Going with the flow

For menstrual mogul Vinnie D'Angelo, it's always that time of the month.

By Libby Ellis

Dec. 20, 2001 | Former freelance illustrator Vinnie D'Angelo got the idea for his tampon cases from watching female friends struggle to discreetly transport tampons to public restrooms. He listened to their complaints about bent and tattered tampons at the bottoms of their purses. He saw an opportunity and he made a plan.

Nowadays, Vinnie's grinning face looks up from custom tampon cases and seems to say, "There's no shame in menstruating! Flaunt it, babe!" (What the cases actually say is "One size fits all." And on the back: "I break for cycles.") His inventions -- done in durable canvas -- are designed to carry tampons and empower the holder. No more carrying the whole purse to the bathroom to get at one measly tampon. No more walking to the bathroom with a pad shoved into the waistband of your pants. Vinnie's Tampon Cases are like a neon sign that says, "I have my period and I'm one cool girl."

The thing is, D'Angelo, who is one cool guy, is not very empowered about selling things. In fact, he began his hugely successful business by giving tampon cases away. Since that time, however, he has accepted his inner salesman and branched out. At this point, it is safe to say that Vinnie D'Angelo is a menstruation magnate, a guy with a corner on a market he created himself.

Just this month, D'Angelo unveiled "Vinnie's Cramp Relieving Bubble Bath and CD." He really tried to wrap his mind around what women want in the tub, and what he came up with isn't about Calgon and Kenny G. The blue suds are infused with olive oil and chamomile, and D'Angelo describes the music on the "X-tra Bubbles Soothing Bubble Beats CD" as "cramp-relieving without being sappy or serious." Sample the tunes here.

The music tie-in is a natural for D'Angelo, who is no stranger to show biz. "I used to play my songs about tampon cases in subway stations with my friend, but he moved and I don't know how to tune the guitar," he explains. "I want to get back to doing that."

In the spring, D'Angelo is set to release his first book: "Vinnie's Giant Roller Coaster Period Chart and Journal Sticker Book." All that is left is a clothing line. And step back, P. Diddy, it turns out there is one in the marketing plan: Vinnie's Tampon Case clothes.

D'Angelo reports that he has been wearing at least one article of homemade Vinnie's Tampon Cases clothing every day since 1996. At first he felt a little funny about it -- five years later he's uncomfortable if he doesn't have a Vinnie's Tampon Case logo someplace on his body. (A year into his self-promoting fashion revolution, D'Angelo's girlfriend, Sarah, made a request. "She asked me if I would wear some non-red shirts," said Vinnie, "so I started making things in other colors. I mean, she does have to look at me every day.")

D'Angelo learned to sew in the fifth grade, when he made Abe Lincoln's beard out of yarn and manila paper. Since then he has used his sewing skills, enhanced by his design skills, to get his project off the ground.

Next page: No old tampon jokes