Nesha Sanghavi models a dress she designed for her business, University Girls.
Nesha Sanghavi hadn't seen the Silly Bandz until earlier this summer. But when she did she realized the rubber bracelets in various shapes were a perfect match for her company -- University Girls.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Nesha Sanghavi hadn't seen the Silly Bandz until earlier this summer. But when she did she realized the rubber bracelets in various shapes were a perfect match for her company -- University Girls.
By Friday, the 23-year-old former WVU cheerleader hopes to have 10,000 WVU FanWear Bands to take to retailers before the Mountaineers' opening game against Costal Carolina on Saturday in Morgantown.
She's keeping her fingers crossed that the shipment of bands, shaped like West Virginia, the Mountaineer and WVU logos, from the Chinese factory making her order won't be delayed in customs.
The Charleston woman has already had one major setback in her pursuit of entrepreneurship.
She had found a factory in Pakistan to manufacture her clothing line of WVU apparel. "Everything was in line to come out in June of this year. My complete designs. I had the shapes, the fabric. All of sudden the company shut down in Pakistan because of the financial crisis."
Throw in the up to 40 percent increase in cotton prices, and the climate's been tough on small businesses, especially on "really, really small business like mine," she said.
Sanghavi got her idea for her business when she was at WVU, majoring in finance and on the varsity cheerleading squad for three years.
"I was always wearing WVU stuff. A lot of fans wear WVU things, not just for games," However, she found that most of the merchandise was for older women. The clothing wasn't "age appropriate" for the younger set.
"I saw a lot of girls take baggy, WVU T-shirts and cut them up to show a little stomach," she said.
Her first piece was a gray tank top decorated with a WVU patch that she made and sewed on. "I started getting comments on how cute it was," she said.
Sanghavi admitted that she's a fan of the television reality show "Project Runway." She was even inspired to buy a sewing machine, although not patient enough to make much on it.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Nesha Sanghavi hadn't seen the Silly Bandz until earlier this summer. But when she did she realized the rubber bracelets in various shapes were a perfect match for her company -- University Girls.
By Friday, the 23-year-old former WVU cheerleader hopes to have 10,000 WVU FanWear Bands to take to retailers before the Mountaineers' opening game against Costal Carolina on Saturday in Morgantown.
She's keeping her fingers crossed that the shipment of bands, shaped like West Virginia, the Mountaineer and WVU logos, from the Chinese factory making her order won't be delayed in customs.
The Charleston woman has already had one major setback in her pursuit of entrepreneurship.
She had found a factory in Pakistan to manufacture her clothing line of WVU apparel. "Everything was in line to come out in June of this year. My complete designs. I had the shapes, the fabric. All of sudden the company shut down in Pakistan because of the financial crisis."
Throw in the up to 40 percent increase in cotton prices, and the climate's been tough on small businesses, especially on "really, really small business like mine," she said.
Sanghavi got her idea for her business when she was at WVU, majoring in finance and on the varsity cheerleading squad for three years.
"I was always wearing WVU stuff. A lot of fans wear WVU things, not just for games," However, she found that most of the merchandise was for older women. The clothing wasn't "age appropriate" for the younger set.
"I saw a lot of girls take baggy, WVU T-shirts and cut them up to show a little stomach," she said.
Her first piece was a gray tank top decorated with a WVU patch that she made and sewed on. "I started getting comments on how cute it was," she said.
Sanghavi admitted that she's a fan of the television reality show "Project Runway." She was even inspired to buy a sewing machine, although not patient enough to make much on it.
After graduation, she took a banking job in Pittsburgh. While home on a visit, Sanghavi said she had a long talk with her father, Ashok Sanghavi, who has his own business, S&S Engineers, an environmental consulting firm. Sanghavi talked with him about wanting to be an entrepreneur and about her idea to start a WVU clothing line for women.
That got her motivated to apply for necessary licenses: a business license from the state of West Virginia and a license from Collegiate Licensing Co., which manages the WVU trademark and logos. The latter license required a marketing and business plan and quality samples of the product. She was granted the collegiate license in October 2008.
Meanwhile, she said she realized that she needed more knowledge to continue her clothing business. For the past 18 months, she's been working a fashion marketing degree from Parsons School of Design in New York City.
At first, Sanghavi said, she bought blank clothing items and had the screen prints or embroidery done at T Graphics in Charleston. Those items included hoodies and tube and tank tops, which can be ordered online from her Web site www.ugapparel.com.
She said her bedroom at her parents' house on Olde Ash Lane has become a mini warehouse.
Buying blank goods, she soon learned, is expensive and she needed to produce her own goods to be able to lower prices, which would be beneficial for herself and for the retailers. In New York, she was able to network and research factories in Asia to use.
Sanghavi has lined up another factory, this one in India, to make her full line of clothing designs. "I am in the sampling process," she said.
She leaves Sept. 8 for Germany, where she'll serve an internship in global merchandising with Puma, the sports clothing company, to complete her degree at Parsons.
So all next week she'll be driving around the state hand delivering her bands, and meeting retailers who will sell them. In the Charleston area, the bands will be carried at Charleston Department Store, Mollie's Hallmark in Elkview and Clendenin Pharmacy.
While in Germany, she'll be able to keep up with her business through the internet. And she also has her account manager and company representative in Charleston -- her mother, Kiran Sanghavi.
Ultimately, Sanghavi said her goal is to own licenses for the top 25 universities in the country. " I am closest to the WVU community. If I can make it there, I can make it with the other schools," she said.
Reach Rosalie Earle at ea...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5115.
