Start up I am a full partner in

[Platonic]

Hi,

Just looking for commentary and ideas on this business I have started with friends. Its clothing, the name is gnarlē ™. I have a designer working on a top notch real website for www.gnarle.com (not functional dont bother looking). Currently I have this to show you all my product:

http://gnarle.myshopify.com

We have a smallish following in the Southern Los Angeles area,we recieve lots of good feedback from people that I am somewhat connected to. I really want constructive feedback from complete strangers whose opinions about my product have not been influenced by word of mouth. I tend to think this sort of feedback is much more important. I also own the printing business that prints the shirts, and so we can talk about that too:

www.sundriedapparel.com

The sundried site I made myself with dreamweaver, and we primarily print our own shirts, not too may custom shirt customers. So don't hope for too much in terms of that site. Please criticize as you feel.

Thanks
Platonic

[Wondercall]

Hi,

I love the designs, what customer base are you marketing towards? I'm kinda getting the surfer/skater vibe... are you selling in places like Jack's and other surfshops?

[IRuleYouHard]

Will you be advertising through an affilition offering a certain percent of the sale? (cj.com , linkshare.com)

[Platonic]

First, Thank you!

I would love to sell at Jack's, we haven't contacted them yet to see if they would pick us up. We have been waiting to finish a very nice, clean cut catalog, so that we have something pretty to show our clients. You pretty much nailed our market. I think the base of our style is going to be musically influenced. One of my partners is a band member, and up until now we have made the majority of our sales at concert venues as a result of being good friends with a few bands in the Los Angeles area. Surfers go hand in hand with the music / party / bars scene, and this is the scene we have been selling to since 2005. In my opinion the music / party /bar scene goes hand in hand with just about anyone from California in the teens and lower twenties, often up to the thirties. My ideal is to have high quality clothes with very tasteful designs so that people will be comfortable to wear them "out" to a bar or casual party (because they look and feel that good), but they won't be so expensive such that you can't just hang out wearing them.

To help obtain this we will likely be switching all of our base shirts to high quality American Apparel. Currently four of the shirts sold on that website are American Apparel. They cost (me) twice as much but I believe they are worth it.

Also if anyone actually wants to buy one, use coupon code "2P2". Its worth $5.00 off. I have to keep the prices at $20 on the site so I don't undercut the stores owners that currently carry my product. Business is business.. consider it a 2p2 special.

Platonic

[Platonic]

Absolutely. Also thanks for providing the linkshare, I had not known about them.

Platonic

[billyjex]

I don't have too much to add, but cool shirts. I think it's a great shirt for the South Bay market; I usually end up buying similar looking shirts for $75 from Neiman Marcus.