Author: Conor Hanlon

To highlight the launch of Awake NY’s SS22 collection at HIP, we met up in Manchester with Vin De Bodega – an NYC-inspired bodega and collective focused on bringing a community spirit and relaxed easy, going attitude to natural wine.

Founded in 2020 by Rick Farthing, Eoghan Neburagho, Jack Surplus and Razz Ashraf who all share a love for natural, low intervention wines – the idea for the brand was sparked during a get together for Eoghan’s birthday, as they discussed the lack of approachable places to buy natural wine from at the time in Manchester.

Speaking further upon the Bodega inspiration, Razz Ashraf told HIP – ” The Spanish meaning for Bodega is ‘Wine Shop’ & ‘Vin De’ stands for ‘Come From’ in French. All four of the boys have been heavily influenced by New York culture. From the music we listen to, the way we dress, the way we talk at times, to even the hospitality New Yorkers give. After visiting New York a couple of times, myself, the local Bodega is the neighbourhood staple for locals to get their essentials, but it also becomes a big part of the community. We wanted to incorporate the energy of a neighbourhood bodega within our brand. We all agreed and when we found out Bodega meant ‘Wine Shop’ in Spanish we signed at the dotted line there and then.”

During the ongoing UK lockdowns, VBD flourished selling wine both online and with same day drop offs in Manchester. Once the world opened back up, the next step was to bring the full Bodega experience to life, with the crew hosting regular events with popular Northern Quarter bar ‘The Daisy’ – focused on “the best natural wine, the smoothest anthems and nothing but good times and immaculate vibes.” With a long Summer ahead, VDB are currently in the midst of creating their very own pop-up location in the form of a natural wine van, set to be situated in the ever-expanding area of Spinningfields.

Awake NY is a New York City streetwear label that is a product of Angelo Baque, Supreme’s former brand director. Baque was at Supreme for ten years and played a pivotal part in catapulting Supreme to the dizzy heights it currently vacates. Awake NY sits under Baque Creative that is an agency the New Yorker formed in 2012 alongside the launch of his own line, Awake NY. Baque’s label captures the vibrant spirit and energy that makes NYC unique with vibrant graphics, classic 90’s styling and staple streetwear pieces in each collection such as hoodies, tees and caps.

Explore the Awake NY SS22 Collection online now.

Follow Vin De Bodega here.