Can't Live Withouts: The Sansone Brothers
Photo By Garrett King
From the left Lan, Jimmy and Conrad Sansone
Written By Carrie Edelstein
What might seem a bit extraordinary to the average folk– a family of ten siblings, all of whom are best friends– is just plain normal for the Sansone family. Or having an idea for a regular clothing line, and going from a basement business to a multi-million dollar operation– the Sansone brothers say it’s their friends and family who helped make it all happen. For the first time ever, we had to include three of those extraordinary individuals, because a feature on just one Sansone wouldn’t be “normal.” They are the geniuses behind The Normal Brand, a clothing line that is popular nationwide, and now available at a storefront in Colonial Marketplace in Ladue. Maybe it’s their ability to think in unison that makes Lan, Jimmy and Conrad so captivating. In no particular order, they combined their lists of things they cannot live without.
1. Our family. “Our siblings are our best friends, and you’ll see them modeling our clothes all over thenormalbrand.com and our social media platforms. Plus we have 40-plus cousins [a lot live in St. Louis] that we hang with all the time.”
2. Friends. “From the beginning our friends have supported the company when we sold hats out of our parents’ basement. They helped direct our first photoshoot, model our first horrible samples, and spread the word for us.”
3. The four seasons of the Midwest. “We love having fall [the best season], winter, spring, and summer. It makes it fun for us to produce new lines for each season, and change up the wardrobes.”
4. Fireplaces –indoor and outdoor. “Nothing better than a few drinks by a fire.”
5. Workouts with Dad. “We grew up playing football through college, and have trained with our dad since we were in middle school. He’s still our partner to this day.”
6. Mom’s cookies – “The best. Ever.”
7. Dinners with our grandpa. “One passed years ago, and we still miss him and think about him every day. We learn more during the two-hour dinners we have with our dad’s dad than we did in four years of college.”
8. Good drinking glasses. “We think details matter.”
9. An organized closet.
10. All “Rocky” movies and any future spinoffs.
