The first pages that fourth-year student Joshua To sees when he
flips open his school binder are lists of customers, stores and
events. Besides working on a double major in design and
communication studies at UCLA, To runs the clothing company
Resonance with three other students. About 30 mostly local
retailers sell Resonance attire already, and the UCLA store may
soon carry their clothes as well. “I personally felt the need
to found a clothing company that has a little more weight and
substance to it,” To said. Bringing the clothing line to the
UCLA campus would be just another step toward the students’
goals of advancing their social message and managing a profitable
business ““ all the while being full-time students.
“It’s definitely a lot to juggle,” To said.
Student entrepreneurs On a regular day, To gets
up at 7 in the morning and starts the day by answering e-mails for
about a half hour. He stays on top of his business while he is on
campus as well. “During longer classes I go out in breaks and
make phone calls,” he explained. Third-year student James
Buyayo, who is head of design at Resonance, said he works about 20
to 30 hours a week for the company. “It really depends on
school,” he said. During the summer, To and his co-workers
have an office in the Bay Area. When they are here at UCLA, they do
most of their business out of their apartments, but they also have
a mini-office in downtown Los Angeles. Buyayo said To’s
apartment functions as their headquarters and is usually full of
boxes. To described his business as a “socially conscious
clothing company.” Resonance wants to get people involved and
speak up for what they believe in, he said. The current fall line
of “Resonance” includes T-shirts for guys and girls and
hooded sweatshirts. One of the designs shows the slogan
“Realize real lies” with a generic image of a
politician giving a speech. Other shirts bear drawings of Albert
Einstein or Martin Luther King. “We try to encourage young
people to spend their time to do research and form their opinions.
We want to get them involved in the democratic process,” To
said. He stressed that their company is a politically diverse group
and follows no specific political agenda. For their printings, the
students use sweatshop-free clothing made by American Apparel and
Bay Side.
Supporters and inspirations To, Buyayo and
Daniel Scherbakovsky, a fourth-year student at UC Berkeley, founded
Resonance as a Limited Liability Company in May 2003. Fourth-year
UCLA biology student Kevin Kim joined the company later. To’s
inspiration stemmed from an independent study with African American
studies professor Paul von Blum. “He came and talked to me,
and I got interested,” Von Blum said. “He felt strongly
to combine his design talent with a vision of social and ethical
responsibility.” The professor, who also teaches in
communication studies, put To in touch with various artists and
encouraged him to found Resonance. “I’m always
interested in students who want to use their specific skills in
socially responsible ways,” Von Blum said. Von Blum added he
has received some free Resonance shirts from To and wears them
often. The professor especially liked a design that targeted
racism. This specific shirt bears black text on a white background
and shows the slogan “Race is a social construction”
incorporated into a poem. He said To’s approach to combine
fashion with critical social messages is very effective. “You
have so many people in America who are acutely conscious of
fashion,” Von Blum said. According to the company’s Web
site, the scientific term “resonance” describes the
process of various molecules combining into a stable product. To
related this action to his company’s philosophy, saying,
“When things and people are working together you get a more
stable and powerful result.” With this mission in mind, To
has established a community of supporters for his products. The
supporters, who are featured on the company’s Web site,
include designers, musicians and dancers. One of the most prominent
members of the Resonance community is Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Richard Walden, president and founder of the aid organization
Operation USA. Sheila Pinkel, political artist and professor at
Pomona College, is also part of the community.
The business To keep track of his design ideas,
To has a book of designs that he constantly adds to, even during
school. Buyayo comes up with ideas as well, and when they discuss
new designs they often find out that their ideas are very similar.
Buyayo said the two are very honest with each other, which helps
during the production process. In designing new shirts, the company
uses a variety of techniques. Buyayo explained that some of their
designs are hand-drawn by artists, but he likes to do his designs
with the computer. Buyayo said the current fall line has taken two
months of “solid work” on the designs with another two
months spent for printing and selling. To pointed out that unlike
Resonance, the big fashion labels have their seasons designed a
year in advance. “We’re just a couple of months
ahead,” he said. Buyayo sees some advantages in this way of
working. “This allows us to tackle issues that are more
contemporary.” Some stores that carry Resonance apparel are
Fred Segal, Workmen’s in Melrose, and the online retailer
DigitalGravel.com. On average, the stores sell their T-shirts for
prices between $20 and $30, To said. He admitted that sales is the
most challenging part of business for his company. Resonance does
not have a large cash flow and is not financially stable yet, To
said. The four students reinvest all profits they make with their
business activities back into the company, Buyayo explained.
Consequently, they don’t get to reap their profits, but the
company can grow.
Goals and dreams After graduation from college,
the Resonance team wants to keep working on its project. Buyayo
plans to get a job and pursue the fashion label on the side. The
eventual goal for both To and Buyayo is to turn Resonance into a
profitable business while at the same time sticking to moral
principles. “It is not a non-profit organization,”
Buyayo said. Mentioning corporate scandals such as Enron, he added,
“We’re out to prove that businesses don’t have to
be bad.” Bringing their attire to the UCLA store would be a
further step toward their goal. “Being UCLA students, we
would love to be represented in the UCLA store,” To said.
“We hope that we’ll be in the store in spring.”
Patrick Healy, general merchandise manager at the UCLA store,
confirmed that the store is close to a decision on Resonance
clothing. A student advisory group is currently evaluating the
clothes. Healy expects the group’s report by the end of this
week. In their dealings with the UCLA store, To does not want to
rely on their student status too much. “Our clothing speaks
for itself,” he said. Healy explained that other factors are
more important for their evaluation. Most importantly, the product
has to match the target audience and the pricing has to be
reasonable, he said, adding that while merchandise made by UCLA
students is a good thing, it comes down to the product when making
a decision. For To, an on-campus retailer for Resonance clothes
makes a lot of sense. “We feel that our clothing is very,
very suitable for college students,” he said, adding that
people’s minds are more open to new things during their
college years. Besides the goal of making Resonance profitable, To
has a personal objective attached to the Resonance venture as well.
In case of financial success he wants to give something back to his
parents, who have worked “ridiculously hard” to put him
and his brother in college. “My biggest dream in life right
now is to prematurely retire my parents,” he said.