History
Vokál was launched in 1997 as a Hip Hop Fashion brand by Yomi Martin, his cousin Cornell “Nelly” Haynes and Nick Loftis. They wanted to launch a new brand which was not driven by big marketing budgets and that did not have standard logos and designs. Yomi and Nelly were looking for a new innovative brand with daring and unique designs where the clothes speak for themselves.
For their first production they each paid $100 to have 30 T-shirts made featuring the St. Lunatics. The St. Lunatics are a rap crew from St. Louis, Missouri formed by rapper Nelly and his hometown friends. Yomi Martin sold the shirts for $20 each at a concerts of the St. Lunatics. With these sales of these shirts and jerseys at concerts and out of car trunks Vokál began selling successfully within the county limits of St. Louis.
While Yomi Martin was focussing on the Clothing line, Nelly focussed on his musical career and that of his group St. Lunatics. Over time, Vokál was officially creating custom jerseys for superstar and co-founder Cornell "Nelly" Haynes Jr, as well as his cousin's Hip Hop group, the St. Lunatics. With the group's name growing in popularity, Vokál even began touring with the St. Lunatics, representing Vokál and selling clothing after the St. Lunatic's events. Many people wanted to buy what the then, independent artists were wearing. Not only consumers started wearing Vokál but also other independent artists and athletes.
When Nelly’s debut album Country Grammar (2000) spent 7 weeks on top of the U.S. Album Charts and went 9 times platinum, fuelled by the enormous success of the title track. With this debut Vokál was instantly known in the entire United States, Vokál essentially grew right along with the career of Nelly and the St. Lunatics.
The first official collection was launched in 2001 and while Nelly was extremely busy he still had a great influence on the collection for Vokál. This paid off right away because the sales immediately skyrocketed. Not only consumers started wearing Vokál but also other independent artists and athletes. In 2007 Vokál started its European collection.
Read more about this topic: Vokal Europe
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“These anyway might think it was important
That human history should not be shortened.”
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—Mary B. Clay, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 3, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)