Eugene, like many college towns, is relatively fashion forward compared to the rest of the state. With so many young talented designers and fashion aficionados, it only makes sense there would be a few local clothing brands to shop from.
Lux
Lux -– Latin for light — is operated by Page Van Pernis. Van Pernis started making clothing his senior year of highschool when he got a sewing machine from his mom. He said sewing was, and continues to be, a way to keep him out of trouble.
Van Pernis was selling clothing through pop ups and local tattoo shops until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. During that time he switched to selling clothing online. “Once COVID kind of calmed down I was able to do markets again, but now I kind of want to be able to balance both,” Van Pernis said.
Van Pernis said the name of his website “luxfiveyearslater” is a reference to when he re-opened his shop online post-pandemic, five years after he started making clothing.
Van Pernis’ designs are primarily influenced by skating and music culture. The big and baggy look of 90s skate culture specifically inspires his current designs. “I do a lot of emulation and take ideas and then kind of mess with them, then put them out as kind of like a nod to their influence on me,” Van Pernis said.
Van Pernis said his main goal has never been to market his clothing. Creating something marketable and consumable is important to him, but not at the top of his priorities. “Making the art itself is pretty personal to me, and it’s also just a nice hobby, so I don’t stress out on the marketing aspect too much,” Van Pernis said.
That being said, Van Pernis is still trying to make marketable clothing and strengthen his business. “I want it to be self-serving where I can make stuff, sell it and then have enough money to go back into it. Keep it a cycle of continuously being able to make stuff and then also get better equipment,” Van Pernis said. “The expectation that it can be like a nine-to-five kind of gets my hopes up.”
YSK Print House
YSK Print House is art and technology major Drew Todahl’s brand. Through YSK Print House, Todahl produces apparel for construction companies and various clubs as well as his own designs.
“It’s a full-fledged business that I’m running, as well as being a student,” Todahl said.
Todahl got into art through making ski animations, and at the same time, he was working at a commercial screen printing company. “Through that I realized I had an opportunity to give more of my own creative expression,” Todahl said.
YSK Print House is “sustainably minded,” first and foremost. The name is an anagram for “you should know,” something Todahl came up with because of the climate impact from making clothing. “That’s kind of the whole point of my business: being able to understand the pollution that is created from corporations,” Todahl said.
Todahl acquired this mindset after he saw large amounts of wasted shirts at the screen printing company he previously worked at. “Some guy messed up a run of 90 shirts, and now we’re just gonna throw these all away,” Todahl said.
Because of his experiences, Todahl uses water-based, non-toxic dyes and a filtration system to keep chemicals out of the water. Any misprinted shirt is reused as either a rag or for test prints.
Somewhere along the way of creating his business, Todahl felt like he lost sight of what mattered. “I really started with this whole process of the love of art and expression. And since I’ve opened my business, not to put it down or anything, but it’s taken me a little bit away from that,” Todahl said.
Todahl fortunately plans on having another clothing drop in Summer 2024. “This next hoodie that I’m about to drop, I think it’s definitely my favorite piece I’ve had so far,” he said. The collection will feature shorts, sweatshirts and shirts and be heavily inspired by graffiti.
Apparent Apparel
Leslie Daniels, the designer behind Apparent Apparel, got his start in fashion with embroidery.
“I’ve always really liked the art of embroidery. I just love the texture and all the different types of stitches and the detail that can go into it,” Daniels said. “So I asked my parents for a small embroidery machine. I just started making designs, digitizing them and embroidering them in my bedroom.”
Daniels gets a lot of his inspiration from classes he takes for his botany major at Oregon State University. One of Daniels’ designs, still available on his website, is based on Pangea and inspired by vintage travel posters. The most recent line is inspired by childhood memories and apple orchard crate designs.
“Apparent Apple Orchards was inspired by an apple tree in Madison Meadow, which is a little park pretty close to my house that I grew up climbing with my siblings,” Daniels said. “That tree has always just had a special place in my heart, so I wanted to create something that would help it live on even if the tree dies.”
The Apparent Apple Orchard line uses a unique method to get the wash just right. Daniels gives the clothing a hot saltwater bath to loosen up the fibers in the fabric, allowing the pigment of the fibers to become less bonded. He then sprays the clothing with lemon juice and sets it out on his roof to dry in the sun, which lightens the fabric.
Of all of Daniels’ designs he is especially proud of his infrared designs that are, unfortunately, no longer available on his website. “I embroidered a hand in infrared using the full spectrum of colors to represent heat. Next to it I did the planet Saturn, also in infrared, where you could see the aurora borealis,” Daniels said.
Daniels plans on having his next drop inspired by cyanotypes released in Summer 2024.
All three designers offer unique takes on modern fashion and can be found at their websites and Instagrams below.
Lux:
Website: https://www.luxfiveyearslater.shop/
Instagram: @lux_ww
Apparent Apparel:
Website: https://apparen7.com/
Instagram: @4pparen7
YSK Print House:
Website: https://yskprinthouse.com/
Instagram: @yerskiiiii
