by Christianna Tran and Anjali Verma ‘20

Quarantine can make it easy for people to slack off and fall into a cycle of procrastination. This, however, is not the case for seniors Ben Chipurnoi and Nabeela Idris, who have been working diligently on their new clothing line, Univtees. 

Their brand showcases a wide array of clothing ranging from tube tops to crewnecks. Every product features a personalized college logo as well as a variety of colors and patterns, including a very popular tie-dye. Univtees got its start at the beginning of March, slowly gaining attention among incoming college freshmen. Now, their brand surpasses over 2,000 followers, with hundreds of orders. 

Idris, who originally created the brand, was inspired by tailgate companies on social media. Deciding she could do it herself and with her own spin, she created the Univtees Instagram page. Becoming almost a full-time job, her cycle has included taking orders, buying the base clothing off of stores like H&M and Amazon, and then transforming them into creative and unique college tailgate apparel.   

As the business gained popularity, Idris reached out to Chipurnoi in an effort to perfect the logo designs on the clothing. Chipurnoi, who has previous experience with creating logos and designs, including selling t-shirts on his own Instagram, was excited to join Idris and integrate his digital experience into her creative process. “I use photoshop to make all of my logos—ranging from using a certain font and designing it with our ‘layered’ style, or adding stars over the name, or a tie dye pattern,” said Chipurnoi.

From there, their next objective was creating a broader audience to market to. Their process included posting their page in various college Facebook group chats, as well as consistently posting their progress on Instagram. Soon their audience grew from not only their family and friends, but to a wider client base. 

During this pandemic, Univtees has faced setbacks regarding accessibility to materials as well as shipping delays. These constraints have changed the way they run their business. Taking longer to ship and prepare orders, Idris is working around the clock to ensure the same momentum as before quarantine. 

In the near future, Univtees will continue to try and reach a larger clientele by creating a more accessible and easy to work website, where people can browse their line and place orders. The pair worry about how the brand will age since both owners will be attending college in the fall. “I can’t take this business to a dorm with me in college, so I will probably put it on hold while I’m in college and during breaks I’ll continue the business,” said Idris.

This enlightening experience has allowed both Idris and Chipurnoi to realize their passion towards clothing design and running a business. “I do hope to potentially do it full time in the future, hopefully on a larger scale instead of small jobs with many people so it would be more steady, income-wise,” said Chipurnoi. Idris hopes to continue something like this in the future as well.