Archive for Fashion – Page 15

Origami Owl

Posted by Connor Grieb

· Thursday, September 18th, 2014

· 2 Comments

Origami Owl

Fourteen year old, Isabella Weems wanted to have her own car when she turned 16 so her parents encouraged her to start a business. Weems founded Origami Owl, a custom jewelry company whose direct sales business model gets people excited which turns them into salespeople. Origami Owl takes on independent designers who buy products at a discount, then resell to friends via jewelry parties.

Weems said on Forbes.com, “I started researching and looking for ideas. The locket’s been around for a long time and I thought, ‘well, what if you could make a locket with charms?” Weems asked her parents to match $350 she’d earned for babysitting, which she spent on wholesale components to make her lockets. She quickly leveraged her network of friends to find buyers. Weems rapidly started selling her product at house parties, boutiques, and at jewelry shows.

In 2010 Weems opened a kiosk at the Chandler, Arizona mall in time for Black Friday shoppers. Origami Owl was a hit. The company adopted the direct sales platform in 2011 and generated about $280,000. The following year revenue took off like a rocket, multiplying 86 times.

Currently, Origami Owl has 50,887 independent designers and expects to gross $250 million dollars this year.

This idea is not only creative but innovative. Her determination to babysit then invest everything she earned to launch Origami Owl is impressive, especially considering she was only fourteen years old. She is an inspiration to the world in that we truly are never to young to start a business. Click on Origami Owl if you would like to check out the site.

2 Comments

Categories : Fashion

More than Conquerors Clothing

Posted by Kate Albers

· Wednesday, September 17th, 2014

· 2 Comments

This is a story about a young Entrepreneur who has impacted my life personally. Samuel Bernhardt, a friend I went to high school with and the founder and designer of More than Conquerors Clothing, always had a passion and a talent for Digital Design. Growing up he was involved in yearbook and was greatly interested in photography and editing photos. He also designed the advertisement posters for our high school’s musicals. Back in the spring of 2013, my father was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. Another parent of a girl I went to high school with was also diagnosed with cancer. Samuel designed four different styles of T-shirts that were inspired by the “More than Conquerors” passage in Romans 8:31-39. Along with two other of his close friends, they began to sell T-shirts to fundraise money for my family and the other girl’s family. Now, a year and 3 months later, More than Conquerors has turned into a Non-Profit Organization that has partnered with Urban Hope, a Christian Organization dedicated to providing believers with cross-cultural training and experience in urban ministry. More than Conquerors now has an official website and face book page. Along with selling T-shirts they also now sell hats and sweatshirts. This story has inspired me not only because this organization directly impacted my family during a time of need but it has also warmed my heart to watch how Samuel has grown up and is beginning to use his talents in the business world and most importantly is impacting many people through the gifts that God has obviously given him.

2 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Fashion, Great Ideas, Uncategorized

One White Shoe

Posted by Elaina Kimpel

· Tuesday, September 16th, 2014

· 2 Comments

If I know anything about my best friend Katie Schallick it is that she is a hipster. Before skinny jeans came into style, she would safety pin her regular jeans so they would be tight around her legs. After other girls saw what she had done, a majority of girls in our grade followed her example and started to wear “skinny jeans” as well. Another thing she did was bring back the style of having bangs because she was simply “bored of being like everyone else”. This then lead to being different by drawing on her shoes. It all started back in sixth grade when Katie was bored in science class and decided she would draw on her brand new Converse. Even though she knew she her parents would yell at her later, all she wanted to do was express herself by drawing on her shoes. Soon after that, people were stopping her in the hallways, calling her home phone, messaging her on AIM, and asking her about drawing on their shoes. This was the beginning of One White Shoe.

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What makes Katie Schallick’s idea unique is the fact that she took something as simple as drawing on her shoes and turned it into a business at the age of 12 years old. This makes it creative because I do not know of another business that involves a person drawing or painting on shoes for profit. She took something that was boring, or without life you could say, and gave it color; she made plain white shoes fun.

Katie is an inspiration to me because it blows my mind that she was only 12 years old and she started a business. She showed me that anyone can start a business at any age and you can be very successful. All you need is an idea, some creativity, and your future business possibilities are endless.

If you desire to get your own pair of shoes done by Katie Schallick, you can best reach her at her Facebook page and email her from there. Happy Blogging!

2 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Fashion, Uncategorized

Lauren Bush Lauren and FEED

Posted by Alexia Skoriak

· Saturday, November 16th, 2013

· 3 Comments

The Beginning

Lauren Bush Lauren is the niece of former President George W. Bush, the granddaughter of former President George H.W. Bush and the wife of David Lauren, son of Ralph Lauren. Despite, connections in high places, Lauren has seen her fair share of poverty around the world. Lauren acted as a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Honorary Student Spokesperson and was able to travel to Africa, Asia and Latin America and see the program’s effects on the ground. A fashion designer herself, Lauren, in 2006, designed a bag to support the WFP’s School Feeding Program. The bag was designed to imitate the bags used by WFP in distribution, especially with the use of burlap. Lauren labelled each bag with the FEED logo and a number, signifying the number of children the purchase of the bag would help feed for a year. In 2007, FEED Projects LLC. was started by Lauren and her partner Ellen Gustafson.

The Products

FEED currently offers a very wide variety of products to choose from. Now, these products, besides displaying the logo and number of meals provided, also show the country that the purchase supports. Bags from duffle bags to artisan tote bags, laptop cases, bracelets, scarves, t-shirts and even children’s apparel can be found at http://www.feedprojects.com/.

The Impact

$6 million+ has been has raised through FEED Projects, providing more than 75 million meals to 62 countries. FEED Foundation was created in 2008. It is a non-profit designed to provide other services impoverished areas and support other local organizations fighting hunger around the world. FEED Project partnerships have also expanded to include UNICEF, Target and Tom’s Shoes.

Lauren Bush Lauren used her design skills and concern for the hunger across the globe to create products that not only give back, but are becoming a fashion statement (much like Tom’s Shoes).

“When I started FEED I hadn’t even heard of the term social entrepreneur. Now it’s the cool hip buzzword,” Said Lauren when asked about her beginnings as a social entrepreneur,

“It’s part of our generation’s ethos to want to pursue our passions, pursue business, pursue entrepreneurship, but also do it with the world in mind.”

To find out more please visit/watch the links below:

http://www.feedprojects.com/

http://www.thefeedfoundation.org/

3 Comments

Categories : Fashion, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Social Entrepreneur

Mo’s Bows

Posted by Caroline Bennett

· Friday, November 15th, 2013

· 3 Comments

Meet Moziah Bridges.

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Moziah, Mo for short, is a young entrepreneur who started Mo’s Bows, a one-man bow tie business, at the age of ten in Memphis Tennessee. Mo has always loved looking good and fashion, but became frustrated when he could not find the fashionable ties he hoped to. Mo started making his own ties when his grandmother taught him when he was nine. Since then, Moziah has earned over $30,000 selling Mo’s Bows on Etsy and from his website. The bow ties are also found in boutiques in Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina and Arkansas. Moziah has high hopes to expand his business to include neck ties, pocket squares, and other accessories for men.

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Moziah is an inspirational young entrepreneur. His innovation and energy to develop this business at such a young age is really astonishing. Mo found a problem in the bow tie industry and has definitely succeeded in his solution of the problem with Mo’s Bows. His positive attitude and plans to enhance his company and expand also shows great promise for Mo’s future.

3 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Fashion, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Online Companies, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Hypebeast

Posted by Hueberfx1

· Thursday, November 14th, 2013

· 2 Comments

Kevin Ma

Our conversation with the man behind Hypebeast

Starting out as an early chronicle of sneaker culture, Hypebeast has distinctly evolved into an online magazine that lives up to the tongue-in-cheek origins of its name as a go-to influence guide. Since 2005, founder and editor-in-chief, Kevin Ma has been a sartorial force in covering streetwear. Reflecting Ma’s own growing interests, Hypebeast soon expanded into coverage of art and entertainment. Collaborating with such style giants as Adidas, Hypebeast soon gave rise to HBTV, an in-depth look at the talent behind the brands.Operating from its headquarters in Hong Kong, Hypebeast is driven by a sense of good taste uniquely its own; a distinction that has earned it the honor of being one of Time’s ’50 Best Websites’ in 2008 and a digital street cred that has led to the recent launch of its on-line store.

Hypebeast

– This website started out as a way for people to stay up to date on new release in modern fashion and technology. since its birth it has evolved into a not only a create source for the newest releases but also a portal for purchasing. Kevin Ma revolutionized the way people view and buy high market items with his online magazine, HYPEBEAST. The success of his website and the unique way he found to create a profitable business is the reason i chose him as an millennial entrepreneur.

2 Comments

Categories : Beauty, Blog, Bootstrap Business, Fashion

Pradux-Linking You and Me to Societies’ Top Icons

Posted by John Porter

· Sunday, November 3rd, 2013

· 2 Comments

Ever seen an athlete, artist, actor or any other icon and wish you could share their wardrobe with them? Alex Koblenz sure has. In fact, it happened to him just a few years ago. Alex was at a Jay-Z concert and loved what HOVA was wearing. Upon returning home, he spent hours pouring through the internet trying to discover what Jay-Z had on during the concert. Unfortunately, he was unable to find it. His frustration turned into an ingenious business idea. His problem needed a solution. A thus came about the founding of Pradux.

Pradux is a website that allows users to browse products they see in their favorite magazines, on the web, on TV, and in blogs. His site possesses a plethora of products from fashion to food, art, electronics, sports and more. The website is based of thousands of databases from popular TV shows to movies and iconic figures in pop culture.

Pradux is a very intriguing company from a business standpoint. It allows users to submit the products that they see on TV and in the world. In this manner, it works much like any popular social media site like Instagram or Twitter. Every time a user engages a posted product, they receive a point. These points add up and eventually unlock experiences with the brands on the website. If someone buys a posted item, the user who posted that item splits the commission with Pradux 50/50. Over the course of the next five years, Alex sees Pradux being not only able to bridge the gap between, but also blend social, retail and entertainment into one ultimate experience.

In a society so caught up in current economic turmoil, Koblenz is a glimmering light of hope in the business world. His positive attitude drives his business and innovation. “Never quit,” he insists, “always keep moving forward. Always try to find some type of positive each day, however small it is, to keep the momentum going.”

2 Comments

Categories : Bootstrap Business, eCommerce, Fashion, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Websites

ModCloth: eCommerce at its best!

Posted by SmithMM1

· Friday, November 1st, 2013

· 2 Comments

ModCloth is an online retailer that specializes in vintage , vintage-inspired and indie clothing, accessories and decor. ModCloth was started in Pittsburgh in 2002 by Susan Gregg-Koger and her then-boyfriend, now-husband, Eric Koger. Eric started a web development business in 2000 and used his knowledge to help Susan launch an eCommerce site for the amazing pre-worn vintage items she’d found at vintage sales. The company began in the Kogers’ college house basement at Carnegie Mellon where they employed a student part-time to help with packaging and shipping. It now has, however, 450 full-time employees across offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. It is one of the fastest-growing fashion and home eCommerce ventures to emerge in the past decade and the company did more than $100 million in sales last year.

ModCloth is extremely popular with fashion bloggers, vintage lovers, and online shoppers in general because there are up to 50 new products a day on the ModCloth website. That fresh content is essential to making browsing the ModCloth site a daily habit. Also, ModCloth’s Be the Buyer program allows customers to vote on which designs are created and sold by ModCloth. Combine all this with ModCloth’s great customer service and it’s no wonder that in 2010, ModCloth was named the #2 Fastest-Growing Private Company in America according to Inc. It was also named to Forbes 30 under 30 list for Technology in 2011 and for Art and Style in 2012. ModCloth also made No. 19 on the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies as well as No. 14 on the Most Innovative Social Media Companies list by Fast Company in 2013.

2 Comments

Categories : College, Decor, eCommerce, Fashion, Jewelry, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Vintage, Vintage Clothing

Uptown Cheapskate

Posted by hawrankorl1

· Friday, October 4th, 2013

· 2 Comments

uptown_cheapskate_2 Uptown Cheapskate was started by two siblings, Scott and Chelsea Sloan. Being poor college students themselves, they became frustrated with the fact that being stylish in today’s society requires investing in trendy clothes. The solution they provided to this problem is called Uptown Cheapskate; the fashion exchange for young adults and teens, that has made it possible for cash-poor youth to afford stylish clothes.

The idea is that they buy and sell new and like-new name brand clothing and accessories for guys and girls at crazy low prices. Prices that will turn anyone into a serious shopaholic. How are they able to stock their racks with these amazing deals? Uptown Cheapskate pays fashionable shoppers like you cash on the spot for like-new items. Simply put: “we want to buy your clothes. Really. So bring us your stylish, like-new things, and leave with cash in your hand.”

To make sure that their trading customers were getting the correct payment for their clothes, they created a system called IMAP. When asked how it worked, they responded, “Sometimes a person has a designer or unusual brand that’s not easily recognized – and we want to make sure these sellers get what their items are worth. It took me almost a year to develop our IMAP program, which is basically the Kelly Blue Book for resale clothing. Our program recognizes nearly 5,000 unique brands, and assigns a range of values to each brand by type of item. This takes the guesswork out of buying, and ensures that we’re fairly paying out our sellers based on their items. This program is the cornerstone of our franchise system.” Having set the foundation that they needed for their business, Scott and Chelsea are pleased with the growth and direction that their company is taking.

2 Comments

Categories : Fashion