The Grand Family Dinner

My first memory of Ben Oleynik is seeing him—in a tracksuit—humbly strutting through the halls of the agency I worked at as an editorial assistant when I was 22. A head-to-toe scan would reveal that he was laced up in a pair of Tyshawn Jones’ signature shoes, a mere few months after they first had been released. A stolen valor pseudo-skater whose affinity for watching Tyshawn Jones clips never quite got me over the hump of personally ollieing onto a curb, I was just grateful for a verbal entry point to who I perceived as the coolest guy in the office.

My sheepish inquisition (“Hey man, are those the new TJ shoes?”) in the break room would blossom into many years of a uniquely personal-professional relationship. Ben is often my first call when confronted with a professional dilemma, and I’m always eager to chat with him about his skate brand Grand Collection, trips to Paris, a Canadian upbringing, push-ups, and—lately, wonderfully—his sons Milo and Miles. Last week, I attended Grand Collection’s dinner at Veselka to celebrate the launch of its S/S26 collection, where I was again reminded of how many stories mirror my own.

There’s Pedro Muñoz, a skater and content creator who has no shortage of accolades he’s willing to bestow upon Ben, “a brother, a father figure, the GOAT.” I met Pedro when he was hosting a show for my old publication ONE37pm, a connection that was made by—obviously—Ben. Pedro speaks of Ben with a reverence traditionally reserved for family, and that’s because, at this point, he is.

“Everybody that's either walked the runway, modeled the clothes, or been a part of any of the events, it's all family,” says Muñoz. “He keeps the circle real small and tight, and he makes sure everybody feels special in their own way. That man is really, really blessed. He brings everybody together.”

Family begets more family. Ben was introduced by Pedro to his friend Dede Lovelace, an actress, skater and—I just found out—very talented painter, who is also now embedded in the Grand community. “I would say Ben kind of becomes this mentor to people, no matter what age you are. He just has this natural way of supporting and uplifting the things that are in front of him, that he's inspired by,” she says.

Newer to the family, comedian John Hedrick is already attuned to what makes the skater and designer special: “Ben pays attention,” he says. This ethos drives the design of Grand—the silhouettes, the materials—but also the way Ben fosters his relationships; Hedrick met some of the people Ben pays attention to at the dinner. “Everyone was doing something cool. I met a father and son that ran a magazine shop,” he says—talking about Hemal Sheth, owner of Iconic Magazines and longtime member of the Grand family.

There was actual family there too. “I love the sentiment of Veleska being his dad's favorite restaurant,” says Lovelace, who was then excited to see that the “Dad” nameplate on the table would eventually be received by Ben’s actual father in attendance.

Grand is celebrating the launch of their S/S26 collection, but the occasion’s environment felt more like that of a familial rite of passage—a wedding, a birthday, a Bar Mitzvah—than a “brand activation.” It was a collection of people really excited to celebrate someone they love; in a way, everyone is just returning the favor. “He likes to put on for his friends. He'll do anything for you if he fucks with you. He'll give the shirt off his back for you,” says Muñoz. Just that night, Ben had bestowed upon me an unreleased sweater sample for the dinner, something “hard for [him] to give up,” but offered nonetheless because “it’s very you,” he said. He was right. Muñoz, whose laugh reverberated through the jostling Ukrainian diner most of the evening, put it best: “We had our own family dinner. The Grand family dinner.”