"One summer, I took $500, printed three t-shirts, and started MENACE." Now, ten years later, Steven Mena, founder and creative Director of the Los Angeles-based streetwear brand, has the same drive and passion but now has an impressive track record of achievements.
"We've accomplished a lot," he tells me. "But through it all, I still feel grounded in who I am, who Steven was when I first started this."
Sure, Mena lives and breathes his brand, but just as important to him is fostering the Latino and streetwear communities (a sign of a true Original). The two go hand-in-hand for him. As we talk, mentions of his community are woven throughout the conversation.
He speaks with intention and care and, with each word, paints a picture of a deliberate journey, a brand sculpted with authenticity, and an unbreakable bond with his city.
"This comes back to just the creativity [and] the effort that we put in," he says matter-of-factly. "It permeates through everything that we do with MENACE. We care more about the details. We're willing to put this in gear one and go easy but still do dope stuff along the way.
It's a notion that is becoming increasingly rare, one that Mena is never letting go of.
As we continue to chat, we dive into the details behind how he approaches designs, brand milestones, mentors, and his relationship with the late Chris "Spanto" Printup of Born X Raised.
Take me back to the beginning when you first started MENACE.
It was over the summer. I was working two jobs and wanted to start a brand one day. It was the first time I had ever done this, but I read a book front to back in one night.
It was 100 or something pages [on] how to launch a streetwear brand, and that's how I knew I was motivated to start something. That laid the foundation, and from there, I did the research.
I hit up my best friend; we made a list of names, and I liked MENACE because of the connection to my last name. Shortly after, my best friend stopped working on the brand, and it ended up just being mine.
I know you create themes for your collections versus following the typical fashion calendar—a truly Original way of creating. What led you to do that?
Honestly, that just came about because of my design process. It's very therapeutic. I just take it at my own pace—which sometimes is to my detriment [and] why MENACE is a little inconsistent with our releases.
But it's a very personal journey for me to create a garment…I don't mean that every piece has a crazy deep meaning; sometimes, I just like to make things because they look cool, and I want them out in the world.
Sometimes, it really is like, what am I feeling? What does this collection represent for me?
Authenticity and originality mean everything to you. Have you always had that mindset?
Definitely. I was never interested in this super meteoric rise from the get-go. Obviously, if that happened, I'd take it and be extremely grateful for it, but I always saw my trajectory as a slow, steady incline.
I say that because, typically, when stuff like that happens, it's probably due to trends. I don't want to chase trends. I'm just going to create cool stuff. I'm going to do dope things for myself, my community, and the community we're fostering.
Ten years later, I'm bearing all the fruits of that mentality.
How did it feel to celebrate ten years, a whole decade, of your brand?
I used to look forward to this moment a lot. I can think of a couple of moments in my career that I looked forward to, some of which have already happened. The first time we made $100,000 as a business.
I remember that being something because where I'm from, to make $100,000 as a business was like hitting the lottery.
Becoming a ten-year-old brand was another one of those big moments for us. I still have people congratulating me on that, and it hasn't sunk in just how big of a deal that is.
I feel like I'm growing into this, I don't know, OG status type of thing. I’m proud, my family's proud, my friends are proud.
What an accomplishment. Have you had any mentors helping you out along the way?
The closest thing I had to a mentor was Spanto [Chris Printup]. He recently passed away, so that was really tough to deal with. We talked about working with each other a lot.
We talked about streetwear. We talked about this industry that we occupy. He felt like a big homie and somebody always willing to look out, lend a hand, and check up on you.
The biggest thing was don't take yourself too seriously. Spanto is the closest thing [to a mentor]. I've had my coaches in high school [and] my mom and my dad. They're mentors to me.
Honestly, a lot of what you see at MENACE is inspired by Spanto and Born X Raised.
In the same way that Spanto inspired you, what type of example are you looking to leave for future generations?
This isn't about you; it's more about how you can help the next generation come up and how you can be remembered for that and leave your mark.
If you can come in, do what you do, leave things in a better place, and help people along the way, that's the mark of a true Original. That's the mark of a true legend.
Somebody that's here for the community and for the people, and not just here to take, but also here to give.
