Tawfeeq Gaines is a jack of all trades. He and his partners run Search and Rescue, a Philly-based lifestyle brand rooted heavily in the DIY mentality. Their scope of work ranges from maintaining their own fashion line, to collaborative work with Urban Outfitters on the latter’s Urban Renewal line, as well as pop up design for Schott NYC, the Brooklyn Circus, and Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. On top of this, he also participates in Butcher Shop Rehab, which focuses on thrifting, rebuilding, and home goods.
Tawfeeq and the Search and Rescue team recently designed the interior of Goree, a local African Halaal restaurant that they were known to frequent. They chose to bring us to Goree because while other projects may have been bigger, this one strongly resonates with them, and is something they’re very proud of. Their inspiration for the design was the namesake of the restaurant, which is a small island off Senegal. This comes to life in the colors, materials, and overall feel. As part of our tour we were even treated to an authentic Senegal street dish, Dibi chicken, which came complete with fried rice and grilled onions.
While these design projects have played a tremendous role in building the Search and Rescue brand, Tawfeeq adds that this year he and his partners plan on bringing some focus back to the fashion side of the business. Ultimately, he wants continue to do his best to assume the principle of Search and Rescue in every single thing he works on.
Brian Mabutas is a perfect example that once you find something you love, you can always figure out a way to turn it into a career. Mabutas’ passion for building cars, and racing culture in general, led him to found Eat Sleep Race in 2002. On the surface, Eat Sleep Race is an apparel brand, but anyone familiar with them knows it runs much deeper than that. Above all, Mabutas aims to help promote and grow the culture, building a movement rather than a regular business. As they so often say in cases like this, “real recognize real,” which is evident by Eat Sleep Races very engaged social media following, comprised of racing fans and car enthusiasts who live their culture. Perhaps they’re drawn to his authenticity, the fact that he’s still very heavily involved in the process of building and racing.
We visited Mabutas’ garage to spend the day with him and found him hard at work on his 2009 Dodge Viper SRT-10. With its BBS 3 piece wheels, and staggered stance to allow for radial tires in the rear, this car was built to be driven. He was quick to point out this isn’t just a “show car,” but a car he actually plans to race and enjoy to the fullest. Maybe he didn’t realize, but he practically summed up Eat Sleep Race’s entire mantra with that one sentence.
The next few years are going to be very exciting, albeit busy, for Mabutas. As he builds @eatsleeprace will also continue to do marketing for @OGS1320, the organization that hosts the largest compact drag racing events in the US. And of course, as his ’09 Viper becomes the showpiece of his brand, getting it out of his garage and onto the streets is a top priority, although judging by his passion for cars, we suspect that might be just as much of a personal goal as a professional one.
Source: Ubiq
