Visions Attire combines one-of-a-kind art with music, fashion

Visions Attire, an online-only Pittsburgh-based streetwear brand intertwines music, art and fashion through their online clothing brand. 

Created by three Pittsburghers in 2017 while they were teens 一 Mikel “Kel” Battles, Devyn “Gio” Giovengo and Derrek McFadden 一 the brand creates rare clothing pieces with hand-drawn designs of various clothing pieces and accessories. The brand doubles as a record label, Visions Over Everything The Label.

Battles, a Slippery Rock graduate, said the brand focuses on creating clothing that allows their art to come to life.

“A lot of our clothes is inspired by the artists around us,” Battles said. “Sometimes I put out some art because I like drawing and things like that. And we have a couple other people that do the same. So, we kind of just like to portray the art in our clothing and fashion.”

Giovengo, a Thiel College graduate, said sometimes the designs are spontaneous and “just come” to one of the members. At its core, Giovengo said the brand’s goal is to inspire those working on or purchasing the clothes to follow their dreams and passions.

“The meaning of our brand is we just try to have everybody chase their dreams and seize every opportunity and second they get,” Giovengo said.

The three started the brand in high school when they found themselves yearning to do something different. Giovengo entered the fashion industry with his clothing brand, Zeal, which he started in eighth grade. He also had his own shoe repair and customization company at the time, “Gio Customizing and Repairs.”

Visions Attire features items ranging from hoodies, sweatpants, beanies and crossbody bags. The brand continues to drop new products and art, with the most recent drop of Stacked Flame Sweats, which range from $50 to $60. The brand also includes LOVE Split Shorts, which sell for $44.99. Giovengo said the brand also tries to keep their prices affordable while still allowing the company to make a profit. 

Even though sales are solely online, the brand hosts plenty of pop-up shops which can feature never-before-seen pieces. The next pop-up on April 15 is in Wilmington, North Carolina, and it will return to Pittsburgh on May 13.

Though it’s marketed as a streetwear brand, Visions Attire also includes its own record label, VOE The Label. Battles is currently working to become an audio engineer and Giovengo is expanding the brand with graphic design, so Battles said he views the brand and the label combined as a “one-stop shop” for artists and even other small businesses.

“We like to let artists know that we want to work with them and that we are a one stop shop,” Battles said. “Everything from zero to launch.”

The brand also collaborates with local artists, and offers them assistance with recording and marketing. Battles said starting the brand was what inspired him to begin a career in music. 

“When we started getting things moving and things running, we started to notice that the music industry is very intertwined with fashion,” Battles said. “So at the time, we were meeting with a bunch of different artists, and a lot of local artists, and that inspired us on the aspect of getting started on the music side of things.” 

One of the artists who works within Visions Attire frequently is Josh Kreuger, a 20-year-old  local artist that goes by the stage name VOEDA$H under VOE the label. As a part of the Visions Attire team, Krueger said his job entails “a little bit of everything.” 

“Graphic design, selling the merchandise first-hand, promoting and advertising the merchandise online for orders and stuff like that,” Krueger said. “Everything to modeling the merchandise for promo. Pretty much anything under the umbrella is what I do. Anything to help the brand, I don’t have a designated job, I kind of do whatever is needed.” 

As a musical artist and rapper himself, Krueger said there are times where his music career will overlap with his role at Visions. Whether it’s by someone discovering his music through Visions, or a fan finding Visions because of his music, the different outlets sometimes intersect and help one another. 

“So whether they weren’t aware that I made music in the first place, and they just saw the merchandise; something I did grabbed their attention,” Krueger said. “They do a little digging, boom, they find out I make music, or vice versa. They know about my music, but have no clue about the clothes. It’s not just a one hit wonder type of thing. We got several different things going on, and everything helps each other. Each thing that we have going on helps the other.” 

Giovengo and Battles agreed that their ultimate goal for Visions Attire is to build connections with as many people as possible, whether it’s through the clothing or the different services they offer. 

“Help everybody around us and make the world a better place,” Giovengo said. “And if we can do what we love in the journey to it, that’s even better.”