How did you get your start in the industry?
We all ask each other this question — at industry trade shows, open houses, education events. And even though the avenue is always unique (“I was in a punk rock band,” “my son’s soccer team needed shirts,” “I was a college athlete”), there’s one similar thread that runs through nearly every answer:
I stumbled into it by accident.
In the case of Ryan Rogers, it was the pocket T that brought him to the industry. Years ago when Ryan was pursuing his degree in theoretical chemistry (he does, in fact, have a Ph.D.), he noticed something while walking the University of Arkansas campus. It seemed that every fraternity and sorority member, regardless of the chapter, was wearing a pocket T. “I’m seeing all these students, and it’s almost like the Greeks have a uniform,” he says. “They have an unofficial uniform of what they call the letter T-shirts, which is typically some combination of appliqué and embroidery. Come to find out, it’s the Comfort Colors pocket T.”
And it got Ryan thinking: Why couldn’t the pocket be in the shape of Arkansas?
From that curiosity came Well Stated Clothing and an adventure into apparel that encompasses custom manufacturing in the truest sense of the phrase.
Read the rest of this article on Apparelist, a publication of PRINTING United Alliance, ASI’s strategic partner.
