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Archive for Fashion – Page 13

Sole Men

Posted by Ben Tobias

· Sunday, December 6th, 2015

· 4 Comments

It’s been said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but what one shoe company called “Greats” is doing with their new line of product is giving old dogs new kicks and everyone is loving it. CEO Ryan Babenzien set out in 2013 to create a shoe company that would break the traditional model of the shoe industry by creating something that could appeal to a broader market of customers by providing them a product unlike any other in the marketplace. Babenzien says “Let’s pick the greatest silhouettes in men’s sneakers and footwear, and design our DNA into them.” The company accomplishes this by combing old school leathers and colors with new styles for a one of a kind design.

By marketing to customers directly online, Greats lowers the cost of their product significantly. Where one leather shoe that would retail at a high-end department store for over 500 dollars, it can now retail for somewhere in the region of 100 dollars. The company really saw potential in taking tow different concepts, and combining them in a way that created something entirely new. Consumers also appreciate the product, and by 2015 the company expects to make somewhere in the region of 5 to 7 million dollars next year, proving to the industry that classic shoe styles never die, but their “soles” live forever.

4 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, eCommerce, Fashion

13-Year-Old Bow Tie Connoisseur

Posted by Jordan Hudock

· Saturday, November 14th, 2015

· 5 Comments

(Image from mosbowsmemphis.com)

I’ve loved Moziah Bridges ever since I saw him on Shark Tanka few years ago. He’s thirteen and he has his own bow tie company. He started it when he was nine under the supervision of his mom, Tramica. The thing I love most about his company is how cool the brand is. Everything about it, from the story to the bow tie designs to the way his website is set up, seems to flow together to form one coherent brand that is totally his own. He’s been successful, too. This year alone, he’s projected to make $250,000 in revenue. He sells mainly through his online store but has branched out into shops and boutiques across the United States, too.

I think his story is inspiring because he’s a perfect example that all you need to start a great company is a vision and a support system. He had no experience with the fashion industry when he got into it at nine years old, just a dream and a helpful mom. It’s grown into something huge, just because he had the courage to start.

Moziah still has a lot of dreams he’s chasing after. His goal is to be in college with his own clothing line by the time he’s 20. He also wants to get more involved with charities. Right now, he’s donating money from his business to help his local community center in Memphis.

I think Moziah’s story is fantastic. It’s a simple and classic example of what can happen when you have good intentions and a vision for where you want to go. We can all learn a lot from him.

5 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Fashion, Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Shark Tank, Websites, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Tags : bow ties, kid entrepreneurs

A Small Network Still Works

Posted by Cole Zinn

· Saturday, October 3rd, 2015

· 3 Comments

When researching millennial entrepreneurs there seems to be a connection between all of them. They did not begin a certain business, or create a product to gain revenue from it, but rather they had an idea, and put that idea to work. Consequently it usually ends up that their idea makes them money. But it is just the fact of providing a good or service that seems to drive these people.

Eric Koger and his wife Susan Gregg Koger were two young adults attending Carnegie Mellon University together. They both had a want to create a better way to get vintage and vintage style clothing. They figured that the best way they could accomplish this was through a website. So in 2002 launched the website Mod Cloth. This website went into full time operation by 2006.

While this idea seems menial to many of us today, due to the vast amount of web sites we can access at the touch of a button, In 2006 this was innovative for the service it was providing. Since there take off in 20006 they have moved from the Strip-District in Pittsburgh to San Francisco, where they are based.

A move in location was not the only thing that happened however. A move in the direction of online selling had also been created due to these two college students.

These two young entrepreneurs show me that innovation is a result of a network greater than yourself. Who knows, if Eric Koger didn’t meet Susan, the internet shopping experience may be a little different today.

3 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Fashion, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Vintage, Vintage Clothing

16-Year Old Millionaire Necklace Maker

Posted by Jordan Hudock

· Saturday, October 3rd, 2015

· 4 Comments

Maddie Bradshaw is popular on the blog tonight. Like Grace, I researched Bradshaw for this post. I want to talk about her success from a slightly different angle, though. As you might have read from Grace’s awesome post, Maddie Bradshaw is a 16-year-old millionaire. She designs and sells Snap Caps, creative bottle caps that can be worn as jewelry. She has 25 employees and sells over 60,000 necklaces each month.

I found her story particularly interesting because she isn’t selling something that solves a huge, mind-boggling problem. In fact, she’s similar to Apple in that she’s giving people something they didn’t even know they wanted.

So, why are people buying from her? Anyone can make a simple necklace, and many companies do. What sets Bradshaw apart? She presents Snap Caps as the necklace that celebrates and brings out a girl’s unique qualities. Each necklace has a theme, whether fairytale or music or ladybugs or faith. Girls choose the ones they think fit their personality. Just like Zappos, she’s putting a bigger “why” behind a product most people don’t usually think much about.

Her approach fits right into the “conceptual age” idea we were talking about in class. To have a place in the market, products need to be more than just functional. They need to stand for something. Snap Caps stand for uniqueness.

Bradshaw’s success shines far beyond her net worth. She has appeared on multiple TV Shows, like The View and Shark Tank, and has even published her own book, You Can Start a Business, Too. Her biggest piece of advice to young entrepreneurs is to follow your passion. She says, “If you come up with an idea and you love it, chances are other people will, too.” I think people forget this a lot. They don’t work towards something they love because they’re scared it won’t interest others. That has certainly been true for me and many people I know. Bradshaw is a wonderful reminder that you can create a business around any passion. She took the risk most people wouldn’t have and it’s paying off for her in amazing ways.

(Image: The Toggery)

4 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Art, Beauty, Blog, Fashion, Jewelry, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Tags : bradshaw, necklace

12 Year Old Starts Tie Business

Posted by Stephen Weaver

· Thursday, October 1st, 2015

· 4 Comments

Today, people don’t dress up as much or appreciate the art of good clothing. At 12 years old, Moziah Bridges realized this problem and found a solution. Moziah loves to dress up but he could never find the right bow tie for his outfit, so he started his own company after learning how to sew from his grandmother. Today Moziah has started up his own bow tie company has sold more than $150,000 worth of bow ties.

moziah bridges

His ties are priced at about 40$ a piece and come in all kinds of different designs. Talk about a young entrepreneur right? I believe this is the kind of spirit we need to carry with us. He didn’t create this business purely for the money, he just translated a personal passion of his into some need should be fulfilled. He has been featured on the show Shark Tank and in several different magazines. I’m excited to see where he might take this company as he grows up. I love stories such as this because they are real evidence of what a passion for something might produce.

4 Comments

Categories : Fashion, Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers

TopChedLax

Posted by James Plante

· Thursday, December 11th, 2014

· 3 Comments

TopChedLax was founded by two Grove City College students in 2013, who are members of the Club Lacrosse team at Grove City. Daniel Casselli and Will Stumpf came up with an idea in their dorm rooms for a lacrosse clothing company focused on “shredding high cheese.”

They focused on the community of “lax bros” who do nothing but play lacrosse. It is a content driven company, in so far as, they understand the difficulties that are inherent in the clothing industry. They have differentiated themselves by driving the need for their product by painting a certain picture in the customers mind of who would wear this clothing. The consumer then, presumably, wants to fit this image so they buy their clothing.

In their own words,”Inspired by the sun drenched, salt stained, American born lax lifestyle, Top Ched Lax is the eye-catching clothing that will set you apart in a crowd. Our clothing may be too bold for most to pull off, but that is exactly what makes it so special for those who can. Ask yourself, do you have what it takes to be daringly different?”

So like the guys say “Top Cheddar is always Beddar.” it will be fascinating to see what they do with this brand.

3 Comments

Categories : Athletics, College, Fashion

#SophiaAmoruso

Posted by Travis Yohey

· Monday, December 8th, 2014

· 2 Comments

Success stories come in all shapes and sizes. For Sophia Amoruso it came in the form of vintage women’s clothing. This one time dumpster diver has managed to transform herself into a very successful, yet very down to earth, entrepreneur through sheer guts, tenacity, and innovation.

This brilliant story starts with a very common occurrence in the lives of many entrepreneurs, a side project. Sophia Amoruso managed an Ebay page named Nasty Gal that sold vintage clothing that were salvation army rejects. Eventually she dropped her day job scanning ID cards at the local community college and started to focus on Nasty Gal. Her business toke off. When the time came to move to her own site, www.shopnastygal.com, she had her Ebay page suspended for promoting the new site. Regardless of this minor hick-up she sold out of merchandise on the first day.

How did Sophia create such a demand so early in her career? She found a fabulous niche market for what she had, vintage. During her Ebay days she also discovered an interesting phenomenon in humans: they prefer to see an article of clothing on a human being rather than lying on the ground. It may sound simple to us now, however, in the day she was working it was very common for no model to be used to sell a piece of clothing. With this competitive advantage and a thoroughly fantastic niche market she was able to drive the demand that she saw on the opening day of her new site.

What has Sophia done since that first day? Simple, she has grown her company into a multimillion dollar company, one that reaped 100 million dollars in last year- profitable, and has had one of the single most explosive growth rates in the last decade. She has published #GIRLBOSS a hybrid memoir and business text. The vast majority of this text is devoted to her adolescence with common sense business lessons sown in like stitching on a sweater. Sophia Amoruso is certainly a #GIRLBOSS.

2 Comments

Categories : eCommerce, Fashion, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Uncategorized

Isabella Rose Taylor

Posted by Olivia Ebert

· Friday, December 5th, 2014

· 3 Comments

Shopping at Nordstrom’s, a fashion line designed by a 13-year-old is not something you would expect to see, yet there it is, Isabella Rose Taylor. In 2010 Isabella Rose Taylor the designer of the clothing line bearing her name became inspired to learn to sew and try fashion design. As her love for fashion has grown she has released several collections in her clothing line beginning in fall of 2013.

In addition to fashion, Isabella has a love of painting. While I personally do not care for her style of art, I can definitely appreciate her talent as some of her paintings are quite impressive, especially considering she is only 13 years old.

She has won several awards for her work in art, fashion, and poetry and has been featured in magazines and television including the Today show.

Using social media Isabella has been able to get the word out about her clothing line. She keeps Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts believing that social media is important tool for the entrepreneur.

Isabella demonstrates right brained thinking with her different creative interests. This right brained thinking will be quite helpful as her entrepreneurial spirit grows as she expands her work, continuing on in her successful fashion design career.

3 Comments

Categories : Art, Fashion, Millennial Entrepreneurs

Dream Closet?

Posted by Elaina Kimpel

· Saturday, November 15th, 2014

· 5 Comments

Now ladies, how many times have you seen a dress watching the VMA’s, Red Carpet Awards, Counrty Music Awards, or any other awards show that you wish you could just wear it for one night? Are you jealous of the guys being able to rent their tuxes for one night and returning it the next day while you have to buy a dress that you probably won’t even wear again? Would you love the idea of getting expensive dresses for cheap by only renting them for a night? Well Jennifer Hyman was thinking the exact same thing and thought of a way to fix that. She created Rent the Runway. On the website it says:

“Rent the Runway is a fashion company with a technology soul. Powered by a transformative business model, proprietary technology, a unique reverse-logistics operation and some of the smartest people on earth, we’re in a position to challenge old systems and rewrite new rules. By giving people access to remarkable luxury experiences, we’re changing the meaning of ownership — and revolutionizing retail in the process.”

Hyman compares her business to one of your best friends, only with a much bigger closet. I don’t know about you but I always love borrowing my friends clothes. Once you get online the overall all process is really simple. You can start by setting up the date for which you need the dress, accessories if you would like too, then look through their collection for your rental day. Next narrow it down by designer, price, length, or whatever you like to find the perfect outfit. After that you book the outfit for a 4 or 8 day rental period and it should come in 1 or 2 days before your event. For that one night you can feel like a princess and return it the next day in their pre-paid envelope they already provided you with. You don’t even have to dry clean it or anything because they will take care of that for you. The only thing Rent the Runway asks you to do is to upload a photo online and review the dress on their website so others can see how fabulous the dress was.

When Hyman first suggested her idea of Rent the Runway to a boardroom full of partners at a big-time Boston venture capital firm, one of the of the men interrupted her and said, “You are just too cute. You get this big closet and get to play with all these dresses and can wear whatever you want. This must be so much fun!” Thinking that comment would stop her from making Rent the Runway, this only made her want to pursue the idea even more and I’m glad she did. Rent the Runway is such a creative and innovative idea because no one has done this before. I have always been interested in the idea of clothing and fashion for starting my own business so it is an inspiration for myself that even though she was shut down at first, she kept going and created something amazing. I will for sure be using Rent the Runway for different special occasions in the up coming future and suggesting it to all the girls I know. Thanks for reading and happy blogging!

5 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Beauty, Fashion, Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Technology, Uncategorized