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Meet Jac Vanek

By: Poppy Cleere

Scene Queen? Designer? Genius? For those of you who saw the signs at Warped Tour, or are still trying to figure out why your favorite musicians are bearing her name on their wrist: (in unison please) just Who is Jac Vanek?

Well if you want an answer then perhaps Urban Dictionary isn’t the most unbiased (or kindest) place to be looking. The first description begins “A camera loving whore it first became famous for dating the homosexual guitarist for Panic At The Disco, Ryan Ross. She continues her reign as most obnoxious scene queen by...” Referring to her as ‘it‘? Ouch! The second ‘definition’ ends by using her name ‘in context’ in the form of an exchange between two teenage girls:

Girl 1: OMG, that pic was so Jac Vanek!

Girl 2: *squeals* I AM SOOO BLEACHING MY HURRR BEFORE THE PANIC CONCERT!

Girl 1 & 2: *squeals*

Girl 1: OMG, do you think Ryro will think I’m Jac at the concert tonight?

Girl 2: O-M-G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

Blake (VersaEmerge) wearing Vanek's necklace

Right…Lets tear our eyes from all the Internet angst for a second and actually look at some basic facts: So she may like being in front of the camera sometimes but it turns out she’s actually rather a pro behind it too. California’s 22-year old Jac Vanek is actually an established (and rather talented) photographer. She’s taken live pictures of hit bands such as Fall Out Boy, Sugarcult and Silverstein and even shot an advertising campaign for rock clothing line ‘Atticus’, featuring the likes of Taking Back Sunday and Motion City Soundtrack. Quite sensible for a ‘former girlfriend of Ryan Ross’, at least she won’t need rehab. Just kidding folks’! We all know he never knew it was there.

Back to the photographer, or wait, wasn’t it fashion designer? Which is it? In fact it’s both. Her designs – or ‘overpriced rubber bracelets ‘ as an anti-Vanek UD.com user would say – have sprung her to success. Through her loyal followers, connections and impressive advertising techniques Vanek’s bracelet collection now has over 30 pieces, including collaborative efforts with Cobra Starship, Alex Gaskarth (All Time Low) and popular fashion line Glamour Kills, not to mention the fact that they were proudly worn on the wrists of the majority of bands at Warped 2009. On the tour she introduced her new necklace and t-shirts which were also a hit with band members, crew and crowd alike. Chances are, if your favorite front man wasn’t sporting one of these then he/she hadn’t been introduced to the music and fashion scene’s new ‘it’ girl designer, or, they were probably living under a rock.

So just why is there so much ‘hate’ over the Harry Potter quoting, Ginger hair loving, and Arrested Development super-fan Jac Vanek spreading over the interweb? Okay, so maybe in reality her bracelets are just rubber bands with well picked words on – but aren’t your designer shoes just the same as Top Shop’s with a quirky name and higher price-tag? Or, perhaps it’s a classic case of green eyed-envy? (not to be confused with pink eye) – Yes it’s a simple idea but she’s the one who put a plan into action and made a success out of it, quite simply – she did it first.  Some could say that it’s her hanging around with their treasured celebrity idol that gets their blood pressure high enough to spill out in an angry Myspace blog? ‘Famewhore‘ though? Hold up on the insults – how are you so sure she doesn’t genuinely have a good personality? It’s not all about looks!

Or could it be that maybe, you have (or have had) an uneasy feeling about her due to reading some anonymous negative comment somewhere? If everyone else is saying it, it must be true right? Wrong. It’s the age-old judging a book by its cover.Let’s face it, most of us find it easier to see the worst in people rather than the best – it’s unfortunate but sometimes we feel it’ll prevent feeling ‘let down’ should we find out a person is not who we think they are. This can go for anyone; a friend, a family member, an inspiration or even someone we don’t really know at all.

I for one can admit to judging Jac Vanek by her cover. When I first saw her bracelets online and went to buy one I assumed that ’she’ was a ‘he’ (Jac/Jack – easy mistake!) when I did some research and came across negative press I quite naively judged her as a blond, scene bimbo with no talent, just another girl looking for 15-minutes of fame. Then, quite luckily, I found her photo portfolio and realized that perhaps there was more than meets the eye with this girl, her creative talent certainly wasn’t mentioned in anything I’d read. After seeing her public confessions of anxiety and love for Ron Weasly, I began to see that she was just a normal young adult, still meeting the same roadblocks as any one her age but going through it in front of more people than most of us do.

The attention that she’s gained, however, isn’t all bad and she does have a loyal band of merry followers, otherwise known as The Pack. These admirers helped Vanek’s ‘Who Is Jac Vanek’ advertising campaign become one of the best campaigns at Warped; bringing intrigued, sun burnt members of the public to her tent. When I stopped by it was almost ‘the moment of truth’ – was she the stuck up scene queen or the average girl with just a few more zero’s completing her bank balance? Well sorry to disappoint anti-Jac’s; it was the latter! Having picked the merchandise I wanted she came over and introduced herself (A scene queen shaking an unknowns hand? Dare I speak back to her Majesty?).

Jeremy Davis (Paramore) wearing Vanek's "True" bracelet

Having noticed my accent she began talking of her love of London and trip earlier in the year to visit friends We The Kings and Cobra Starship during their separate but simultaneous UK tours. After kindly asking how I was coping with the American heat and discussing the Warped line-up (plus noticing the other buyers patiently waiting) I handed over the Benjamin’s (have I got the lingo down yet?) and she popped my bracelets into a bag, adding stickers and a free necklace for good measure – “No I insist!” – and said goodbye through scarily perfect white teeth. – How do all Americans have such nice teeth??

So who would have thought it? After all the fuss Jac Vanek is simply a normal girl finding her place in the world, at the same time using her talents to become a successful entrepeneaur, which is more than can be said for your average run-of-the-mill scene queens. But don’t take mine, Urban dictionary’s or anyone else’s word for it! Go and find out for yourself, you might be pleasantly surprised!

To view and/or buy Jac Vanek items please visit www.jacvanek.com

You can find her on Myspace here: www.myspace.com/byjacvanek

Twitter here: www.twitter.com/jacvanek

And you can be updated by the lady herself here: www.jacvanek.tumblr.com/