THECAST’s founding members Ryan Turner and Chuck Guarino grew up on opposite coasts, and met for the first time as teenagers in California. Designing menswear was the last thing they expected to do when they first arrived in New York City, with a few hundred bucks in their pockets and an eye toward the Lower East Side. But the evolution of their innate personal styles and worship of fashion magazines proved a potent catalyst for design experimentation, and has since yielded a highly-respected, internationally distributed brand of impeccably tailored men’s clothes. Lauded by the fashion press as the bad boy-geniuses of menswear, their chops have been illustrated by the rapid expansion of their handcrafted basics line to three heralded collections of full looks.
Turner was the first to land in New York, in January 2002, with no real career plans and an affinity for all things Downtown. He was hired at style and culture publication Tokion, where he first thoroughly explored his interests in fashion and the visual arts. Guarino followed him in 2003, and the two quickly found themselves in the Street Style pages of several books and magazines. In 2004 the two concurred that it was about time they organized their plans and THECAST was born. Self-taught and remarkably driven, they began designing t-shirts for high-end retail boutiques including Fred Segal and Barneys New York. Their garments were carefully distressed, hand-dyed and hand-printed. THECAST’s first collection sold out in stores in New York, LA and Japan. The boys knew they were onto something.
Turner and Guarino subsequently quit their day jobs, and rented a studio on Ludlow Street. It wasn’t before long that THECAST graduated into the prestigious realm of proper menswear. They used their basics to build a unique line and silhouette that combined gentlemanly staples – pinstriped waistcoats and satin trousers – with iconic misfits staples – impeccably fitting leather jackets, Iggy Pop pants. THECAST’s success on the retail front and constant stream of press sparked the interest of the Archetype Showroom, who took over sales for the brand in 2007. THECAST sells to a variety of boutiques, including Isetan, Edition, Tokishirazu, Hollywood Trading Co., Bblessing, Odin and Colette.