TT Apparel

My Start

I've always liked clothing and fashion. Though I may not dress the best most of the time... I always try to look for brands that exactly fits my aesthetic but I haven't had much luck. I wanted to make a brand that was simple and aesthetically pleasing yet there's some sort of meaning/substance behind each piece. I've been drawing and writing for years now (4+ years) whenever I'm inspired to do so. During my last few years of university, I started to write words down - I'd like to call it poetry and with those, I started to draw pictures to represent how each piece - what the piece as a whole meant and how it made me feel. That's when I decided to put both of these together to come up with my apparel line.

My Logo

I am an advocate of mental health and normalizing speaking about our mental health struggles and this point is important because I have tried to incorporate that meaning into my logo. Technically it's named after me, Thomas Trenh. I had trouble coming up with a logo, again knowing me, I wanted it to be classic, minimalistic yet full of meaning. I guess something hit me and I came up with design you see today I stuck with a black & white colour palette (of course) and it is essentially an image of ending quotes. I designed them to look more like two T's as that is my initials. I wanted to use the quote because it represented speech but I put a circle around to close it off. I want it to be a reminder for people to who have shut themselves away and who have silenced themselves that you shouldn’t feel like you have to stop or silence yourself when you are speaking about mental health because it is relevant, you are relevant and it is important to speak about it. I wanted my brand to be a reminder that you aren't alone and you shouldn’t be afraid to speak to someone about your mental struggles - don't silence yourself! (of course that's easier said than done).

My Designs

With each piece I've created, there's a story behind it, a meaning behind it - a poem behind it - but of course, with pictures the way I interpret it, may not be the way you interpret it and that's ok, that the beauty of art, I think.

My Contribution

I’m looking to indefinitely* donate a portion of the proceeds to organizations that support children and teens with mental health and their mental health struggles. It’s always a challenge for young people to find resources and to feel comfortable speaking up/out about their struggles and I really want to help make that easier. I want them to know that someone is looking out for them, like I wished someone would have done for me.
[*For legal reasons, I am putting an asterisk because who knows how long this will last for me. I will be working hard on it and continuing to do so. Also, I’m still researching which organizations to donate to. Lastly, I still haven’t figured out what percentage I will be donating - to be completely transparent, I need to make sure that it is financially sustainable for me as well because everything has a cost.]

I am currently working on finalizing my designs. Here’s a picture on the progress I’m making on design and t-shirt style. These designs may or may not be released as part of my first collection.