Archive for Apparel/Accessories – Page 12

Jake Nickell – Threadless

In 2000, Jake Nickell started a thread on the forum website Dreamless, where artists could submit t-shirt designs to share with the rest of the thread. The best few designs were then chosen, and Jake printed them out and sold them. The artists who won received a few free shirts for their contribution. All of the money Jake made from shirt sales was put directly back into printing new shirts. His reason for this project was not making money, it was his passion for design and the art community. He did not even really think about it becoming a real business at first. After this first round, Jake built a website to sell the shirts on, and eventually moved everything to the site when he saw a possibility for a business. He called it Threadless, a spin-off of the name Dreamless. The basic structure was, and still is, that artists submit designs, and each week they are voted upon by the site users. Then the best are printed out and sold. Artists receive money and a Threadless gift card for winning.

Soon after, Jake dropped out of art school to focus on Threadless. During the first few years, Jake was constantly designing new websites and rolling them out to get feedback on them. They would sometimes totally change the Threadless website four times a year. Jake is an artist and a coder, so he had fun working on this, and still does to this day. In 2004, Threadless made $1.5 million in profit, and in 2006 they hit $6.5 million. Then in 2008, Inc. estimated $30 million in sales at a 30% profit ($9 million in profit), and also named Threadless as The Most Innovative Company in America and placed them on the front cover of their magazine.

Threadless utilizes two big tools with their business model – crowdsourcing and co-creation. This means that the customers create and promote the products being sold, which is part of the reason they are so successful. It gets artists involved in what they love to do. They also have a chance to make money from it, so they will go promote it to their friends, which keeps growing the business. Threadless was actually around before the term crowdsourcing came into being, but it was quickly connected with the company.

Threadless also does very well at connecting with their customers and artists. Employees sometimes text the artists, and constantly communicate with them and ask about their experience.

Threadless is truly an innovative company that has become very successful. What has made them successful is their (at the time) unique business model, and their passion, especially Jake’s passion, for the artist community.

Always More

As a Christian, we are running this race we call life with the end goal of crossing the finish line and into the arms of our Father as he whispers, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” The race is tiring and we sometimes get distracted from where the finish line is. We hesitate, we fall, we get up again and we keep going, because we ALWAYS have MORE strength, endurance, and power in Christ.

Audrey Roloff, the founder of her blog AujPoj started writing the phrase “always more” on her arms and shoes in high school. A dedicated long distance runner, she kept every pair of running shoes she has ever owned and would spray paint them red, fill them with prayers and notes, and finally mark the bottom with the phrase “Always More” to signify the end of an era and the start of a new one. Her inspiration behind the phrase comes from Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine…” As she got older, she started applying the phrase to more in her life beyond just running. “When I get cut off on the road or treated rudely, these words remind me that there is ALWAYS MORE to someones’ story than what I know. When I am filled with joy, these words remind me that Christ will ALWAYS overfill me with MORE joy as I look to Him.”

What started out as a personal mantra for a girl growing up in the Pacific North West has now turned into a national movement.

Roloff started her blog AujPoj as a way to relate running and faith, but expanded it to include DIYs, tutorials, devotionals, personal stories, and more to create a true hodgepodge of creativity and inspiration. She has since expanded her blog into a shop inspired by the phrase, “Always More” where she sells clothes, hats, stickers, and more.

She frequently references her “always more” mantra with applications to her own life experiences to over 905,000 followers on her personal Instagram page. And with almost 75,000 followers on her shop Instagram page, Roloff’s personal motivation has expanded into a full blown business and ministry. Her mission to encourage other women to “ALWAYS believe in the MORE that is within them through Christ,” has reached young women all over the world. She’s also included an Always More Devotional which involves weekly text messages filled with encouragement, prayers, scriptures, and more to inspire and motivate you to always believe there is more to be found in Christ.

Audrey Roloff has created more than just a business. She’s created a movement. There is always more hope, love, and joy when we seek Christ, and she invites anyone and everyone to come alongside her to live out this truth.

Instagram.com/AudreyRoloff

Instagram.com/ShopAlwaysMore

https://www.aujpoj.com/always-more/

https://www.aujpoj.com/shop/

Feel Good – The Elephant Pants

The Elephant Pants’ customers are encouraged to “feel good—” both about the ethical value of their purchase and while wearing their comfortable new elephant pants.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpm-ihllz2X/

Even the simplest of businesses requires the establishment of excellent marketing tactics and customer communication to succeed. The Elephant Pants is yet another fair-trade business organization focused around giving back. Their primary product, lightweight bohemian pants available in a variety of elephant-inspired patterns, mimics the harem-style pants popular in Thailand while drawing attention to the endangered species of elephants living there.

The Elephant Pants actively acts their mission, manufacturing their harem pants ethically in a factory in Thailand, which additionally provides profitable jobs to some of the local people there. For every pair of pants sold, $1 is donated to elephant protection through the business’s partnership with the International Elephant Foundation. Thanks to the founders’ conscious emphasis on marketing, these numbers are soaring, surpassing $184,000 in donations.

Nathan Coleman, founder and CEO of The Elephant Pants, recognized the significance of marketing within the success of a business from the beginning. Although modeling a business around a mission is mildly effective, nothing can replace consumer-conscious marketing in the design of a product. It’s great to promote a message of benevolence and fair trade, but business success requires more.

From the beginning, e-mail subscribers to the business are made to feel like part of the “phamily” with a charming welcome message, closed by the business’s consistent slogan- “Save Elephants, Feel Good.”

“Not every consumer is in the same stage within their buying cycle so the same message will not work on everyone. We think about what the consumer has done or not done to segment them into a specific group so we can curate the message that they will receive.” – Nathan Coleman, founder/CEO of the elephant pants.

The Elephant Pants has done their homework well, garnering product reviews and utilizing various strategies for gaining returning customers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpkv8fFAbwl/

And of course, passion for elephant welfare is truly what keeps this business’s heart pounding. “Elephants are extremely intelligent and emotional animals. They live in family units and even mourn when family members pass away. It’s a shame that they are killed for their ivory just to supply collectibles or supposed medicines. Our philosophy is that the only one who needs ivory is an elephant, and with that we do our best to give elephants a voice.”

The Craft of Custom Crochets

Bella Tonski had a skill for making things with her hands, whether it was crocheting a hat or baking a cake. More than that, she had taught herself how recreate a crocheted item just using a picture as reference, working without any sort of a pattern. Those who are crafters themselves will realize just how impressive this skill is. Bella is a visionary. On her website’s about page, she says,

“I’m a wife, a crafter & creator, a baker, a lover of both eating & cooking, connoisseur of written word, adorer of cats & critters, a Connecticut-dweller, & most important of all, a follower of Christ. I believe that I was created by a creative God to create creative things & crochet is my go-to method to reflect that!”

Though Bella has always been creative, she was not always interested in creating her own business. The encouragement of her husband that caused her to even consider it. Now she has a website, a Facebook page, and an Etsy shop for patterns that she has created.

I find her work to be an inspiration as I am a crafter myself. I admire her abilities and her open commitment to Christ through her life and work.

Find Bella’s Custom Crochets Etsy shop here.

Are You Kidding?… nope not kidding

Socks. We all wear them (or at least we all should) and most are pretty boring. White tube socks are basically the sock equivalent of white rice. Who would want to eat white rice and ONLY white rice everyday? Likewise, who would want to wear only white, black, or brown socks day in and day out? Brandon and Sebastian Martinez grew tired of boring socks and decided to do something about it. Brandon, at the age of 5, began to design his own line of zany, wacky socks with his older brother Sebastian helping him to sell them. From their humble beginnings to generating $15,ooo in 2014, Are You Kidding and these two brothers have come a long way. But crazy socks and even crazier profits aren’t the only amazing thing about this young sock company, they also give back. Are You Kidding They have partnered with a multitude of charities which include: Autism Speaks, American Cancer Society, Special Olympics Florida, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami, and The Live Like Bella Foundation. With a healthy business and the rest of their lives to continue to grow it, the sky is truly the limit for these peewee entrepreneurs!

Link to Are You Kidding’s website: https://areyoukiddingsocks.com/

Power of Influencers

Amanda Thomas of Luv AJ, founded the beloved jewelry and accessory company Luv AJ. Much of her success has come from her ability to use influencers like Beyonce, Gigi Hadid, and Emily Ratajkowski. Being a millennial, Amanda was able to work the forefront and power of influencers on social media and these influencers followers.

Amanda has an eye of design and aesthetics she utilized Instagram to reflect her brand. Close up shots of her products with links to purchase is how she started and continues to run a successful eCommerce shop. Next, she moved to contacting and sending free jewelry to famous individuals who then would post about the product. So even without individuals being familiar with the brand Luv AJ, the millions of individuals who follow Beyonce for example would soon be familiar with the products that Luv AJ has to offer and be able to also purchase the product or products that Beyonce was wearing.

This influencer market has spread to 200 girls with a range of followers that each season are gifted jewelry in exchange for a post and a tag to Luv AJ’s page. Every post gives them access to a new audience and all owes Luv AJ to get in front of millions of Instagram users and potential customers.

Luv AJ Leading in Social Media Marketing

Most people think innovation as a quality only new businesses or new products require. However, one entrepreneur showed that innovation is important of all areas of business. Amanda Thomas, founder of the Luv AJ Jewelry Line, demonstrated innovation not only in her product but in how she marketed it.

Image result for amanda thomas luv ajThomas created her jewelry line in 2005 when she was 16 years old, her after school obsession becoming a profitable business with unique accessories. While at Fred Segal, she randomly met a buyer who wanted her jewelry in all of their stores around the country. That was the first step for Luv AJ on the road of becoming a global empire. A student under famous designers such as Rachel Pally, Christina Ehrlich, and Estee Stanley, Thomas learned how to best create unique jewelry that appeals to lots of different crowds. Now, Luv AJ has boutiques all over the country and the jewelry is popular with a lot of celebrities. People like Beyoncé, Bella Hadid, Kylie Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, and Emma Roberts all praise Luv AJ and the unique heavy chains and spikes unique to that line.

While Luv AJ demonstrates tons of unique innovation, it’s Thomas’ intense marketing work Image result for amanda thomas luv ajthat really shows an entrepreneurial mind. Forbes describes Thomas as a “digital native”, manipulating social media trends to bring her designs and products to the forefront of the market. From the start, Thomas used Instagram to immerse her brand in the world. She uses her talent for design to create an amazing Instagram page for her products that visual appealing. “Our Instagram grid is a mix of close up shots of ears, necks, and hands, lookbook and campaign imagery, photos of influencers and celebrities wearing the jewelry, and flat lays,” she says.

Thomas knows what an amazing platform social media is for marketing. Her unique photos and advertisements have vastly increased Luv AJ’s marketing reach. However, Thomas doesn’t stop there. She has worked hard to use different influential people to promote her product online, like models, singers, actresses, and so on. To best describe her innovative method of advertisement, she says, “Each season, we work with over 200 girls with a wide range of followers, and we gift them jewelry in exchange for a post and tag. With their tags, we get our product in front of new audiences with every single post.” Thomas isn’t picky about the number of followers or how popular the influencer is. She believes that someone with 50k followers opens up markets the same amount as one with 500k followers.

Image result for luv aj beyonceThomas’ innovation with social media marketing and networking has paid off, big time. Yet she doesn’t rest on her success. She continues to build new relationships to increase her reach. Sometimes she directly messages influences to build a relationship, sometimes she gets referrals from others she’s worked with. Either way, she strives to create partnerships with new people to open up new markets. With products at $100 or lower, her line is spiking in popularity.

Thomas continues to innovate with her online presence to make buying even easier. “First, every single image we post is tagged to a product that is directly synced to our Shopify store. You can click-to-buy on a post and checkout on your mobile device. The second way is through the “Link in Bio” which leads you to our SHOP ALL collection. The third way you is through the app Four Sixty which makes our Instagram feed shoppable on our e-commerce store. Other tools we use that add efficiency are PlanolyVSCO, and Repost,” she says. Clearly these tools are working, as Luv AJ’s global empire expands and Thomas brings her unique jewelry to more markets. That’s true innovation: not only creating a new product but new ways of selling it.

Raising Breast Cancer Awareness Through Sports Bras

Stephanie Vermaas is the CEO and founder of TIALS, This Is A Love Song, an active wear and intimates brand. She went through breast cancer at the age of 23, and this opened her eyes to breast cancer awareness especially for young women. Her primary customers are millennial women so, Vermaas wanted to bring awareness to breast cancer through education, prevention and detection through TIALS top selling item- sports bras.
Last year TAILS created the TIALSPINK campaign, in collaboration with the American Breast Cancer Association. Every sale of a pink sports bra went to support the organization. This campaign became so popular that Vermaas decided to leave this sports bra available for purchase all year round. Enabling greater proceeds to go towards breast cancer victims.

It’s In The Bag

Lt. Emily Núñez Cavness was a millennial on a mission. She was an “Army Brat” her whole life and was continuously surrounded by military influences. Even at a young age she knew she wanted to help veterans. However, her vision wasn’t realized until she was deployed. It was in Afghanistan of all places that she decided to officially start Sword & Plough. The name was a clever play on the idea of taking military supplies and repurposing them for civilian products, which is exactly what they do. The company recycles military supplies and materials that would otherwise be left to waste and pollute the earth, and turn them into totes, backpacks, accessories, and handbags.
See the source image

She started the company with her sister Betsy, and is currently still the CEO as well as serving as a Captain in the U.S. armed forces. Over the last several years Sword & Plough has recycled 30,000 pounds of materials and sold over 7,000 bags and accessories. The real mission is found in the fact that they currently employ 38 veterans.

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Núñez Cavness was one of the first 100 women to attempt the U.S. Army’s Ranger Training Assessment Course as well as named a White House Champion of Changed and Forbes 30 under 30 fellow. Emily and Betsy are definitely a powerhouse duo and have quite the vision. Their mission has a real purpose and their product is of the quality. It will be great to see where Sword & Plough ends up.

Exposure Isn’t Just a Filter On Instagram

Amanda Thomas, the founder of jewelry brand LuvAJ and one of Forbes “30 under 30”, started her now iconic accessory line when she was only 16 years old. Turning an after-school hobby into an international brand that partners and is worn by supermodels such as the Kardashian sisters and Gigi Hadid was no easy task. What was her trick you may ask? It wasn’t taking out a loan and spending hundred of thousands of dollars on advertising campaigns or market research studies.

It was through Instagram.

Amanda quite literally DM’ed many of her favorite models, celebrities, and YouTubers and asked them to partner with her. And many of them said yes. With a keen grasp on photography and what customers want to see, she arranges photoshoots with these celebrities and other representatives and in return for a post and a tag, they’re paid and given all the jewelry they posted pictures of. This may seem like a strange method of advertising, but in today’s world and for a Millenial entrepreneur, it is not. Amanda found the perfect launching pad for her product on a platform almost all of us use every day, and made the most from it.