Locked out of Danieley A on a cold September night, sophomore Ashlyn Vogelsang panicked. None of her roommates were home, and she desperately needed to get inside. Moments later, her savior appeared: sophomore Ben Kleiman. When Kleiman let her into the building, neither knew this chance encounter would lead to a business partnership.
Over time, the building-mates developed a friendship. The two, both entrepreneurs, often joked about starting a business together in their free time. One semester later, the first order of Pattani Clothing lounge pants shipped.
The idea of starting a pants company dawned on Kleiman while studying abroad in Thailand during Winter Term 2015. On his trip, he noticed both Thai men and women wore long, billowy palazzo-style pants adorned with exotic patterns.
Kleiman wondered if these pants would sell in the United States.
“I thought I could bring a style back,” he said.
An idea popped into his head: he would ship the pants from Thailand and sell them here. When he returned, he proposed the concept to Vogelsang, who saw potential in the idea and agreed to partner up. With $800 invested, they started Pattani Clothing.
Pattani Clothing isn’t Kleiman’s first foray into clothing entrepreneurship. Last year, as a freshman, he worked with two other freshmen to develop Coastal Prep Collection, a preppy clothing brand.
Kleiman handles the finances and maintains the website he built while Vogelsang handles the marketing and researches current fashion trends for future design ideas.
“I think we make a good team because both of us are always motivating each other to work on something, whether it is the website, advertising or doing competition research,” Kleiman said.
Pattani Clothing’s official website launched last week. It offers 15 pant styles, each made in Thailand. There have only been six orders so far, but popularity is expected to grow.
Pattani pants sell for only $15, while other brands of palazzo pants, such as New York and Company, sell for $30-$50. According to Vogelsang, this cheaper price does not affect the quality.
“We’re trying to appeal to people who don’t want to spend too much money on clothes but still want to look good,” Vogelsang said.
According to Vogelsang, Pattani pants’ seams stay intact and, most importantly, the lighter-colored pants are not transparent.
Pattani pants appeal to anyone who is not afraid to be adventurous in style but still wants to enjoy the comfort of pajamas.
“Pattani is all about providing the most comfortable lounge pants and expressing yourself anyway you want,” Vogelsang said.
Vogelsang has a few style suggestions. For girls, Pattanis go best with loose long sleeve shirts or crop tops, while guys can match their colorful pants with a loose t-shirt.
Although the brand’s focus on fashion may attract more women, the team is trying to appeal to men by marketing the pants as active wear. They plan to satisfy this demographic by making the pants more durable through double-stitches.
The brand just started selling, but it has a clean, professional look. Each pair will have hand-sewn tags and comes with washing directions and maintenance advice.
Vogelsang and Kleiman are using a combination of social media and grassroots methods to advertise Pattani
They admit improvements, such as updating the website and creating clever names for patterns, will be necessary to keep the brand alive. Vogelsang and Kleiman did not expect launching Pattani to require so much work, but they said the experience has definitely been worth the effort.
Palazzo pants are an emerging market in Thailand but haven’t funneled into mainstream culture in the United States. Vogelsang hopes Pattani’s unique design and comfortable feel will eventually be integrated into mainstream fashion.
“I feel confident and relaxed wearing Pattani pants,” she said. “Hopefully one day when I’m a lawyer, they can be considered professional wear.”