Archive for Clothing – Page 8

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/

Personal Styling

Daniel Johnson is a unique entrepreneur from the United Kingdom. His story exemplifies the drive, hard work, and perseverance necessary for success. Johnson has worked as a personal stylist since 2009.

When he started this business at the height of the great recession, he would catch a train from his hometown in Halifax to London, where he would work pro bono, taking friends and family to London to shop for tailored suits.Over the next few years, while working as a local barman, Johnson worked to pay for professional training on Savile Row with some of London’s best styling institutions.

Now, he operates in Mayfair, one of the wealthiest areas in the world, catering to the lifestyles of busy, driven, and famous individuals. He now buys suits that are worth more than $3 million for his clients. Many of the suits he buys are worth more than their weight in gold. Johnson’s tailored suits represent some of the most expensive fabrics in the world. In the nearly 10 years of business, he has helped over 1,500 clients, and ordered over 9,000 tailored garments. His story is an important reminder that success takes hard work and persistence.

New Idea, Vintage Clothing

Now in their mid-thirties and married, Susan Gregg and Eric Koger began in 2002 with some used clothes and an idea. Susan had always had a love for vintage clothing but eventually came to the point where her passion outgrew her closet. As college students, she and Eric were always looking for ways to make money, and so they had the idea to begin an online vintage clothing shop, naming it ModCloth.

ModCloth had very humble beginnings, with one part-time employee working out of their basement, but over the next couple of years they began expanding rapidly. By the time that Susan graduated college, she realized that ModCloth could be her full-time job. In 2007, ModCloth had one million dollars in sales and raised one million in capital. From there ModCloth continued to expand its sales, bringing in $150 million in revenue during 2014. They grew to the point where they were selling styles from designers all around the world.

One impressive way that they measured demand was through a program called “Be the Buyer.” This program allowed potential buyer to view sample products, vote on them, and give input on each product’s price, style, etc. “Be the Buyer” really helped Susan to understand her customers and what they were looking for in ModCloth.

I think that ModCloth is a wonderful example of a passion made profitable.

 

Susan and Eric with their beloved pug.

ModCloth has since been sold to WalMart. Their website and YouTube channel can be viewed here.

Shark Tank Star Mo’s Bows

Moziah Bridges was only 12 years old when he become the CEO of his own bow tie company, Mo’s Bows. Inspired to start his company at the age of nine by his dad, who he would see dress very nice every day, Moziah asked his mom and grandmother for help on learning how to sew. This led Moziah to making his first ever hand-crafted bow tie. Believing that he had a good product, he started to sell his product online and in retail stores throughout Memphis. From there his business started to gain traction and the demand for his bow ties started to go beyond his local town, “I think the reason Mo’s Bows first caught on among consumers is the same reason it’s successful today. Every bow tie is hand crafted and made in America, and they’re all extremely colorful. There’s a lot of personality behind my line,” says Bridges. Throughout Mo’s Bows growth Moziah has stayed extremely involved in the entire process. He picks and approves all of the fabrics and patterns that go into making every bow tie. Of course everything is not solely run by him, his family helps out in every way that they can.

Mo’s Bows and Moziah Bridges become so popular that he started making TV appearances on a variety of different shows. Shows such as, the Steve Harvey Show, Today, and Good Morning America. He wanted to inform as many people as he could about the brand he was building. Things really started to explode after he made an appearance on an episode of Shark Tank in April of 2014. Moziah did not land a deal with one of the sharks but was offered mentorship by Daymond John. Moziah Bridges still is working with Daymond to help grow his business to this day, “Working with Daymond has really helped me take Mo’s Bows to the next level. He guides me through the practical aspects of running and growing a company”. Moziah’s goal is to grow into a full blown fashion line domestically and internationally. This growth has provided Mo’s Bows with amazing opportunities. These opportunities have involved being a fashion correspondent at the NBA draft and receiving an invitation to the White House where he was able to present Obama with his own blue tie.

Image result for Moziah Bridges with daymond john

The reach of Mo’s Bows company was growing, and Moziah wanted to do something good with it. This led him to start Go Mo which were bow ties where 100 percent of the proceeds went to send troubled Memphis children to summer camp in the summer. To date the charity has sent over 50 kids to summer camps in Memphis. Now Mo’s Bows has sold over $300,000 worth of bow ties and Moziah Bridges is still only in high school. Incredible!

Gymshark: One of the UK’s Fastest Growing companies… and the Founder is Only 24!

From their fashionable gym clothing to their progressive office environment, Gymshark is one of the UK’s fastest growing companies. Started by Ben Francis in 2012, Gymshark seeks to create gym apparel that is both functional and fashionable. Many millennials have probably heard of the company, considering their outstanding social media and internet presence. The majority of their marketing comes from Youtube Stars, famous athletes, and popular Instagram models, but, how did Gymshark get this big?

We can start with their founder, Ben Francis. Since a child, Ben was always pursuing the entrepreneurial dream. As a teenager, Ben was obsessed with making websites, and using the internet to generate passive income. His most successful site sold custom British licences plates, inspiring him to do more. After the iPhone’s release in 2007, Ben saw a market, creating 4 apps in the span of a few years, 2 of them being fitness apps. Then, in 2012, Ben and one of his friends decided to start another website, Gymshark. With the Dream of becoming a Titan in the fitness industry, Ben worked 70+ hours a week designing, sewing, and shipping his newest brand, Gymshark. At the beginning Gymshark only sold embroidered tank tops and t-shirts, but they new something wasn’t right. They saw a problem with the shirts the were ordering, the sleeves were to long or the seams weren’t tailored in a way that made the male physique look good for gym-goers. Solving this problem has made the company millions.

Gymsharks advertising and marketing venture started a bit unconventionally. As the product started to gain popularity, Ben decide to send his merchandise to popular YouTubers and bodybuilders, asking them to review it and wear it. Of course, they loved the product. Gymshark now markets entirely on celebrity endorsments, reaching out to up and coming Instagram models and YouTubers offering to “sponser” them (essentially asking them to wear their product in the pictures and videos they create).

Gymshark certainly has an inspiring story, taking the drive and innovation out of a man and turning it into a company that is forcing big brands like Nike and Adidas to re-think how they design their clothes.

Fair Harbor Company, Helping Save The Oceans.

Fair Harbor Company is a clothing company that sells swimsuits, sounds normal right? The interesting thing is that this company makes swimsuits out of recycled bottles, they also make clothing through recycled polyester. The company idea was started by Jake Danehy. The company name comes from a summer spot, called Fair Harbor, that he and his family went to during the summers. Over time he and his sister Caroline developed a deep love for the ocean. Later while studying geography at Colgate University he was moved by how much damage was being dealt to the oceans. So entering Colgate’s version of Shark-Tank, along with his fashion minded sister Caroline, they debuted Fair Harbor company. They won a 20,000$ grant to start their company.

Even with this grant they have faced challenges and mistakes with starting and keeping the company going. But the duo are continuing onward and striving to always make a superior product. They intend to show how plastic can be used for so many other things. And how plastic is not just a one time use product, and their way of showing that is by making swimsuits out of plastic.

Company Website

http://www.fairharborclothing.com

More Info on the company

http://www.inc.com/maisie-devine/these-millennial-siblings-are-building-a-multi-million-dollar-fashion-company-from-ocean-pollution.html