 |  |
Photos by Steven Purvis/O’Collegian Above is a Tree and Leaf Clothing design he created. | Dusty Gilpin, a graphic design and studio art junior, models his Tree and Leaf Clothing design. Gilpin, along with three other people, created the clothing company about a year ago. |
Allison McCartney
Senior Staff Writer
A little more than a year ago, four students created a clothing company with the idea to sell something different.
Tree and Leaf Clothing Inc. is composed of general manager John Milner, freelance artist Dusty Gilpin of OSU, Web master Bryson Panas, and musician manager and advertiser Chase Kerby.
“Ironically, we found each other at the same time and our ideas converged about a year and a half ago,” said Gilpin, a graphic design and studio art junior.
Since this convergence, the company has branched out and is selling its merchandise at a local store and on its Web site.
Gilpin, who hand draws all the designs, said their goal is to be unique.
“We want to be a T-shirt company that’s not like any other,” he said. “We want our stuff to be different.”
The company’s motto, “strength enough to stand alone,” goes along with this goal, Gilpin said.
He uses the analogy of a tree to explain the motto.
“If you’re rooted in the right spot, you’re strong enough to stand alone,” he said.
The shirts are available in a variety of prints and colors at The Ridge Salon and Apparel on West Seventh Street and at http://www.treeandleafclothing.com. Prices range from $17.50 to $25.
Gilpin said the company and its products are based on five core values: hope, love, music, art and truth.
“We sat down one day to think of what we wanted our company to stand for and these five central things are what really stuck out to us,” he said.
Emily Minyen, the manager of The Ridge, said the shirts have sold well and customers like the principles of the company.
The company’s local ties are a big selling point, said Mike Decker, the owner of The Ridge.
“They sell just as well as brands that are nationally known,” he said. “People put it on and like the softness and the prints.”
Gilpin said they try to keep an organic feel to their shirts and their bestseller is the Filigree style, which is a simple leaf and vine design on the front of the shirt.
The company is also collaborating with many local bands, including Holiday and The Legend of Junior Sapp, which are both Stillwater bands.
“If a band sounds like they’re legit, we’ll give them shirts hoping they’ll wear them when they perform,” he said. “This is pretty much for advertisement because we both want to get big so we help each other out in this way.”
Stillwater is the only town in which Tree and Leaf clothing can be bought in stores. Gilpin said most of their sales are made online.
In the future, however, they would like to fine tune their T-shirts and eventually spread into more merchandise and open their own storefront, Gilpin said.
“We would like to be more involved with the musicians we support,” he said.
“We would like to have our own music venue as well, like one place where we could have a storefront during the day and open for local shows at night.”
Gilpin said also that he sees the company spreading to more cities and that they will follow their motto in the process.
”We’re going to put up a fight to survive,” he said.
Tree and Leaf Clothing Inc. is composed of general manager John Milner, freelance artist Dusty Gilpin of OSU, Web master Bryson Panas, and musician manager and advertiser Chase Kerby.
“Ironically, we found each other at the same time and our ideas converged about a year and a half ago,” said Gilpin, a graphic design and studio art junior.
Since this convergence, the company has branched out and is selling its merchandise at a local store and on its Web site.
Gilpin, who hand draws all the designs, said their goal is to be unique.
“We want to be a T-shirt company that’s not like any other,” he said. “We want our stuff to be different.”
The company’s motto, “strength enough to stand alone,” goes along with this goal, Gilpin said.
He uses the analogy of a tree to explain the motto.
“If you’re rooted in the right spot, you’re strong enough to stand alone,” he said.
The shirts are available in a variety of prints and colors at The Ridge Salon and Apparel on West Seventh Street and at http://www.treeandleafclothing.com. Prices range from $17.50 to $25.
Gilpin said the company and its products are based on five core values: hope, love, music, art and truth.
“We sat down one day to think of what we wanted our company to stand for and these five central things are what really stuck out to us,” he said.
Emily Minyen, the manager of The Ridge, said the shirts have sold well and customers like the principles of the company.
The company’s local ties are a big selling point, said Mike Decker, the owner of The Ridge.
“They sell just as well as brands that are nationally known,” he said. “People put it on and like the softness and the prints.”
Gilpin said they try to keep an organic feel to their shirts and their bestseller is the Filigree style, which is a simple leaf and vine design on the front of the shirt.
The company is also collaborating with many local bands, including Holiday and The Legend of Junior Sapp, which are both Stillwater bands.
“If a band sounds like they’re legit, we’ll give them shirts hoping they’ll wear them when they perform,” he said. “This is pretty much for advertisement because we both want to get big so we help each other out in this way.”
Stillwater is the only town in which Tree and Leaf clothing can be bought in stores. Gilpin said most of their sales are made online.
In the future, however, they would like to fine tune their T-shirts and eventually spread into more merchandise and open their own storefront, Gilpin said.
“We would like to be more involved with the musicians we support,” he said.
“We would like to have our own music venue as well, like one place where we could have a storefront during the day and open for local shows at night.”
Gilpin said also that he sees the company spreading to more cities and that they will follow their motto in the process.
”We’re going to put up a fight to survive,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment