The Brand That Kendall Jenner and Zac Efron Can’t Get Enough Of
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The quest for the perfect tee is never ending. In recent years, brands like T by Alexander Wang to Isabel Marant established lines that focus solely on this simple yet particular garment. One label in particular, ATM, launched exclusively at Barney’s three years ago has quickly become the go-to brand for celebrities like Julia Roberts, Karlie Kloss, and Zac Efron. The success of the label is not surprising given the varied career of its founder. Anthony Thomas Mellilo started his career in fashion as the Style Director of Esquire in the ’90s, launched a sportswear brand called NOVA USA (which earned him a CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year nomination in 1999), became creative director of Generra in 2003, and now serves as creative director of Selena Gomez’s brand Dream Out Loud.
Given the success of ATM over the past three years, Melillo is crossing over into ready-to-wear. Photographer Kelly Klein wore his first evening gown at the recent CFDA Awards. Yahoo Style was able to talk to the mastermind about his brand ambition, how to create the perfect tee, and what we should expect in the future from ATM.
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Yahoo Style: We loved Kelly Klein’s look at the CFDA Awards! How did you go from starting with a T-shirt line to establishing ready-to-wear?
Anthony Mellilo: So the last three years have been very eventful. We launched at Barneys and I started with T-shirts that were black, white, and gray. There were five styles in three different fabrics. I kind of launched it thinking that even if it was always going to be just the T-shirts, I needed it to be represented as a brand. I came from brands, and I never felt like it was just an item. I thought if we’re going to do it, the T-shirts need to look beautiful, they need to sit on wooden hangers, they don’t need to be thrown on a table.
So, yeah, three years in, we do things like the CFDA. I went with Kelly and I wanted her to wear something. We don’t naturally do evening dresses. I was doing a custom dress however still had a V-neck, it had a relaxed feel, but it was elegant and chic. I didn’t have things hanging off of it, but if we were asked to make something for evening it would have to fit our aesthetic. If I’m asked to make the T-shirt, it has to fit our aesthetic.
YS: What is the next thing for ATM?
AM: I think all these categories equal a brand. It’s all a part of what we can be. We can represent all those different categories of business. Of course if someone’s wearing clothes, I have an idea of what the shoes look like or what the belt should look like, or what the bag would look like. That’s what I’m interested in doing. And over the last years, just going from the Barney’s exclusive to being in 30 Neiman Marcus stores, 30 Saks stores, and Nordstrom’s. We have really done so organically and thoughtfully.
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YS: ATM really is the perfect T-shirt, what is the key to making it great?
AM: It took about nine months to create those five styles in three colors and it all started with the drape. For us, we don’t want to drape so that it looks stiff. So the fit and feel are the most important things in my vocabulary. The drape, how it lays on the body, sexy but not too sexy, really to me that’s really the key thing.
YS: How has your varied career help to establish the ATM brand?
AM: When I first started at Esquire, it was all celebrity driven. I was doing all the covers and this was in the 90s, and celebrities would always ask where they could find the perfect T-shirt or the perfect sweatshirt. It was a struggle, especially in the ’90s because no one did those things. I was in the magazine world for 12 years and I was always thinking, How do you make these perfect pieces? That’s always stuck in my head and we’ve continued to grow from there.
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