Ripped acid-wash jeans dangle from hangers and Chuck Taylors toe the wall. Musky incense fills the air and vintage tees carry the names of the bands playing the classic rock that’s reverberating throughout Black N Blue Vintage.
“Rock ‘n’ roll makes no apologies,” said owner Mykel Sane, sporting a Kiss shirt.
Mykel Sane and his wife Dana Sane opened Black N Blue Vintage on Fifth and Roosevelt streets this May, looking to create a vintage rock store in downtown Phoenix. Black N Blue Vintage is a rock ‘n’ roll trifecta featuring a vintage store, tattoo parlor and hair salon.
It all happened by accident, Sane said. After buying his first vintage band T-shirt nearly 20 years ago, his collection has gone on to grow exponentially.
Sane came to Phoenix following a rocky history in Los Angeles. A former drug addict, he moved away in the early 2000s with the hopes of getting clean.
“The real reason I started BNB in Phoenix was I was a drug addict. I actually came to Phoenix to clean up,” Sane said. “I went through a detox in Phoenix at the halfway house. I was actually homeless here in Phoenix for a while.”
Sane met his wife in Phoenix, after he started building his vintage apparel collection.
While Dana Sane initially doubted his extensive collection would ever be worth anything, she would still accompany Mykel Sane to vintage stores, many of which were pricing their tees over $65.
“I’d be looking through the shirts thinking, ‘I have that shirt, and I have that one,’” Sane said.
As he continued to shop, the apparel collection started to take over their house. Sane would sell some of his salvaged band tees, denim, western shirts and shoes to a few of his friends, but he felt like a hoarder with all of the boxes around his house.
That’s when he decided to start Black N Blue after nearly two decades of collecting.
Occasionally, stocking the shop with the appropriate gear is a problem, so he closes down on Monday and Tuesday to explore garage sales, thrift shops and private vendors, hoping to find the best shirts for his customers.
No requested shirt is too hard to find, either. He once had a request for the holy grail of thrift tees, the iconic ‘New York City’ T-shirt that John Lennon donned throughout his years. He found it.
The shop refuses to become the rock shops of Sane’s past in Los Angeles, which had a nearly 100 percent mark-up on their apparel, he said. Black N Blue sets their prices at a third of Los Angeles prices and they stock exclusively American-made apparel from local designers and other vintage stores.
“Most vintage was made in America, which says a lot about why it’s still here,” Sane said.
Both Mykel and Dana Sane said vintage will never die.
“Levis are as American as hamburgers and hotdogs on the Fourth of July, how could they ever go out of style?” Dana Sane said.
The shop’s name is even an homage to followers of rock music and fashion. The “Black” is the punk, metal, edgy local designers and the “Blue” is the denim, vintage rock ‘n’ roll look, Dana said.
Since its opening five months ago, business has been steady for the rock ‘n’ roll shop. The Sanes eventually plan to expand, hopefully to California, the couple said. They attribute their success to the shop’s location in the trendy Roosevelt Row district and the reliable customer base at ASU.
One First Fridays artwalk can generate an entire month’s rent, Sane said.
However, Blank N Blue’s customer base isn’t just limited to students and locals, Dana Sane said. Lawyers, DJs and hotel workers contribute to the eclectic Valley-wide and out-of-state customer base, as well
Nick Ramirez has known Sane for about five years from playing in the band The Unfortunates together. Ramirez said Black N Blue is instant nostalgia.
“(Mykel) is my style guru, but don’t tell my girlfriend that,” Ramirez said. “She owns Punk Couture down the street.”
“People really vibe with it,” Ramirez added.
The local band Sister Lip recently took photos after a styling session at Black N Blue. The band was free to pick its own clothes out of the store.
Sane also dresses the band Buckcherry, who he has been friends with since the late ’80s. In exchange, he can use their artwork in the shop.
“I’ve been dressing my friends for years,” Sane said.
Dana Sane said that her husband’s clientele as a designer includes her as well. His closet is more extensive than hers, and he regularly gives her advice on what to wear.
Black N Blue dresses more than just customers, rock stars and band mates. Sane has clothed the homeless with store inventory. He once gave a homeless man a pair of Puma shoes, Levis and a shirt.
“He wanted a Judas Priest shirt, but that’s where I drew the line,” Sane said. “I was told a long time ago you can’t have too many friends.”
Contact the reporter at katherine.sitter@asu.edu
