by Colleen Yates ‘18

Junior Eric Matthis recently created his own clothing line called O~town, named in honor of Matthis’ hometown of Olney. The entire operation takes place in his basement where he uses a computer to design his own logos and then prints them himself onto T-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts.

“Kanye’s [West] YEEZY was pretty much my inspiration for the idea,” said Matthis. “I like the feeling of having the ability to create something that I can wear and be able to see other people wearing.” The inspiration for his logos comes from what Matthis sees and hears.

The hardest part of running the business is “finding something that hasn’t been done before,” explained Matthis, speaking of the unique logos he comes up with to display.

After checking to make sure the logos are the correct size, he imprints them on plain sweatshirts, shirts, and hats. Most of the attire comes in black and gray, with gold logos, but Matthis hopes to expand items and sell in more colors. After printing, he sells the finished clothes for $25 for sweatshirts, $10 for shirts, and $7 for hats.

Publicity for the clothing line is small right now, but Matthis hopes to create a better market for the merchandise.

He plans to create a website sometime in the near future so that he can make the ordering process easier for his customers. For now, he takes orders by text, or in person. Customers usually receive their orders within a week.

O~town currently has about 50 regular customers, but Matthis expects the number to continue to increase as the brand becomes more visible. “Every time I meet somebody new, I tell them all about O~town,” said Matthis. In an attempt to show his clothing line to other students, he and his friends wear the clothes and advertise them to others regularly.

“I wear O~town because I want to support Eric and his business,” said junior Kimberly Greulich, a long-time friend of Matthis. “I wear my sweatshirt a lot in order to advertise for him, but also because it’s really comfortable.”

Her sweatshirt is black and has a golden hand symbol on the front, which is the most common logo for sweatshirts.

Matthis often can be seen wearing his personal favorite which is a gray sweatshirt with “O~town” embroidered on the collar.

He started small, but has big hopes for his line and expects it to take off; first among Sherwood students, and then for many more people within the community.