Welcoming Famous IRL: the Best Tees on the Internet
Today marks a milestone here at our startup, Idea Nest. We’re proudly launching our first brand Famous IRL. Normally this is the part where we tell you what we do and how we’re different, but let’s start with what we don’t do. We don’t:
Make poor-quality apparel that doesn’t last.
Make apparel that doesn’t fit properly.
Make apparel that doesn’t feel great.
We’re the print-on-demand company that believes that life is too short to wear boring clothes. Our apparel oozes personality and will make you Famous IRL at the same time.
Humble Beginnings
Famous IRL began as a side hustle. Previously in my role as E-commerce Specialist for print-on-demand platform Viralstyle, I was in charge of user acquisition and seller success. To help attract sellers to the platform and become successful selling their own t-shirt designs, I ventured out to design and test my own products to learn best practices. In doing so I was able to compile data and examples to use in case studies and blog articles to help guide Viralstyle sellers.
This was sort of a perfect marriage for my background in graphic design and digital advertising. After a few months I quickly realized that I have a special knack for understanding how to create t-shirts designs that people wanted, and then how to connect the dots to a marketing campaign that made conversions.
As a cinefile myself, creating fan art of pop culture references I loved came naturally, and I quickly found other likeminded fans who liked these obscure references as much as me. These designs first became available on various online marketplaces, and with success I was able to turn these one-off t-shirt designs into the brand Famous IRL.
The picture of that desk above is where it all happened. Admittedly it felt like a chaotic process. There are notes plastered on the walls that won’t make sense to anyone by myself, mixed in with inspiration from the Benny Gold poster, Shepard Fairey stickers on my desk, and other vintage advertising examples. And cannot forget to mention the stack of chocolate Cadbury eggs, value-size bottle of Tylenol, and the upbeat playlist that I had on repeat for weeks to keep the serotonin flowing. From late nights after coming home from work, sacrificed social outings on weekends, and eventually stepping down from my role at Viralstyle to pursue my dream of becoming an entrepreneur. I was glued to my work station at times, and after weeks of long nights finally am ready to introduce my first apparel brand… and take a much needed shower.
Rewriting the Script in Graphic Apparel
With Famous IRL, we’re changing the game of graphic apparel one piece at a time. We specialize in fan art, television, pop culture, holiday theme, and humorous and fashionable graphic apparel. We’re on a mission to create apparel that people want to wear, feel great to wear, and most importantly, create apparel that fits properly.
The Famous IRL Difference
I am constantly pushing the boundaries of graphic apparel by crafting unique designs that our future customers crave and love. By utilizing our established brand style and ethos, you’ll never see us create the uninspired designs typically seen in the novelty apparel industry.
We currently feature apparel for men, women, and unisex and cover various categories, including t-shirts, tank tops, and hoodies. Future plans include the addition of accessories like hats, mugs, ugly Christmas sweaters, and possibly even canvas art prints. I have put a strong focus on curating products and fulfillment providers that are of the highest quality and are printed, embroidered, and made to order right here in the US. While we don’t offer custom design services, we strongly encourage our customers to let us know the designs they want to see. Your preferences and feedback will shape the future products we release.
The Famous IRL Ethos
What does Famous IRL mean? IRL is common internet lingo for In Real Life, referring to the dichotomy that many people have between their online and offline personas. In today's age, social media is a chance for anybody and everybody to find their fifteen minutes of fame. I want to create products that allow people to express themselves and their love for whatever their thing is with products that they identify with and want to share with their likeminded friends on social media.
The First Chapter For Idea Nest
The print-on-demand market is consistently growing, and we’re excited to grab the opportunity with both hands. The brand new launch Famous IRL adds our first unique brand to our growing startup at Idea Nest. We hope this is the first of several direct-to-consumer brands and I look forward to innovating the market with Famous IRL and satisfying the need for unique fan art in the world.