Many high school students have big dreams, but only a few take immediate steps to achieve these goals. Baldwin junior Nico Mizell and his friend, Montour High School junior Jay Baker, decided to make their fashion dreams a reality right away.
Their idea for creating their own fashion brand started in November when the boys were talking about what they wanted to do after college, Baker said.
“He and I are both into fashion and clothing and we both had the same intentions, so we thought, ‘Why don’t we come up with our own brand?’ And we did right away,” he said.
Baker said fashion is something that makes him feel more confident being able to wear what he wants without caring about what others think.
Mizell agreed.
“Fashion is important to me because your type of style can describe who you are, and you could put many different pieces together to make your outfits creative,” Mizell said.
Baker’s passion for fashion came from social media fashion influencer Certified Jio.
“He really taught me a lot about fashion and to just be yourself and not care about other opinions or not to follow anyone you don’t want to be,” Baker said.
Mizell said his inspiration to start making clothes and getting into fashion comes from fashion influencer Caprice, also known as Project Capri.
“He is only 17 and did a clothing brand for a year. Now, he is basically a clothing brand influencer. He has an app called Skool where he gives tips on clothing brand tips, credit, etc. We watch his YouTube all the time,” Mizell said.
Mizell and Baker have big dreams for their brand, which is called Mind Over Matter. Mizell said a few of his goals are to make the brand well known, “hit the 100k sales in my brand, and have many celebrities know our brand.”
Baker this is not just a hobby, but rather a lifestyle.
“In the next six months, I see our brand getting more sales around the globe,” Baker said.
So far, the boys have two pieces out, a pair of pants and a shirt. They are coming out with more in an upcoming spring launch and say they hope to make more sales than they did with their first launch.
“Our last launch didn’t go as well as we wanted, but for our next drop we plan to market better and longer. Last time, we rushed it and just wanted to drop,” Baker said.
“We are on to a new drop and we scrapped the old one. We have been working on our new Kelly Oubre tees since the middle of February, but we had the idea for maybe a month or so and we just purchased our samples,” he said.
Mizell and Baker use an app called Alibaba to make their designs and then send them to a manufacturer in China.
“I send him my files and explain everything I want, like details and colors. I pay him and then they start production,” Baker said.
Then, Baker receives a sample and determines whether or not that will be the final product.
“If you don’t do a sample and just order a straight bulk, the order may not be how you wanted it,” he said.
Mizell’s friend and company customer Cody Trifanoff said he is proud of Mizell and glad he could see the growth of his friend’s dream.
“I watched the brand grow from when it was just an idea and not really anything serious to him making an Instagram page and actually start making clothes,” he said. “I’m happy to see Nico finally live out his dreams because I know this has been something he has wanted to do for a while.”
Triffanof said he enjoys the quality of these clothes and is excited for the upcoming release.
“I think the quality matches the price completely. The one shirt I own is super high quality and has imported fabrics, and the pants are also super nice and thick – not to mention the really nice designs you get with it,” he said.
