Clothing line created by USU student to promote mental health awareness
Stetson Sweatfield, a Utah State University sophomore, has spent the past few months creating a clothing line that would not only look cool, he said, but would also make a difference by promoting positive messages and mental health awareness.
Sweatfield spent hours every night after work at a coffee shop, doodling, drawing and channeling all of his inspiration into his designs.
“The world isn’t made up of one person,” he said. “Everyone is so different and I think that deserves to be shown.”
He felt he needed to create designs that were simple, fun and affordable while still bringing out his personality. When he had five completely unique designs, he took them to his cousin’s print shop where he learned to screen print.
He waited until he had samples to show before he told anyone what he was planning.
“I think when you open or start anything new it can be scary to put it out there and say, ‘this is my idea and I hope you guys like it,’” he said.
His parents supported his idea, and his friends loved the designs. He asked them to model his shirts, then created a website to show them off. Next, he obtained a business license and officially launched DIA Clothing.
When the orders started coming, Sweatfield’s customers started sharing posts of them wearing his shirts on Instagram. The trend started catching on and within two months, he has sold his product to people in 43 different states.
He has even met some Aggies on campus who are promoting his messages and wearing his designs.
“Every single time there’s an order, I see where it comes from and what they’re getting and I get so excited,” he said, “and it’s like me being super giddy about people wearing something that I designed, which I think is the coolest thing ever. It’s been a lot more successful than I ever hoped it would be.”
Sweatfield said DIA Clothing is unique because it’s designed to promote a message of unity among all people, including genders.
“I decided to make it gender neutral because I thought it was a cool way to be inclusive,” he said. “I think there is enough separation in the world, I wanted to create something that anyone could feel comfortable wearing.”
Now that he’s back at school, Sweatfield said that juggling his business, school and a social life can be difficult because “from the designing to actually making the shirts, I’m running it all.”
To manage everything, he relies on his parents, friends and trusty planner to schedule out his days and make sure he gets everything done.
“I think you can do anything as long as you look at (your opportunity) as a blessing,” he said. “If it’s something that you’re passionate about, you’ll make time for it.”
Kiyon Alexander, a cheerleader at the University of Utah, has known Sweatfield since they were in high school and considers him to be one of her best friends.
“As DIA grew, we were all so excited for Stetson and the next steps. I think DIA is such a positive influence just like Stetson and explains his work ethic and personality perfectly,” Alexander said.
Sweatfield said he finds inspiration for new designs everywhere, like in the most ordinary places, people, movies, in something someone else is wearing, in TEDtalks, tv shows, etc. He makes notes on his phone and keeps a sketchbook with him so he can capture new ideas as they come.
“There’s a lot of goodness in the world and I think if you look for it you can find it,” he said.
Cady Petersen has never met Sweatfield but found him on instagram and liked his posts.
“Shortly after I followed him” Petersen explained, “he posted about his clothing company on his Instagram and I thought they were really cute so I bought three of them.”
Other followers, including Jiego Lim were “super excited” when he launched his business. Lim was the lucky winner of a shirt in a giveaway from DIA Clothing, but is planning on buying more shirts in the future.
“I was so excited for DIA,” Lim said, ”the shirts are super cute and just fashionable and its message is just everything.”
At 19 years old, Sweatfield is amazed at how many people are willing to get behind him and his brand. Positivity and beauty are trends that people want to be a part of. He encourages people to post on social media to spread his messages of love and unity to the world.
“I’m a big advocate of mental health and mental health awareness,’ he said, “and I think that it’s important to be able to have a way to represent those messages. So, just being able to help anyone in that kind of way has been the most rewarding part if it helps them be happy or helps them have a positive outlook on their day, then that’s what I do it for.”
@BrooklynFalter