How to "Sell Out" In America

Jillian Fragetti

Making a great connection to what we do as Design & Merchandising students at Drexel, HBO has produced a show based around the eager attempt to establish a clothing line in New York City. How To Make It In America just finishing off season number two, follows two young men who are trying to survive “making it” in the city and create a clothing line that sells. By the end of the second season they have found buyers so selling has finally become easy. The hard part was not selling out.

            They created a brand. Crisp. They went with a streetwear edge that was to attract hip New Yorkers with style. With a lack of steady cash flow, they didn’t have a great business plan with steady money to put into the line until they met a millionaire friend to fund their whole project. Super unlikely to happen in real life, the men lucked out and continued on their venture. They were on their way but things were moving slowly. Rather than selling 800 pieces to a store, they sold 8. The men struggled every step of the way until they came across some buyers for a huge chain store, something like a Pac Sun. Selling Out: step 1. Once you sell to a chain you are selling to the mass public. You took away any hip exclusivity you were trying to portray, but what that does mean is the big bucks come rolling in. Then their manufacturer decided to alter their name from “Crisp” to “Crisp by Yosi” (adding the manufacturer’s name to gain credit) Selling Out: Step 2. Once you’ve let the big companies change parts of your company that went far in a different direction than you originally wanted, you have lost your brand to the man.

            Lots of money and a name brand in a big chain store. Or, broke with your bag of t-shirts and original dream. This is a conflict anyone trying to make it in a city will come across (if your company is good enough). Creating a clothing line not only focuses on branding but reaching your target market with the right strategies. That can significantly change once you’re eating ramen noodles every night in a 2x4 apartment and a big $10,000 check gets put in your hand. Fortunately, the men backed out of the brand, changing contracts and they went back to square one with their dream intact. It won’t be easy but they might find a way to make it in America without selling out.