Fashion Design

U-M undergrads find entrepreneurial success with Bella Beads

By Newsroom

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July 18, 2012

Not all businesses started by University of Michigan students revolve around iPhone apps or bio-tech innovations. Sometimes it's just a simple, life-style business like Bella Beads. A pair of 19-year-old U-M sophomores started the bead-bracelet company last spring and have watched it take off from their kitchen tables this summer. Bella Beads produces a line of trendy and fashionable bracelets for men and women, mostly made from beads and other attractive stones. The company's line of products are now in two stores and is gearing up to add another store early this fall. The business hopes to have their wares in as many as 15 stores a year from now. More than enough work to keep the two college students busy outside of their coursework. Liza Sherbin and Nicole Hollander, lifelong friends from Bloomfield Hills, were inspired to start the business because of their love for fashion and trends and the reality of limited budgets for college students. The saw the bracelets for sale for $100 or more and decided they could make a better product cheaper. They now sell the bracelets for less than half of that. "This is something we have a passion for," Sherbin says. "We could have had someone make us an iPhone app and put our name on it but it wouldn't have been from us." Source: Liza Sherbin, co-founder of Bella Beads Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

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MASTERMIND: Bena Burda

By Kelly Quintanilla

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Arts & Culture

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October 27, 2010

Necessity is the mother of invention. In search of a bluer corn chip, Bena Burda ended up founding Maggie's Organics. Eighteen years later the company is still going strong, setting the bar for eco and social responsibility.

Ypsilanti’s RealKidz sells online, plans to hire

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 6, 2010

RealKidz is changing up its game and getting some points on the board with its new business plan.The 3-year-old firm, based in Ypsilanti's Depot Town, makes clothing that fits larger children, mainly girls. It started out selling these garments with direct sales, a la Mary Kay. It has since moved to a primary e-commerce platform after upgrading its website with a proven Internet retailing platform in August."We're starting to see some growth from that," says Merrill Guerra, founder and CEO of RealKidz. "We have doubled our website traffic and conversion rate over the last couple of months. It's moving exactly in the direction we were hoping."The two-person startup, also a former Ann Arbor SPARK East Incubator tenant, is now looking to raise a round of seed capital so it can flesh out its staff and business infrastructure. RealKidz hopes to hires a COO and webmaster, among other positions over the next year, with this capital.Source: Merrill Guerra, founder and CEO of RealKidzWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s IMU expands staff, clothing options

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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May 26, 2010

The clothing brand IMU, short for I Miss You, is starting to gain traction in Ann Arbor as it nears its first year in business.The start-up founded by former University of Michigan Basketball Captain David Merritt has grown to two employees and eight interns. It is also planning on expanding beyond t-shirts into clothing that is a little bit formal when it releases its new collections this summer and fall."We plan on that being out most diverse lineup," Merritt says. "We'll have t-shirts and dress shirts and hats. We're expanding out product line so we're more than just t-shirts."IMU was created with more than just clothing in mind. Merritt, a recent U-M graduate, splits the company's efforts between clothing designing and community service. The company mandates its employees dedicate at least 8-10 hours a month to community service while customers can also get a discount by giving their time or money to local causes, especially those that impact young people.That line of thinking is also behind the IMU brand. The words "I Miss You" are meant to inspire a feeling of belonging and being valued. The idea is to promote and provide a lifestyle for both its customers and their communities.The company has been able to capitalize on that by adding an employee and it hopes to add a few more within the next year. Merritt is also working to get IMU clothing in local boutiques and expanding beyond its 10 community service initiatives it has made in its first nine months."We're focusing on expanding our products and our community service component," Merritt says.Source: David Merritt, founder of IMUWriter: Jon Zemke

Know Y: Part II of Young and Entrepreneurial

By Kate Rose

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Arts & Culture

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April 28, 2010

Kate Rose returns with the second half of her investigation into what makes young entrepreneurs tick. Thrill to the other-worldly philosophies of Ghostly International's Sam Valenti! Gasp at the cutting edge tribulations of Henrietta Fahrenheit! Shudder in anticipation over what Davy Rothbart has found with FOUND! Is it passion, opportunity or cold calculated economics that spurs these local risk-takers on? Discover the truth by clicking

Fresh U-M grad continues push of IMU clothing line

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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February 10, 2010

David Merritt is becoming the conductor of the little fashion start-up that can now that his IMU brand is starting to gain traction in Ann Arbor.Excerpt:At Sunday's IMU photoshoot, LSA sophomore Courtney Cox took a brief break from tweeting giveaways to describe her unique internship experience. Like many Michigan students, Cox had been hopelessly looking for internship opportunities in merchandising, until she came across the Facebook fan page for I Miss You, Inc. (IMU), a brand founded by David Merritt, former captain of the Michigan men’s basketball team."Have you ever had someone tell you that they miss you?" Merritt asked. "It makes you feel special. It makes you feel valued."David Merritt is not the typical self-absorbed all-star-athlete-turned-fashion-designer. If you’re looking for an entourage or the arrogant swagger that comes with leading a team to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 11 years, you won’t find it here. Instead, Merritt is so admirably humble, it’s almost frustrating. He just keeps it real — and stylish. He has everything you’d hope to find in the president and CEO of one of Ann Arbor’s hottest up-and-coming fashion lines.But how did the former hoops player combine his two seemingly disparate interests of basketball and fashion?According to Merritt, he never had any intentions of getting involved in fashion. But his experiences playing basketball with selfless teammates like School of Public Policy graduate student and former captain C.J. Lee ultimately became his inspiration for IMU. The IMU brand sells T-shirts which combine the urban style with joy and color. The shirt designs serve perfectly to illustrate the meeting point of style and service."As a captain, I learned the importance of selflessness and giving of yourself to reach team goals — goals that are bigger than you personally." Merritt said. "Like watching C.J. Lee come in every day just to motivate people in order to make the team as good as it could be. These types of goals are what's really behind IMU as a brand."Read the rest of the story here.

I Miss You looks to bring social conscience to fashion in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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August 26, 2009

David Merritt is one of those entrepreneurs who sees his business through a different lens than the rest of us.The recent University of Michigan graduate (he captained the U-M basketball team) started I Miss You with a bigger idea than selling clothing. He wants it to serve as a force for improving communities and a vehicle for making people feel better."We really feel we can change communities, change their perspectives," Merritt says.It starts with the brand. The words "I Miss You" are meant to inspire a feeling of belonging and being valued. It's the type of mindset that is meant to make people want to do better through the lifestyle that I Miss You offers. It accomplishes this by mandating its employees dedicate at least 8-10 hours a month to community service. Customers can also get a discount by giving their time or money to local causes that help impact communities, especially young people."This is a people company," Merritt says. "The brand is about people."Right now I Miss You is Merritt, an employee and handful of independent contractors. He hopes to bring on some interns, too. They are concentrating on making shirts to start but hope to expand to other forms of clothing as the business grows."I have plans for days," Merritt says.Source: David Merritt, president and CEO of I Miss YouWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Salon Vox named one of best in nation

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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July 29, 2009

Ann Arbor gets a lot of love for its technical expertise, but now Elle magazine is showing a Tree Town-based salon some love for its fashion sense. The national magazine named Ann Arbor's Salon Vox one of the Top 100 in the nation. Read about it here.

Video Vintage To Vogue

By Keith Jefferies

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Arts & Culture

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June 26, 2009

V2V's racks are filled with the kind of stuff you can buy 'off the rack' ... if you know what I mean. It's the kind of place that'll carry only five a particular outfit and then "pfft" it's gone. Located in Ann Arbor's Kerrytown, this urban-style boutique attract customers far and wide.

MASTERMIND: Britten Stringwell

By Jeff Meyers

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Arts & Culture

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February 4, 2009

Britten Stringwell sees a real hunger for artistic connection in Ann Arbor. The 25 year-old fashion designer and artist has immersed herself in the creative cultures of some of America's most progressive cities, and brought back ideas about how to build a creative community here. The result? The Yellow Barn. Never heard of it? Read on...