The company was established
in about 1990. The problem was that it was only in my head! I had for
so many years wanted to have my own label of clothing. I tried sewing,
but sewing and I didn't seem to get along! So I thought where can I go
from here, perhaps I could design and someone else could sew for me,
but I wanted to do it all myself. I had no capital and a large family.
Whenever I went to
Auckland, I would make sure I was there on a Saturday morning so I
could go to the Otara Markets, the food was good and they had the
coolest t shirts! So, every trip to Auckland meant I needed an extra
$100 to buy big size cool t shirts.
This became annoying because I couldn't get big t shirts here in Christchurch and I hadn't seen many cool ones either.
A NICHE was found. I could
kill about 6 birds with one stone! I wanted cool shirts that I didn't
have to go to Auckland to get, I could have anything that I wanted on
them, I could make them for me and not pay for them, I could have my
own label and I didn't have to go to Auckland to get them, did I
mention that already?
So, in 2007, a mere 17
years later, with the encouragement of friends, my company was finally
established. I bought the website, and without any money whatsoever, I
decided to make a go of it.
I got business cards made,
I found out how to make my own website, I learned how to screen print
and began by telling people about my site.
I started by getting a pre
order of twenty t shirts with the Calculus logo, this enabled me to
purchase almost everything that I needed to print.
I was told about another way of printing using vinyl, so I started printing with this medium and haven't looked back.
I then got another order of twenty t shirts for a school production and I had enough to start me on the road to my own label.
I started with the name "samoan samurai hardwear", but left that when I was reminded of a joke and changed the "hardwear" to "surprise".
I got a credit card and
purchased more machinary to enable me to make shirts quickly. I still
haven't paid off my credit card, it's this years' goal!
I have to say, I've made loads of mistakes, but now, I think that I will make a lot less because I have learned so much!
The hardest thing is thinking of new t shirts!
Keep checking out my site to see what new t shirts I come up with.
And if you learn nothing else from reading this page, it is "BUY MY SHIRTS!" I need the money!