STATIS was born out of necessity.
We come from a place hidden in the shadow of a giant but live off of the pulse of its heart. Staten Island, New York. It’s usually discarded from conversation. Outside of this place, you don’t hear much about it. You either can’t wait to leave and never look back, or you’re stuck here, forever oblivious to how the rest of the world works. At least that’s what it feels like. There is no pride here, only shame. Too few are courageous enough to endorse it. Try to go and buy a t-shirt or hat that represents Staten Island. You simply can’t do it. Go to any other borough. They can’t wait to tell you about how great the Bronx is, what Queens does better and it’s actually hard to walk a block in Brooklyn without seeing it spelled out on someone’s chest. They’re proud of who they are. Well so are we. We just needed a way to show it. We needed a change. We needed a movement. We are the backbone of this city. We are the builders. We are the servants. We are the heroes. We don’t need social status. We’ll make our own status, our own brand: a brand for everyone. We took Staten Island and made it into something for everyone to use. It’s not just a “Staten Island brand”. It’s STATIS. We created a word. We created a lifestyle. A lifestyle of being proud of who you are no matter what the circumstances are. No matter where you’re from, be proud to embrace it even if that’s not what’s popular. When you see that “S”, you’ll know what it represents: the overlooked, the downtrodden and the dreamers. The forgotten got made into STATIS.
