Alan Faena was born to a Syrian Argentine family in Buenos Aires, in 1965. His parents became prosperous textile manufacturers and in 1985, Faena established Vía Vai (a casual wear design label and boutique).
Vía Vai prospered, and by the late 1990s, the firm's 40 outlets in Argentina and numerous others in Brazil, Chile, France and Italy grossed around US$30 million in net sales. Faena sold the chain in the year 2000, after which he relocated to the resort city of Punta del Este, Uruguay. Capital from the sale of Vía Vai allowed him to approach renowned French designer Philippe Starck with a concept for the creation of a hotel, residential and cultural complex in the newly renovated Puerto Madero docklands of Buenos Aires. This association, in turn, secured the interest of New York-based Russian developer Len Blavatnik, who made US$100 million available for the development of the "Faena Arts District."
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