Looking for a brand new, edgy, and hip fashion line local
to Chicago? Well stop right now because we have found an up and coming line
designed by a fellow DePaul student! Freshman, Jack Klein, co-founded Higher
Ground Apparel with a high school friend in June, have together
released their clothing online. Meghan, Sara, and I had the pleasure to
interview Jack on his new clothing line.
DBD: “It must be nice to be in
Chicago to begin your fashion line. What have you taken from this?"
Jack: “Yeah definitely. It’s
been a learning process though. These past 3 weeks we’ve messed up on pretty
much everything possible, which is good so we won’t make those mistakes again.”
DBD: “How would you describe
your style?”
Jack: “I’m not into flashy
styles. I like more simple designs and black sweatshirts or darker colors in
general.”
DBD: “How successful was your
first release? How did you go about promoting it?”
Jack: “It was good. Well, we
could have done better to promote it, but mainly through social media. Now we
just need to spread the word better.”
DBD: “The look of your clothing
seems to be edgy and hip, yet simple. How do you go about the process of design?”
Jack: “We need to consider the
design a lot more in our changes because even though I thought they looked sick
they just weren’t all the way there. We’re realizing it’s more about design
than anything.”
DBD: “So in the upcoming line
you are exploring creatively as well?”
Jack: “Yes. It’s all a
learning process and we have a long way to go, but it’s exciting.”
DBD: “How did you get the idea
to start the company?”
Jack: “Well it was my friend’s
idea originally and we just did it for fun. It started out as just a clothing
company, but I want it to be more. The brand Higher Ground should stand for
ambition since that’s what we had in creating it. So when you wear our stuff
it’s a reminder to do what you want to do.”
DBD: “Any ideas up for the
upcoming seasons, how will you change the look?”
Jack: “Yeah t-shirts, tank
tops, different kinds of hats backpacks. We both sew, so we can always do
something different with that. I don’t know, it’s hard to personalize
everything.”
DBD: “It is hard to do everything
you want at once though, so where will you go from here?”
Jack: “It was starting out to
be just fun, but it became a little overwhelming by ourselves. We’re looking to
add someone to help us especially with the printing because it can all get to
be too much, so we can focus on the fun aspect. I mean, it’s not like we’re
trying to make a living out of it, so we don’t need to focus on making it
huge.”
DBD: “Is this something you
want to pursue full-time eventually?”
Jack: “For now, it’s just a
huge passion, but eventually it might be cool to do this full-time.”
Designed by DePaul is thrilled to work with Higher Ground
Apparel in the future, so be ready for some more collaboration. The editors have
already talked with Jack about possible PR stunts around campus and a small
fashion show! So with the endless possibilities we want to wish Jack and Higher
Ground Apparel good luck on their next clothing release. Check out their website
and follow the line’s Twitter account for updates!
Website: http://www.highergroundapparel.com/
Twitter: @HGroundApparel
- Allison
