Meet the UO student entrepreneurs behind Dripped clothing and AP Designs

Originally Posted on Emerald Media via UWIRE

  • Dripped Clothing (John Lee/Emerald)

The University of Oregon is filled with creatively motivated students. But with all the stress and craziness that college often brings, nobody can possibly have the time to start up their own business, right?

Uriah Dubey, a junior at the UO is one of the small handful of student entrepreneurs who found the time outside of school to manifest his dreams into a reality. Dubey, along with friends Austin Mahar and Kenny Bryan, created a clothing line named Dripped.

“I started it for the sole purpose of making my own clothes,” Dubey said. “I feel like there aren’t any brands that make exactly what I want.”

Dubey’s inspiration for the clothing’s design is largely drawn from his favorite brands, Supreme and A Bathing Ape Clothing Company. The Dripped logo of a raindrop is an expression of Eugene’s classic rainy weather, making the Dripped clothing line true to the roots of anyone from the wet Pacific Northwest.

The line, only about a month old, has sold nearly all of its first clothing prototypes, which consisted of hats, hoodies and T-shirts. The baby blue and light pink color scheme, termed “cotton candy capsule,” stands as a symbol of spring’s carefree vibes.

“You don’t see guys wearing light pastel colors very much,” Dubey said. “But those are like my favorite colors to wear in the spring and summer.”

Dubey said that he and his associates plan to switch up the colors for each new line of apparel, and Dripped clothing’s summer line will be love-themed in the spirit of wistful and timeless summer love.

The most recent line of Dripped clothing can be found on the company’s Instagram: @Drippedclothingcompany.

  • AP Designs (Ashlee Pierce/Emerald)

Another student entrepreneur at the UO is senior Ashlee Pierce. Pierce has her own sticker company named AP Designs, and has recently sold 200 of her stickers to the Duck Store near campus.

“I’ve worked in the retail business before, and it made me realize that I don’t want to work for anybody except myself,” Pierce said. “I want to be my own boss.”

After creating her own business as a platform to sell her designs, Pierce hired an intern to help take some weight off of her shoulders. Pierce still does the design, production and packaging, but her intern will help to market and network her designs within the college community.

Pierce’s designs began as doodles. As a member of Alpha Chi Omega, her initial idea was to make customized stickers for sororities, but after a bout of business-minded creativity, Pierce decided to expand her designs outside of Oregon Greek Life, and even to schools in Washington, California and Texas.

“My goal is to get into every campus store in as many states as possible, each with their own state outline,” Pierce said. “But as long as I love what I’m doing, that’s all that matters.”

Pierce’s designs are made for phones, laptops, water bottles and more. You can find her AP Design stickers in the Duck Store, or at her online Etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/APdesignsvinyl.

Read more here: http://www.dailyemerald.com/2016/05/11/meet-the-uo-student-entrepreneurs-behind-dripped-clothing-and-ap-designs/
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