Sew Vintage
Elon senior, Geena DiCamillo, has always had an entrepreneurship spirit and a ‘can-do’ attitude. These two features combine into what drives “Sew Vintage”, DiCamillo’s company that takes old or used t-shirts and turns them into a stylish, wearable vintage look.
“I first came up with the idea to start Sew Vintage the summer before my sophomore year of college,” DiCamillo said. “ I was at LF, a popular clothing store that sells handmade and vintage-looking items, when I found a t-shirt that I fell in love with. I went to check out, checked the price tag, and was shocked to see that it was selling for $175. I remembered that I had a sewing machine from when I was younger and wondered if I would be able to make one myself. I bought some t-shirts and supplies, and Sew Vintage kind of fell into place.”
As a child, DiCamillo remembers always coming up with new ideas and mini businesses she could craft and sell to her friends and family.
“I have always enjoyed crafting, and was often making things such as dream catchers, canvases, mugs and other little knickknacks,” DiCamillo said. “When I realized that I may be able to craft my shirts for profit, I was excited to see where it might take me.”
The willingness to try something out yourself, that may or may not work out, seems to be the ongoing risk entrepreneurs like DiCamillo take all the time.
Starting a company, at any level of the word, requires an inherent belief in yourself, raw passion to take risks, and humility that DiCamillo definitely possesses and spreads to others.
“I didn’t think about selling my shirts until I wore one around campus for the first time, DiCamillo said. “A handful of people asked where I bought it and when I told them I made it myself, they asked if they could buy one. I started to make more shirts and Sew Vintage took off.”
The theme of the business is taking something old and making it new again. Elon students and beyond have jumped on the vintage style look and seem to be calling on DiCamillo to make shirts for all occasions.
“I have always loved vintage items,” DiCamillo said. “ I love strolling through thrift stores and antique shops and finding how to take something old and turn it into something new. As I started to sell my shirts, I found that the vintage ones were selling the quickest, so I decided to continue down that path and use vintage t-shirts as my big seller.”
DiCamillo’s forward-looking attitude, drives her to think ahead of the trends of today’s fast paced world. She acts on her ideas, instead of pushing them aside, and takes risks, even when there is room for failure. Sew Vintage pushes us to think that maybe, we too can be entrepreneurs.
