Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/692580
"WE'RE A GENERATION WHO GREW UP ON NIKE DRI-FIT. BUT NOW WE'RE GOING TO WORK." —AMAN ADVANI Men of action: From its flagship on Newbury Street (BELOW), Ministry of Supply outfits the active professional with its high- performance businesswear. BOTTOM LEFT: Walking the walk, cofounder Gihan Amarasiriwardena ran a half-marathon last year in Ministry of Supply's Aviator suit. 68 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MINISTRY OF SUPPLY (STORE, MAN STANDING); BY TIMOTHY ANAYA (AMARASIRIWARDENA); AUNDRE LARROW (JUMPING) NO SWEAT NEWBURY STREET'S MINISTRY OF SUPPLY CREATES MENSWEAR THAT WITHSTANDS THE SUN AND WINS OVER BOARDROOMS. BY JARED BOWEN The CEO and cofounder of Ministry of Supply has no problem confessing that his menswear company was partly inspired by, well, funk. A management consul- tant working 16-hour days and flying around the country giving presentations, Aman Advani was ever-mindful of how he presented himself. "[Going into meetings] with your shirt half untucked, wrinkled, and you have sweat stains—that can be kind of terrify- ing," he remembers. No more. In 2011 the M.I.T. grad met fellow innovators Kit Hickey and Gihan Amarasiriwardena at M.I.T.'s entrepreneur center, and the trio launched a fashion line giving professional wear all the edge of performance wear. The new summer collection offers wrinkle- free, sweat-wicking dress shirts, engineered for movement—all with a crisp, tailored fit. "We're a generation who grew up on Nike Dri-FIT," Advani says, "and that generation is going to work now." Business is booming, including at its Newbury Street store—according to Advani, the company has doubled its year-over-year growth— and it continues to develop technology to craft dress clothes that fit almost like a second skin. Cofounder Amarasiriwardena even broke a Guinness World Record last year running a half- marathon in the company's Aviator suit. It's all about logic, Advani says. "There's a reason no one wears cotton shorts to the gym anymore." 299 Newbury St., 617-236-4253; ministryofsupply.com . STYLE TREND