business plan,” said Zwang. “He told us to send him something legitimate, something that we wanted to do. … We worked on that for the next few days, sent it to him, and within the next 48 hours, he told us to come to the warehouse.” 

During the curation process, Zwang and Kaplan hand selected each piece at the WGACA warehouse based in New Jersey. Zwang said the two kept students’ budgets in mind. They chose pieces that would attract students and avoid selling solely brands like Louis Vuitton that could be too expensive for some students. One go-to item they gravitated toward was vintage Levi’s from the ’60s, Zwang said.  

“We just dove into the racks and hand selected the pieces that we thought would be best for Syracuse students to purchase,” Zwang said.  

The pair said they would both describe their style as “ever–changing” and added they wear what no one else is wearing. Kaplan’s favorite designers include Virgil Abloh and Riccardo Tisci. Zwang said he admired designers like Kim Jones, who worked on the Louis Vuitton and Supreme clothing collection, among others — particularly smaller-name designers like Daf Orlovsky.  

Along with working with other brands and clothing, the two are also working toward creating their own clothing brand, Code of Silence — a name based off TV show “The Sopranos.” The  idea was born when the two met during their time abroad in London and were influenced by European style.  

But it was in Amsterdam when the two realized they wanted  their brand to be eco-conscious. After finding out that it takes 270 gallons to create one T-shirt, Kaplan said, the two made sure to find clothing they can upcycle along with curating their own vintage clothing. The brand will also be featured at the event.  

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“We upcycle, meaning that you just repurpose vintage clothing. Rather than get rid of it, we just keep using it,” Zwang said. “The best vintage pieces we found were in Amsterdam.”  

The duo plan on dividing the store by sections, including a sport section featuring ’90s Celtics wear and a high fashion section that includes designers such as Louis Vuitton, Takashi Murakami and Comme des Garçon. Some clothing that will be featured at the event have never been worn or sold before, Kaplan said. 

The event will also include two DJs, who are friends of the two shop-runners. DJ Noah Rosenberg said seeing the passion that both Kaplan and Zwang share for the project has inspired him. 

Kaplan said the two want the event to have a party vibe rather than being labeled as a pop-up shop, with Zwang adding what they ultimately want to do is create a space for the fashion community.  

“We’re bringing together people who like music, and we’re trying to build this community,” Zwang said, “because there’s never really been anything like this at Syracuse since we’ve been here.” 

Published on September 25, 2019 at 2:29 am