I’ve lived in Portland, Oregon my whole life, so when I got the opportunity to move in with two of my best friends in Austin, Texas, I thought it would be a good move for me. The problem was I didn’t have a steady income. I needed a job. I really enjoyed the design and sourcing work I did during my internship and with Slow Day Supply, but I took an entry-level sales job at a cybersecurity company to make the move happen. Still, I knew I had a passion for apparel and design.

By the end of my internship, I knew even more about blanks than I did when I started Slow Day Supply. I love the fit of the Yupoong 6502 snapback, so when I found a new, small blank hat company called Atonal Headwear that claimed a similar fit but with a vintage 90s-style green underbrim, I had to try them. The fit was great. It was a little higher profile than the Yupoong but otherwise almost identical. I knew I wanted to use their hats for something.

During my internship, I read Marcus Harvey’s book. He started Portland Gear, a successful local brand. I took a lot of inspiration from him when I started Austin Apparel. His logo idea was a “P” with the Oregon cutout. It was simple but genius. I wanted to do something like that for Austin. Like Portland, Austin doesn’t have a major sports team with a city-adopted logo like the Yankees or Dodgers. I figured I could create a logo that represented Austin, just like Marcus did for Portland.

Marcus said in his book that he didn’t have much design experience, but he had a vision and made it happen. I knew I could do the same. I wanted my logo to be the letter “A” with a Texas-shaped cutout but with a more western font to fit the Texas vibe and stand apart from his design. Finding the right font that worked with the Texas cutout was harder than I imagined it would be, but after days of searching, I found the perfect one.

I decided to make hats and t-shirts because it’s hot in Texas and I love hats. I used Independent Trading Co T-shirts because they have a standard fit, are high quality, and priced well. Plus, they have a slightly faded wash that fits the vintage 90s vibe of the Atonal hats with the green underbrim. I chose black, green, and blue for the shirts with white screenprinted logos to keep costs down and maintain consistency. For the hats, I went with black, white/black, and white/blue, all with green underbrims and embroidered logos. The logos were color-matched to the hats, which looks clean and ties in nicely with the shirts. I decided against custom tags or other branding for now to keep costs low until I get more social proof. Like with Slow Day Supply, every decision I made was calculated. I wanted my first pieces to be clean and simple. I’d rather start by selling staple pieces that people wear all the time than crazy pieces they only pull out once in a blue moon. Especially if I’m trying to grow my brand, it helps if people actually wear the stuff often.

I set up a Shopify website (austinapparel.us) and Instagram account for Austin Apparel (https://www.instagram.com/austinapparel.us/), where I’m focusing more on brand image and identity. I’ve done a lot of research on building a brand, and one thing I heard that really stuck with me is that the most successful brands today are built by people who are masters at making content and have at least some sort of style and design sense. I see that with one of my favorite brand owners, Clayton Goff, who started Sweet Hat Co. He’s mastered the media side of branding by making himself and his grandpa the face of his brand. He also makes incredible clothes, but I think creating the desirable aesthetic is just as important. Content is where I struggle. I’m not super comfortable in front of the camera, and I’ve realized I enjoy the design and product development side of building a clothing brand way more.

I haven’t officially launched Austin Apparel to the public yet, but the feedback I’ve gotten from friends and family on the design, fit, and quality has been amazing. I know I’m sitting on something good.

I’m planning a pop-up soon. I have some pop-up experience from my internship. My friends love the stuff, but if I can get public validation, that would be so cool. I believe in my eye for design and enjoy learning what I don’t know when it comes to design. For me, making my own clothing brand is just a way to design cool stuff I actually want to wear. I’ve noticed the stuff in my closet that I wear the most isn’t usually complicated anyway. Fit, quality, and versatility matter most. We’ll see what happens with this one!