About the Brand

APRIL 21, 2025

M.

Only in this part of the world, namely Singapore and Malaysia, the word Sattai Kaaran holds a bad reputation. Although it simply translates to 'tee-shirt man' in Tamil, it is a loose reference to someone who is a 'gang member', at least in these 2 regions.

Starting this brand, the one thing I had in mind, was for it to be ruthlessly proud of it's Tamil influence, serving the Tamil market worldwide. Bumming to artistes like Yogi B, M.I.A, and songs like "Naa kudikeh poraen", I realise there is a whole bunch of us cool Tamil people situated all over the world. The Sri Lankan Tamils, German, UK, US, Swiss, Malaysia, French, I mean you name it. And we all seem to have a flair for creative arts of some form.

Taking cues from Superstar Rajinikanth, I just applied the same logic of how he is called an Autokaaran (auto/rickshaw driver) in one of his iconic movies Baasha, and Paalkaaran (milkman) in another one of his movies where he is a cow farmer, I decided for it to immediately say what it does to my target audience, in the most straight forward way. Thus, Sattai (tee-shirt) Kaaran (man).com

ME: Is there any reference to gang activity in your brand?

MOO: Art to me, has an intellectual and rebellious component. In that perspective, that is the only relevance I see with it. Without any disrespect to people who actually live the gang life, this brand has nothing to mock or diss or even reference anything to do with that. It is literally what it says, a guy selling tees, specifically to Tamil people.

ME: Where do you see SattaiKaaran.com in this fashion space?

In the Getty Center auditorium for the recent “There Will Be Food“ panel.

MOO: The way I see it, it is to be the home for discovering promising, upcoming, non-mass scale, brown-owned artisans, selling things from tees, to accessories, jewellery, etc. There is a beauty in people who take time in crafting something enough for a handful of people to enjoy it without having to feel like "everybody else has it too". Trying to preserve the novelty of owning something that is hard to come by. So right between your Supreme and Sabyasachi category.

ME: Do you really think this will work?

MOO: What am I? A psychic? Probably a psycho for attempting it, but hey, we only live one life right? Might as well take all my shots and die trying.

Tamale with pepitas at Taco María in Costa Mesa

ME: According to our calculations, you have got a grand total of 1 brand on your site now. 

MOO: Err... yes, but..

ME: So, the idea of the grand big "mall" holding all the cool brown brands in one site is merely a "dream"?

MOO: I mean, the journey of a thousand miles, starts with that one, right? So, that new brand, is called Dev^0 and it is specifically targetted at producing tees and accessories that are more devotion-centric. Expect some really fresh graphics printed on top-notch quality heavy-weight cotton.

ME: Ahh.. of course. I am sure nobody else could design a tee-shirt better than you.

MOO: No.. Not that I am implying I am a great designer, but I do like to get creative with the work that I do. I only know enough of each skill to never be considered an expert in any one area. I am without a doubt certain, there are many great artists, designers, developers out there, I am just building a platform for us all to share our crafts.

ME: So, when can we expect the first drop?

MOO: There was a fair bit of deliberation when it came to who the products were aimed at. Having been raised around the Panguni Uthiram festival, I knew the items that I was going to drop, but did I really want to launch something that basically gets 100s of 1000s of people wearing my tee shirts, on some cheap templated design and synthetic material?

Or, do I want only a select few of people, rocking it, willing to pay for its' pricier build, appreciating the art and feeling like they own a piece of specialty product.

I can safely say that decision has been made, and things are moving along. Drops by Dev^0 for Panguni Uthiram and Hanuman Jayanti. It is also intentionally dropping after those 2 events have already passed on (11/12 Apr '25).

Dishes at Broken Spanish, in Downtown LA.

ME: Ahh, lots of firsts.. Don't you feel like trying too many concepts that has not yet "been done before" with this customer segment, is something wise to do this early in your business?

MOO: Good thing is, I do not have a tonne of experience in e-commerce. This allows me to move flexibly building and working on only things I personally love the experience of, while using other platforms.

If I felt a certain type of way when purchasing from a particular brand, I just try to recreate those same emotions I felt and putting my own flair on it. The beauty of it is, that I might be entirely wrong, but it has to be a chance I am willing to take, to find out if I am.

ME: Wishing you luck. If other brown brands and influencers want to work with you, and do collabs, etc how do they reach out to you?

MOO: Easiest would be to reach out on collabs@sattaikaaran.com or just slide in my DMs @aguysellingtees