Business & Tech

Foothill Locals Seek Funds for T-Shirt Business (Video)

The trio of entrepreneurs mixed art and business to create [SIC] Apparel in a garage in La Cañada.

To three La Cañada High School graduates, fresh out of college, T-shirts are a vehicle for exhibiting art, and paying respect to the artist.

And now, the trio's business, [SIC] Apparel, is soliciting start-up capital to the tune of $18,000. Amount raised as of Thursday morning: $5,284, according to [SIC] Apparel's Kickstarter campaign page.

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. 

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[SIC] Apparel is the brainchild of Francis Pollara, Anya Rosen and Walter Mansilla, who graduated from La Cañada High in 2007. The entrepreneurs work out of the garage of Rosen's childhood home, where they've set up a radial screen printing press that can produce from 100 to 300 shirts an hour.

Who Does What?

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Rosen earned a degree in fine art from Carnegie Mellon University, the La Cañada Valley Sun reports, and handles most of the creative decisions. Mansilla graduated from the University of La Verne and deals with the financials. Pollara graduated from Pasadena's Art Center College of Design, and is responsible for marketing and social media -- the latter blazing right along with 1,066 Twitter followers and 1,642 fans on Facebook

Back in December, that he hopes as the young venture expands, “people will see and understand the concept” as well as “see the value in a local company.”

According to the [SIC] Kickstarter page, the business "functions like a gallery and is made up of a group of talented and dedicated artists who treat each shirt like a canvas: each shirt you buy is a piece of art. The selling of these shirts benefits the artists by spreading their work far and wide around the world.''

The description goes on to read, "artists at [SIC] also have the opportunity to raise money and awareness for non-profits by dedicating a particular design to an organization of their choice.'' The owners describe their grassroots facility as "an energetic and creative space for artists who develop unique quality apparel.''

The business' website, www.sicapparel.com, points out that no apparel will be sold until it meets its $18,000 pledge goal on Kickstarter. The campaign page shows the fund-raising pledge deadline 1 p.m. PDT on April 25.


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