Philly-Based Apparel Startup Wants To Change Way Organizations Promote Themselves By Using Less Clothing
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Can hats, sweatpants, and hoodies help save the world? Larkshead believes it can.
"Larkshead is a an apparel company that uses removable branding to promote great causes, organizations, and nonprofits," said Larkshead CEO and founder Tyler Magura. "There are so many wonderful things in the Philadelphia community and we believe that all we need to do is help spread the word."
To do that, Magura's Philly-based company produces a comfortable, high-quality line of clothing.
"You go to an event, you go to a club, and you just get T-shirt after T-shirt, after T-shirt. And I love the T-shirt. We're not necessarily trying to replace it, but we really want people to think about how much clothing do they really need," said Magura.
So how is Larkshead different? The key feature is the Velcro. It allows organizations to show off their brand using a removable patch. And it allows for people who are involved in multiple charities or initiatives to swap out that patch to promote all of them. Or, if there's nothing to promote, it looks good on its own.
"So, we put our logo, because sometimes you don't want to wear a certain patch. Maybe you just wanna wear it by itself," said Magura.
Magura says they try to keep every aspect of the design in Philly.
"We try to do everything, as much as we can, local. The patches are made by a local company, Northeast Philly. We also offer free graphic design. You give us a general idea of what you think it should look like, we'll come up with a logo design for you," said Magura.
The first organization they're collaborating with is Mural Arts Philadelphia.
"Mural Arts Philadelphia is always looking for ways to celebrate our work and to partner with local companies. So we were really excited that Larkshead came to us with this idea to produce sustainable clothing that also talks about important causes," said Deana Frank with Mural Arts Philadelphia. "So anything that helps us to promote that and start those conversations is really exciting to us."
All of the profits from sales of their baseball hat paired with the Mural Arts logo goes right back to the organization. That's what Larkshead is all about - looking good and giving back.
Another key reason Larkshead is in the game is to cut back on waste. Those T-shirts you get from charitable events they're cool, but to produce one T-shirt it takes over 2,700 liters of water - just for one shirt. That's enough water for one person for nearly three years.
So, Larkshead is being environmentally friendly while promoting great causes in our area.
