Born in Kathmandu, Nepal, Ash Rana was adopted by a princess of the royal family and raised in one of its palaces. He grew up loving Western pop music and Bollywood movies, attending temple services where women wore silk saris with t-shirts, and men donned blazers over kurtas, traditional baggy drawstring pants and long shirts - a mix of ancient custom and improvised modernity that would forever inspire his work. Rana attended high school in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, then left Asia to study fashion design and illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. After graduation he veered into nightlife, working as a drag performer and door personality at clubs and restaurants in New York and South Beach. In 2000 he launched his first fashion company, Ash Rana Inc, and designed clothing for major pop acts including Colombian rock star Juanes, as well as fellow Latino stars Paulina Rubio and Luis Fonsi, country singer Tim McGraw, and rappers Lil Kim and Trina.

Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, Damian Rojo and his family fled the turmoil and repression of the Cuban Revolution in 1971. His artistic talent quickly became apparent when he was recruited for Miami's first public school gifted program for the arts. He later went on to study fine arts at Miami Dade College and LACC. In the 80's, Rojo was one of a small group of artists, designers and creative trailblazers who pioneered the cultural explosion of South Beach, working as an independent artist and designer and as art director of the Artifacts Group and arts salon. Rojo's versatile and wide-ranging creativity would also lead him to work as an art director for Miami Vice at 18, later MTV U.S. and to create stage sets and ad campaigns for such music and fashion talents as Grace Jones, David Byrne, Erykah Badu, Donna Karan and Calvin Klein.