Carpet Company, kings of Baltimore streetwear, plant their flag in Station North

T-shirts that sell out in minutes. Collaborations with Nike and Vans. A signature logo that’s becoming synonymous with Baltimore.

The rise of Carpet Company, the clothing and skateboarding brand forcing the global streetwear industry to pay attention to Charm City, has been leading to this moment: Its first flagship store, inside a former bank in Station North, opens Saturday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

“Carpet was just supposed to be a fun side experiment to make T-shirts for friends,” Osama Abdeldayem said, standing beside a massive chrome and steel pyramid in the middle of the shop’s floor. “Then somehow it became this. I don’t know how.”

Since 2016, brothers Osama and Ayman Abdeldayem have built a loyal, growing fan base through the company’s online store, streetwear shops around the world and in-person weekend drops at their East Baltimore warehouse. Each season features limited-quantity releases of T-shirts, jackets, pants and unpredictable accessories, all wrapped up in a natural, irreverent coolness that marketing firms would love to bottle and sell.

Along the way, they’ve collaborated with Nike, Vans, Avirex and the Orioles on products that sell out fast. The coveted clothing’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it availability adds to Carpet’s exclusivity, a key component of streetwear. Inspired by hip-hop and skateboarding, the casual style now influences high fashion and has become a multibillion-dollar retail market.

But this new store is more than just a 1,361-square-foot retail shop: The building, located at 100 E. North Ave., also houses a cafe run by Hampden’s Good Neighbor coffee shop and will have an art gallery on its second floor. The ambitious project is the brothers’ major bet on North Avenue, as they look to inject some youthful, creative energy into a neglected historic strip.

“We chose North Avenue because, and we all know this, that place is beautiful but it’s not thriving,” Osama, 35, said. “It needs help.”

The Carpet aesthetic will certainly stand out there. The latest season’s vibrantly colorful clothes sport designs like a crudely drawn “Low IQ Dog” and a mischievous kid spelling out “CARPET” with his urine stream. Some of their most sought-after items feature Carpet’s main logo, the C-Star: a five-pointed star in the rough shape of the letter.

Beyond clothes, Carpet regularly releases items few could imagine, from a $28 cast-iron egg skillet to bedazzled animal collars. They’ve all sold out, as did a 4-ounce soy candle housed in a hand-painted “trash can” ceramic, a 12-pack of No. 2 pencils and a $198 fire-engine-red leather duffel bag.

It’s all designed by the brothers, self-taught designers with no formal training.

Their approach has brought Carpet all over the world, with shops in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Hong Kong stocking their products. In-the-know outlets like Hypebeast have documented the brand’s ascent in streetwear, which has included a Vans Old Skool capsule and 2021’s coconut milk-colored Nike Skateboarding Dunk sneaker.

“For them to do a Dunk, it’s just gigantic. So that caught the eye of outside of skateboarding,” said former pro skater Gary Smith, who owns Vu Skateshop in Hampden and Parkville. “I think they’re bigger than skateboarding.”

Osama and Ayman are still astounded by how far they’ve come. Born in Alabama, the first-generation Egyptian Americans moved to Prince George’s County, where they grew up as teenagers in a “very studious household.” Their physicist father would make them solve 100 math problems before they could go skating.

Their parents saw engineering in their future, but the brothers’ hearts were set on creating a skate brand with bold T-shirts, jeans and a nonsensical name.

“We wanted to do something that didn’t relate to skateboarding, which is why it’s called Carpet,” said Ayman, 33. ”It has nothing to do with anything.”

Franz Lyons, bassist of the popular Baltimore band Turnstile, fondly remembers helping the brothers screen-print T-shirts in their early days. Years later, Lyons wore a Carpet necklace on the red carpet before the hardcore act won its first Grammys.

“Being in Baltimore is one thing but like, they’re just cool and they’ve got fresh ideas,” Lyons said. “And they’re actually good at skating.”

While the new store will sell skateboard decks and accessories, the goal is to appeal to many more patrons, the brothers said.

Enter Carpet Cafe by Good Neighbor, a coffee shop attached to the store but with a separate entrance. It feels like the calming yin to the brightly designed store’s yang — and gives customers a reason to enter the building even if they don’t like the “weird little things” they make, Ayman said.

Good Neighbor co-owner Shawn Chopra said the brands share a common goal.

“They’re dreamers. We’re dreamers. And we feel like we want to invest in Baltimore, be in Baltimore and continue to put our spin on things that we love,” said Chopra. Carpet Cafe, he added, will soon sell plates, bowls and other home goods designed by the two brands.

Planting roots in Baltimore isn’t the smart choice for a streetwear brand when New York, Chicago or Los Angeles are more obvious fashion destinations, the brothers said. But they’re determined to succeed “where we lay our heads at night.”

“To do it here, the right way, as our flagship — that’s important,” Ayman said. “And for people in Baltimore, so far, it’s been a big response. They’re like, ‘We’re proud to have you.’ We’ll see how it goes.”

The neighborhood is noticing. For months, the brothers tried to get an exterior clock on the former bank building to work again, with passersby asking for progress updates. The fix was quoted for tens of thousands of dollars; instead, the Carpet team climbed a ladder and got their hands dirty. Today, it’s operating again — with a visible C-star logo, of course.

“We built the motor, and now the clock spins,” Ayman said. “Our friend down the street, Michael [Haskins Jr. of Currency Studio], was like, I think when that clock turned on, like, the heartbeat came back on in this area.”

The brothers hope to bring their usual crowds to Station North for anticipated weekly drops of new Carpet items, but they’re also increasing quantities. Creating demand with limited releases has fueled Carpet’s rise, but Ayman said they’re not worried about better product availability denting the brand’s aura.

“If someone’s coming [in] on a random Thursday, I want to make sure he doesn’t come into an empty store,” he said.

Days before opening, the building was buzzing with activity as team members cleaned and put final touches on both the store and cafe. With so much going on, was there any time to step back and appreciate just how far Carpet has come in a decade?

“I haven’t absorbed it yet,” Ayman said. “We’ve been working nonstop. I don’t know. I think I’ll know what it means to me in like, six months.”

Banner photojournalist Kaitlin Newman contributed to this story.