Three Student Entrepreneurs Offer New Future For Athletic Clothes

LeHigh Valley Live:

“It goes back to high school in 2009,” said Krass, “I played lacrosse with Sam and we just started hanging out and talking about how cool it would be to start a clothing company.”

Maybe the biggest inspiration the duo had was the success apparel company, Vineyard Vines was having in 2008 and 2009.

“That inspired Sam and I and got us thinking about how there was no reason we couldn’t be successful too in the clothing industry as well,” he said. “We were trying to figure out where our niche could be and how we could break in into the industry.”

“We wanted to make clothes that we like ourselves and then obviously translate that to our peers,” Krass said. “So I guess we’re targeting college kids specifically and also high school kids, trying to make clothing that they like and that everyone will wear.”

In 2010 Krass & Funnel created their first prototype and sold/distributed 60 pairs of shorts to test the market. As the operation got bigger, Krass & Funnell tapped Lovallo to come on board and handle all the accounting. The company is co-owned and was self-funded until recently by all three students. (Funnell is a freshman at Trinity College). This past month they took short-term loans from family and friends to fund their inventory.

“No one else is employed by the company,” said Krass. “However, we contract out some of our design work. We have a design firm that we work closely with that helps with everything from label design to the website.”

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