Ben Oleynik has a very special haunt in midtown Manhattan. The former marketing director at Pony and founder of skate brand Grand has long been a customer at Around the World Fashion Publications, a 20-year-old outpost in the Garment District. It’s a haven of sorts for those young and old who, despite their attachment to iPhones, still find bliss in thumbing through print publications. “I’m such a lover of magazines, coffee table books, and print in general,” Oleynik says. “I’ve been going to Around the World for years, and I always told the owner, Jay, that he should make and sell apparel. Eventually, I just asked if he wanted to do it together and he was down!” Thus, they launched a capsule collection of hoodies in white and lavender imprinted with the shop’s logo and address. The sweatshirts, which are priced at $80 each, became available online at the end of November and will hit stores in Japan this week; Oleynik has tapped skater Spencer Hamilton to be the face of the collaboration.
Coming from the skate world, Oleynik recognizes the impact that magazines have had on his own subculture, as well as many others. “Print shops and magazines are so important to the subcultures they support and celebrate,” he says. “Communities are shaped and built around independent shops like Around the World, and magazines have evolved to become wider media outlets with their own web content, social, event, and print, so they can be as influential as ever.” Oleynik says he “grew up on Thrasher and Transworld and all of the skate magazines.” He adds, “I come from a super-small town in Canada, so magazines were access to the outside world for me. I knew what day of each month the magazines got delivered to the corner store.” It was through these publications that Oleynik learned all he wanted to know about fashion, music, skating, travel, and everything in between.
Today, he’s attached to social media like the rest of us, but he’s devoted to his magazines. “I’m on my phone all day,” Oleynik admits. “Instagram is messed up, it’s amazing, it’s whatever you make it, and I do love it. But, there’s also something so special about print: the feel of the pages, the size of the photos, the feeling of going back to my parents’ place and going through old issues. Those things can’t be replaced.”
