Sinatra Sophomore is an Entrepreneur
Sinatra Sophomore Simon Safos is a boss.
The weight of clothes can be surprisingly heavy.
Carrying a selection of folded shirts, the green duffle bag hanging at the side of him, Simón Safos walks through the hallways with his future in his hands.
Simón a sophomore at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, is enrolled as a vocal student, but really has a passion for fashion. Simón has been designing and creating his own clothing line since the age of 12, with his business partner, who was 16 years-old at the time. They began their line as a way to make some money and spread their art. Being so young and having so much responsibility put into ones hands can be overwhelming. However, it has helped Simón become who he is today, a charismatic and bright young man.
The starting point for Simón’s shirts and printings were quite simple and creative.
“We started with silk screening our designs onto shirts by hand and soon fell in love with it. We knew there was good to come,” Simón states.
Simon offers a unique variety of designs.
From such a young age Simón was dedicated and serious. He took what he did with intentness and had hopes of it becoming more than just a hobby. Simón admits that from the beginning of the company he faced challenges. One of the hardest things Simón had to go through was actually starting the company.
“Starting from scratch was honestly the hardest, especially, in a general sense, jumping straight into the world of becoming a businessman and all the details involved; attracting customers, being original, and being affordable,” he adds.
It comes with no surprise that starting your own business at 12 would be challenging, but with focus and dedication Simón has been able to get through the difficulties and learn from them.
“For me as an individual, my people skills have increased exponentially, you can’t be hesitant and shy when representing your clothing and making sales, it just doesn’t work. You need to be able to pitch a short, but solid representation of your product,” he states.
Now, although there have been challenges Simón has gotten through, he still faces some with the business currently.
“In this world and field of production, we face many issues, the biggest being networking. Which in other words means connecting and communicating to spread the word and sale of your product,” he adds. “In the beginning many may give up because of the gradual growth of customer base, meaning that in the beginning, you will not have a consistent amount of sales and orders, just a small average.”
He says that staying on task can be problematic as well. As a high school student one can imagine the time management that’s needed and balance, to successfully run a business and still do well in school.
The company was started when Simon was only 12-years-old.
“Not falling off the path of your original intentions is surprisingly very difficult to do without proper attitude, and the list goes on, for there are many difficulties I have yet to face,” Simón said.
Considering that Simón is a vocal major at Frank Sinatra it’s extraordinary that he’s able to have the skillset that an art major may have. He’s been balancing the vocal life, regular student academic life, and the art major ways since freshman year.
Even though his is a small business, Simón does have hope that it will branch out and become more successful over time.
“For the business, we hope to provide great quality products with unique designs, for a very low price, hopefully changing future generations of clothing production. It’s hard to watch as big brand names overprice their clothing, even when it falls short of basic quality needs. We want to bring genuine dedication back into this playing field,” he said.
The unique designs that Simón mentions are indeed original. He and his two other business partners merge together their styles and offer a number of different looks. Right now the line boasts Queens and Brooklyn zip codes, representing both boroughs.
“Designs mustn’t be forced, they go through a series of drafting and analyzing before they are released. It’s a process that involves much expression,” he states. These designs can be found on a variety of products that Simón and his partners sell and produce including: shirts, sweaters, wind breakers, jackets, baseball caps, five panel hats, and bucket hats.
“Our shirts are made from extremely soft, ring-spun and woven cotton blends, permanently pressed with a unique design is usually around $20. Our sweaters, according to the season and variety, are usually $35,” Simón goes on to explain what exactly he produces and how much the products go for.
“We also offer fully customizable by you apparel, of course for a slightly higher price, depending on detail and size/placement; you can also do this for the head gear we offer,” he finishes his explanation by stating that, “The best part is that they are fully hand designed for only $20.”
There’s such a great variety of products that this business offers and at reasonable and affordable prices as well. If you’re looking for a soft and durable sweater or shirt to wear with a design that can’t be found anywhere else, it would be in your best interest to check out Simón’s business.
Simón will be easy to spot in the hallways, he’s always carrying samples of his products in a green duffle bag; go and check out some products before the school year ends.
For further inquires, contact him through his email simon.safos@gmail.com (or instagram: @simonsafos)
– by Jayda Molina ’16