By Dave Rosen

 Chester Bennington Brings His Ve'cel Clothing Line Back To Where It All Started  

Chester Bennington has toured the world and sold millions of records with his Grammy-winning band, Linkin Park. What most people might not know, however, is that the singer/songwriter also launched a clothing line called Ve'cel, and on Tuesday, August 26, during the MAGIC Convention, he celebrated the line's one year anniversary.

Photo Credit: Dave Rosen

“It's pretty amazing to see it start out as an idea and then watch it take off,” Bennington said on the red carpet outside of Tryst at the Wynn Hotel & Casino. The debut of Ve'cel was actually one year ago at the MAGIC Convention here in Las Vegas. “It's great to come back to the place we launched and see the response after the first year.” He says that the reception has been great so far. It's easy to see how fans of Linkin Park and other rock acts would dig the Gothic-rock inspired designs of the clothing line. The T-Shirts are made with very original, full body designs, using broken fonts and scattered splashes of ink and gradient layers.

While a search on www.vecelclothing.com  for dealers in Nevada brought up no results, it was still easy to see Bennington's enthusiasm for being back in Las Vegas. “I love the crowds here in Vegas,” he said. “I like a little bit of gambling too... I just don't like the losing money part...”
 
Bennington shouldn't worry too much about losing money, though, with his band's multiple platinum records. Their last few albums all claimed the number one spot on the Billboard Top 200, spawned numerous number one hits and launched huge sold-out tours. As a matter of fact, they're probably the only nu-metal/rap-rock band of the late 90's/early 2000's that remains relevant today (Limp Bizkit anyone? How about P.O.D.?).

Photo Credit: Dave Rosen

So how was the party? Well it was pretty much like any other night out in Las Vegas except for a few extra faux-hawks and tattoos . They didn't really do anything to change the vibe of Tryst, a beautiful club by all means, but it was basically just the usual. Hip-hop blazed, dancers danced, drinkers drank. It was certainly a fun time, but it would have been cool to see some of the clothes demonstrated for those of us that didn't get to stop by their Magic booth. Then again, I'm sure that there were probably plenty of people wearing Ve'cel, but who could tell?

Chester Bennington is very proud of his Ve'cel line. He's just as proud of the clothing line as he is of the band, he says. “Right now I'm just sticking to splitting my time between the band and the clothing line,” he told me. “We're going back into the studio in November to work on the new album, then I'll work on Ve'cel, and then we're going back out on the road.”

A quote from the Ve'cel website says, “We live in a world filled with corruption, the clash of good and evil all stemming from our inner souls. Our hope lies in the creative minds of each of us. Music, art and fashion, all fused through Ve'cel.” If they say so... I just think the logo is pretty cool!