Picture this: you and your friends are about to sit down for lunch at Commons when BAM! You notice a student walk by wearing the trendiest patchwork jean jacket you have ever seen. Another student sits in the corner of the cafeteria, laughing with friends as they rock a t-shirt with the words “ROLL CONTS” across the chest. As you are about to grab a to-go coffee, a third student in custom Levis 514 snake denim sashays past you to grab a lid. You wonder to yourself “where is everyone getting these clothes from?” Enter Blind Eyes Design, The Roll Collab and Upcurl, three student-created and run fashion brands that are taking the Hamilton community by storm.
The Spectator
sat down with the creators of each brand to talk about their journeys, current projects and the futures of their companies.
UPCURL
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Instagram: @upcurl_
According to co-founder Sammy Johnson ’20, Upcurl was born out of a class that Johnson and co-founder Chad Varney ’22 took in Spring 2020. “I was a senior and I really wanted to take a class that I created myself and was really passionate about. I started thinking about taking a course that had to do with making clothes, and Chad is an art major, so he was really interested in the class as well. We proposed it to a bunch of different people and got shot down by everyone…but finally, after talking with the Registrar and advisors, we were sent in [Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies] Aaron Strong’s direction and he was pumped up about it,” said Johnson.
Originally, Johnson and Varney thought that the class would culminate with a fashion show of the student’s clothes, but then COVID-19 hit. “When we got sent home, Professor Strong asked us what we wanted to do because we could not host the fashion show anymore. Chad was really into digital arts, so he was like “Why don’t we make a website?” From there, we made social media accounts for the brand, started following students on those different accounts and came up with a brand name,” said Johnson.
Varney and Johnson noted that Upcurl’s mission of environmental consciousness came from the creators’ own interests and suggestions from Professor Strong. For example, Professor Strong connected a friend who made upcycled tote bags with Johnson and Varney, and that friend showed the two how they made their products and represented themselves on social media.
Upcurl’s creators eventually decided that their products’ designs would embody east coast surf culture, and that they would produce those clothes using upcycling and reworking. According to Varney, upcycling is the repurposing of clothing, which Varney and Johnson achieve at Upcurl through purchasing clothes from thrift stores and reworking them to fit modern fashion trends.
Today, Johnson is in charge of making Upcurl’s clothes with her sewing and embroidery machines in Boston, while Varney is in charge of the website and social media aspects of the brand. Although the distance between the creators can be challenging on release dates, Johnson and Varney have found that their remote operations have worked well for the most part.
Johnson and Varney are excited to announce that they will be launching a range of six hoodies, eight beanies, sweatsuits, shirts and jackets in the near future. This line differs from previous launches because there will be multiples of each item. “A problem that we have had in the past is that our products have all been one of a kind, but many people have wanted the same one,” said Varney.
In order to uphold their commitment to sustainability, each product will be custom- rather than bulk-ordered. Although this method will make shipping slower compared to previous products, Johnson and Varney found through research that this was the most sustainable and feasible way for the two to make multiples of each product. The co-creators are also excited about a new line of patches that Varney designed for Upcurl. In the future, Johnson and Varney are hoping to bring on an employee that is well-versed in the finances of small businesses, since neither of them have a financial background.
Additionally, Varney hopes to kickstart his career or attend design school after graduation. Since Johnson is located in Boston, Varney hopes that he will move there post-Hamilton so that the two can work on the brand for at least a few years in person. Both Varney and Johsnon are grateful for the support and platform that the Hamilton community has given them.
“We started at Hamilton and they are some of our biggest supporters, so we’re really thankful that people and the school have our back,” said Johnson. “On behalf of me and Sammy, I just want to say thank you to everyone for the support, because we would have stopped a long time ago if there was not any…Something we want to focus on is having a positive impact on the world. We not only want to be an influencer of culture and fashion, but we want to change the way that people look at buying clothing,” said Varney.
BLIND EYES DESIGN
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Instagram: @blindeyesdesign
For Blind Eyes Design co-founders Rufus Somerby ’22 and Graham Nielsen ’22, a series of coincidences not only fostered a friendship, but a business venture. The two initially met on their first-year orientation trip, and later discovered they had a mutual love for squash, art, music and culture. After becoming friends, Somerby and Nielsen decided they wanted to explore their shared interests in a business setting.
“During our sophomore year, we lived next to each other in Bundy, so we set up a really small space, like the whole wall of my room was just covered in print outs of designs and images that we thought were cool. We then decided “fuck it, let’s try to make something,” said Nielsen.
After the two made that decision, Somerby added that “we bought some Uniqlo shirts and printed on them. While COVID-19 hit right as we were getting into the swing of things, it ended up being a positive because it gave us some more time to flesh out our ideas, get the website going, get the LLC and put together a business plan.”
Nielsen and Somerby had different sources of inspiration for their ideas for Blind Eyes Design. In addition to his love for music and culture, Nielsen, the self-proclaimed “Creative Director” of Blind Eyes Design, also finds inspiration for the brand from social media, his travels and his previous work experiences.
When Nielsen studied abroad in Sweden, he visited the Artipelag, a contemporary cultural center located in Gustavsberg, Sweden. “The Artipelag had this Fornasetti exhibit where there were all of these face prints, and I thought that concept was so cool, so I took a bunch of photos and sent them to Rufus,” said Nielsen.
Additionally, Nielsen took a semester off last year, during which he worked at Swedish fashion houses Acne Studios and Eytys.
“I learned about many aspects of the fashion business from those internships, which has been super helpful for Blind Eyes Design. For example, at Eytys, I handled all of their Instagram content during all of my internship, so I got to see the behind the scenes of the company,” said Nielsen.
Today, Nielsen finds inspiration for Blind Eyes Design through deep dives on Instagram and sending photos, videos and quotes of places that he finds interesting to Somerby. He is also in charge of designing and managing the website, social media and advertisements.
Somerby, the self-proclaimed “Artist” of Blind Eyes Design, is in charge of the financial and artistic elements of the company. Somerby’s love for visual art stemmed from his hometown and high school experiences.
“I took art classes in high school and grew up in New York City, so I was surrounded by many influences. My senior thesis in high school dealt a lot with my art and censorship, which I showed through blocking out certain parts, painting over that and pulling off tape. That project sparked a lot of our initial ideas [for Blind Eyes Design],” said Somerby. Today, Somerby spends hours working on sketches that he submits to Nielsen for feedback and approval.
So far, the biggest challenges for the two have been the speed of production and price of their products. Blind Eyes Design produces limited-run garments that contain elements of “streetwear, art brut and high fashion.” However, this approach means that no two articles of clothing are alike, and that it takes longer for Nielsen and Somerby to produce an article of clothing because it is custom made rather than bulk-ordered.
“Since we are not buying wholesale (both for creative and financial reasons), that makes the prices of our products shoot way up,” said Nielsen.
However, the co-founders are excited because they have two big projects coming up. First, Somerby created a line of approximately a dozen Western designs that can be embroidered on t-shirts and a crewneck. The two bought a embroidery machine and learned how to both use the machine and turn vector files into embroidery files so that they can make the products themselves.
“We wanted to try a new medium since we have primarily done printing in the past, so embroidery is new for us. We are also excited that this project will have a customizable aspect to it. For the Western launch, people will be able to go on the website and customize a t-shirt using colors and the Western designs” said Nielsen. The two are aiming to finish their prototypes before break, and hope to release the products after the Spring 2022 semester starts.
Second, the two will do a big social media push over break of their customizable Levis 514 denim. Although the product already exists on their website, this will be the first time that the jeans will be heavily promoted on the brand’s social media. At the end of the day, Nielsen and Somerby want to promote Blind Eyes Design as a team art studio, with their clothes being the studio’s “merch.”
“[Blind Eyes Design] is a conglomeration of all of our interests, and we just like putting that out into the world and seeing people enjoy and wear our work,” said Somerby.Both are grateful for the lessons and experiences they have had out of the brand.
“Neither of us had experience with a clothing brand at all [before Blind Eyes Design], and I know it’s cliche, but if you have an idea, then you should try it… I’ve learned so much from the brand, and now that I’m starting a job search in the creative services, I already know so much more about what I want to do and what running a business looks like [from Blind Eyes Design]… Hamilton loves to say that they’re not a business school, but our brand shows that there are ways to still have business experiences here,” said Nielsen.
THE ROLL COLLAB
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Instagram: @therollcollab
The Roll Collab started with the “Roll Conts” t-shirt that owner and co-founder Kelcie Zarle ’22 originally made for herself and her teammates during the 2019–2020 school year.
“Over the Summer of 2020, I took a picture of myself wearing the shirt, holding a sign that said something like ‘I want to go back to college’ on it. After I posted that on my social media, NESCAC Barstool ended up sharing the photo on their Instagram, and someone from Alpha Theta Chi (ATX) reached out about collaborating on a COVID-19 fundraiser using my shirt design. Through Custom Ink, ATX and Women’s Basketball sold the t-shirts and raised $4,160,” said Zarle. The two groups donated the funds to the Foothills Rural Community Ministry Food Pantry in Rome, NY.
After seeing students wear the “Roll Conts” t-shirt around campus the following semester, Zarle was inspired to turn the t-shirt into a bigger project. Zarle developed The Roll Collab through a two-semester independent study with Professor of Art Laurie (Ella) Gant. Zarle credits Professor Gant with teaching her many skills that helped with the creation, design and production aspects of the brand. “I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish anything without her,” said Zarle.
In addition to the independent study, Zarle also has a social media and brand management background. She has had media, marketing and analytics experience as an intern at CoachUp and Hamilton College, and today, Zarle serves as the Social Media Coordinator for Moolah Kicks, which is the first female basketball brand that is “for female basketball players, by female basketball players.” Zarle enjoyed the internships because she loved engaging with followers, learning more about Adobe Photoshop and following her passions.
Eventually, Zarle applied her experiences from the independent study and her internships to The Roll Collab. According to Zarle, the brand has become known for its “comfortable screen printed apparel with original designs that can be worn by anyone in any setting, [whether it be] in class, to sleep, for workouts, or to a party!”
Since Zarle is running The Roll Collab by herself, it takes many steps and a lot of time for a product to go from conception to distribution. According to Zarle, the process includes 1) creating a design, 2) posting it on Instagram for customer orders and feedback 3) ordering supplies (primarily from Amazon), 4), printing out all of the designs onto transfer paper, 5) pressing the transfer paper designs onto the clothing using her personal heat press and 6) distributing the products via Hamilton mailboxes. Although the design and social media aspects of the process come naturally to Zarle, the production of the clothes was a learning curve.
“There were definitely some mess ups–some of the apparel turned out differently in physical form than I had expected them to look after drafting it up digitally. If I heat pressed something for too long, designs would melt and bleed into the clothing, but if I pressed them too short, designs wouldn’t stick on the shirt and I would have to throw that piece out and try again. Once I got the hang of it, however, it was very simple! I think the same logic applies for everything in business: once you get the hang of it, it is pretty manageable to do — especially on top of school work, internships and basketball,” said Zarle.
Zarle recently collaborated with Dave Yi ’22 on a set of t-shirts and stickers. She encourages other student artists who are interested in having their art featured on apparel and other products to reach out to her.
“It was cool getting to work with Dave and seeing his designs come to life on t-shirts and stickers that students are wearing around campus. It is inspiring to showcase different student artwork around campus in a creative way like on apparel,” said Zarle.
While Zarle currently has no projects in the works, she hopes to drop at least one to two more launches before she graduates next semester. She is also unsure what will happen to The Roll Collab once she graduates, but she has some ideas on how to continue its legacy.
“My parents thought [The Roll Collab] was such a cool idea and said ‘you should definitely pass it down to someone!’ Since I’m on a team, I think I could find someone who might want to do it, or I can post a listing for my position on the Instagram page. However, it does take a lot of time, so whoever fills my shoes has to be committed to it,” said Zarle.
Regardless of the future of The Roll Collab, Zarle is thankful for the opportunities that the brand has given her.
“The Roll Collab definitely taught me to appreciate the creativity of my classmates and the general student body here at Hamilton… If I had one message to share with [the community], it would be to listen to Hamilton’s mantra of ‘do what you love’ and take advantage of the resources on campus. Whether that be physical resources or your professors and classmates, you can really learn so much which I am very grateful for. The creativity here is unmatched and showcasing it through apparel design has been really rewarding, exciting and memorable for me as I wrap up my time here at Hamilton,” said Zarle.
