We had the good fortune of connecting with Vihanga Sontam, Miles Jackson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vihanga Sontam, Miles Jackson, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We launched the brand Vihanga as a way to combine our two different perspectives and cultural backgrounds. Both Miles and I (Vihanga) have loved clothes and paid attention to style in our own lives for a long time. I Have dreamt of starting my own label since working in fashion industry in Mumbai. In contrast Miles’ sense of style comes from his American upbringing as a Breakdancer. It wasn’t until we started seeing each-other that the idea of working for ourselves became demystified and starting a label became a real possibility. We use the brand to focus on bringing my South Indian representation to the world of designer clothing.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What sets our business apart is our perspective on the industry coupled with the time we started in. We launched right before Covid and the chaos in the fashion industry. Everything we knew about fashion worlds existing failures, all it’s exploitation, waste, and needless speed, were thrown under a spotlight. We used this time to slow down further articulate our purpose: to build a brand that focuses on ethics, quality and longevity. We have spent the time to build a tight community, hold space for conversations and find our purpose. Right now we are aiming to grow responsibly.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would take our friends to Northern Thai Food Club and every other great Thai restaurant in the city. We are big on good food and LA has lots of it.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We want to give a shout out to our community who have been with us since before our first release. We’ve had so much support from our friends even before we began the brand. Don’t trust anyone who says they’ve done everything on their own. Anyone who’s done great things has had a strong community behind them. We are so thankful for ours.

Website: https://vihanga.co/

Instagram: @vihanga.co

Facebook: vihanga.co

Image Credits
Photographers : Roman Koval ( 2021). Evan Sheehan (2019)

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.