Self-love and self-worth are two words Sierra Hawthorne, a junior magazine media journalism major, focused on when creating her upcoming clothing line, Ego Clothing & Apparel.
Hawthorne, who is a co-owner alongside Jakhari Wilbert, a junior criminal justice major, said the clothing line is centered around recognizing uniqueness and diversity.
“Ego is basically the image of the true person inside of you that you are afraid to express or don’t get to uniquely express,” Hawthorne said. “Ego is not conforming to society’s idea of what’s in style.”
Being a student entrepreneur was not a career Hawthorne always had in mind, but her passion for designing and making clothes led her to begin creating her own clothing line in early November.
“The actual name of the line started from a design I did in my [screen and specialty graphics] class,” Hawthorne said. “We had to do a two-color print, and we had to add a word to it, and I chose 'ego.' I’ve always wanted to start a clothing line, but I didn’t know what to call it, and 'ego' just fit everything.”
As a designer, Hawthorne said she enjoys “unique and abstract ideas and designs,” and hopes to include those concepts in her own designs on sweatshirts, crewnecks, beanies, hats and windbreakers.
“I want the line to incorporate unique designs that have a deep meaning behind it, sort of like Picasso paintings on a graphic tee,” Hawthorne said. “You have to look closely and even turn it upside down to figure out what’s going on behind the painting — I love that. I also like to keep it simple, but I want my audience and those that support [the clothing line] to get new and unique designs that keep them coming [back].”
Currently, Hawthorne and Wilbert are working on creating a website and sending designs to Blue River Digital, a screen printing company, to help Hawthorne, who has been hand-printing the apparel.
There is currently a temporary website for Ego Clothing & Apparel to showcase the design collection and encourage those interested to apply to be a model for the clothing. After the models are chosen and a photo shoot has taken place, Hawthorne said the official website will be created.
Eventually, Hawthorne and Wilbert hope to open stores in places like New York City, Los Angeles and Atlanta.
“Our goal for Ego is pretty much just to get it spread throughout the country and make it a big, well-known brand,” Wilbert said. “A lot of people really liked Sierra’s designs and creativity, so we’ve really been pushing for it.”
Contact Nicole Thomas with comments at nrthomas@bsu.edu.
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