“Whenever someone purchases something, I feel like they wear it with pride,” says Alex Ordonez, co-founder of Wish Me Luck. “They feel like they’re part of something. That’s the most important thing for us.” Although saying so is a cliché nowadays, Wish Me Luck is more than just a clothing company. Starting with Ordonez and Sam Dameshek in 2019, their designs include shirts, jackets, caps, and tights based on the ‘70s and ‘80s style designs, recalling a nostalgic sense of fashion timelessly. Their philosophy empowers individuals to pursue their dreams and face challenges. It’s about making your own luck.
Wish Me Luck collaborated with Walmart’s The Nuevolution Project—a celebration of visionary Latine creatives through a capsule collection of exclusive, only-at-Walmart “bold, style-forward” products—taking inspiration from their background and people in their immediate circle. “I come from a small town in Connecticut, and I feel like we don’t have many resources [there], especially for immigrants,” says Ordonez. “The fact that I, as a Latino, collaborated with Walmart is impressive. My dad shared the project in his Facebook feed, and the feedback he got was impressive. People saw my accomplishment [as something] they were a part of. They were congratulating the culture.” Indeed, their collaboration aimed to give Latine workers who shop at Walmart something they would find valuable and unique.
Their collaboration reflects their predilection for classic cuts and images. It includes T-shirts, goodies, bowling shirts, and work jackets. In terms of graphics, they chose words like “DREAMERS” and “From The Motherland” and their label’s logo.
It has been a long journey for Ordonez to get where he is now. Connecticut didn’t offer many options, so during his high school years, he made a daily three-hour commute to New York City to design t-shirts and hoodies, eventually becoming a model. On the other side of the country, Dameshek grew up in California, where he picked up photography at age 15 and pursued it as a full-time career. But, he faced doubt from those around him that he could make it in this field. Still, they didn’t let doubters or any other obstacle get in their way.
Ordonez and Dameshek met in 2017 at a fashion campaign for an eyewear brand in Lake Tahoe. They hit it off immediately. “There’s a lot of synergy between us,” Dameshek says about that fortuitous meeting. “He was so cool in a way that I don’t think I was used to yet.” Likewise, Ordonez was impressed with Dameshek, and they kept in touch.
Later, Ordonez moved to L.A., where he bumped into Dameshek on his first day in this new city and began hanging out in real life. Shortly after, Dameshek made t-shirts “with a kind of silly graphic” for an exhibition of his photography; unfortunately, he forgot to bring them to the show, so he decided to sell them on his own. Ordonez, who helped with packaging the items for shipping, had the idea to partner up and start a clothing business. “It brought us closer than just friends,” says Ordonez. “It’s been inspiring, and it’s been a pleasure to work with like-minded people.”
Soon after starting Wish Me Luck, they realized they wanted to do more than sell t-shirts and hats. As Dameshek explains, they landed on making the brand “a vessel for our community.” “Sam kind of knew a bunch of influencers and celebrities from California,” says Ordonez. “And me, coming from New York. I knew a lot of rappers, for example. So when I first approached him with this idea, it was a no-brainer like, let’s mix both worlds. It carried the brand, and it helped us get a head-start.”
Although they have plenty of common ground together, the guys from Wish Me Luck think that their differences are what can push them to make great stuff. “I don’t think that a partnership is necessarily about finding the most agreeable person,” Dameshek says. “I think it’s about finding somebody that pushes you to see things differently.” Indeed, one of the most important things for them is achieving a balance between all the people involved. “Every day, we inspire each other,” says Ordonez.
Ordonez, Dameshek, and the rest of the Wish Me Luck team constantly have in mind that they’re living their dream. “Anybody would want to take their passion or hobby and make a living off it,” says Dameshek. “In our case, it didn’t feel like it was a gamble in the sense that we didn’t know what we were doing, but we had enough confidence and enough of that itch that we’re just like ‘screw it. Let’s go for it. Wish me luck!’”
