We recently connected with Dylan Lorriman, the owner and creative designer of the brand Couch Apparel, and have shared our conversation below.
Dylan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Couch Apparel is a brand that I started during my senior year of high school. The idea first dawned upon me in the summer of 2016 just before the beginning of grade twelve. The original goal for my company was to create clothes for myself because I was sick of buying other brands at stores and I wanted to show off and support my own artistic endeavours. At the time, I was extremely inspired by Tyler, the Creator and his clothing line GOLF. Every new clothing collection that Tyler would release, progressively motivated me to finally start pursuing my dream of creating and wearing my own clothing and designs. This motivation would lead me to spend the remainder of my summer brainstorming and drawing different logo variations and designs that I would eventually use for Couch. However, it wasn’t until the beginning of my senior year when I would begin to see my dreams become a reality.
At the beginning of that year, I told my Communication and Technology teacher about the idea of starting my own clothing brand, which—to my excitement—he was extremely supportive of, and allowed me to use his class to create digital designs as I did not have Photoshop and Illustrator on my home computer. This was a pivotal moment for me as I was now able to convert my drawings into digital designs, which I then printed out and began ironing onto clothes that I either owned or purchased from the Giant Tiger near my home. Word got around in my classes that I was making my own clothes to the point where my friends were now interested in buying my iron on t-shirts. Throughout the first half of the year, I bought wholesale blank t-shirts online, ironed on my designs that I made in class and then sold them at school for $20. Although this was a good starting point, iron on graphics are not durable and would easily deteriorate in the wash quickly. Therefore, I began searching for other alternatives, while simultaneously beginning to check out books on business from the library.
While checking out books one day, the business teacher overheard me talking to the librarian about my brand and offered for me to participate in one of her class projects. She stated that I would have the opportunity to pitch my brand concept to a panel of local judges for a chance to be a part of a grant program that would provide up to $2000 to the businesses that had the most potential. I graciously accepted the offer and began working on a formal business plan, which included the company and product service overview, business strategies, and my objectives and vision for the coming years. Unfortunately, I did not come in first, but I did come in third place where I was granted $1100 to start my business. This grant was ultimately a large contributor to how I was able to get my business off of the ground for the reason that I was now able to outsource local printing companies to print my designs as well as to have the funding to purchase booths at local farmers markets and fairs to begin to reach out to the community.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Dylan Lorriman, I am the owner and creative designer for the multi-media brand Couch Apparel. I am also a freelance graphic designer who recently graduated from the YSDN (York Sheridan Design) program at York University in April of 2022. When it comes to Couch, I originally was exclusively focusing on creating garments. Although, throughout the years, I have continuously strived to grow creatively by experimenting through different avenues, such as fashion, painting, photography and many other artistic mediums. Ultimately, this has now inspired me to push Couch to be more of a multi-media brand as it has transformed into more than just a company that focuses on clothing production. For instance, one of the biggest projects that Couch has taken on was a 220 page magazine. This magazine focuses on being young and following your dreams, which was demonstrated through an array of interviews from my friends who are artists as well, photos from my graduation trip, and my final university design thesis project. From there, it has only opened up numerous windows of opportunity for various collections of paintings, garments and unconventional accessories. Recently, I released a line of essential pieces, which included an all new fully embroidered hoodie, screen printed shirt and a new jacquard knit beanie featuring the newly designed Couch logo. The main goal with this drop was to focus on quality and brand recognition and I am extremely proud of the end product. The quality of my garments for this drop has increased drastically, with an all new, thicker, softer hoodie and t-shirt which I will be continuing to use moving forward. Since this was a brand that I started in high school, it has taken many steps and a lot of time to get to the point where I am today. However, no matter how small my steps are in my journey, it’s always important to take them to strive to achieve the best quality garments and products for my brand. An aspect that I am also proud of when it comes to the brand, is the continuous focus on creating pieces that are unique to the buyer by creating various unique hand painted or cut and sewn items. Even though the brand is not entirely made up of these exclusive one of one garments, the inclusion of them provide my supporters with a sense of distinctiveness, for the reason that if they were to purchase the garment, they would be the only person to wear and own it.
As this year progresses, I am working on updating my website to create a space that can be a homebase for both my clothing and freelance design work. The goal is to eventually merge all of my artistic projects and creative avenues under the Couch name, this will further solidify Couch as a multi-media brand.
Through this journey of self discovery and expression that I have taken while creating my business, I strive to create a brand that will build a world that will forever inspire and motivate its ever-growing community. In 2024 and for the forthcoming years, I will constantly search for new opportunities that will help lead Couch to further success in the hopes to create a brand that pushes the envelope of what it means to stand out.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Overall, when it comes to running a business that is fully dependent on the art you create, there are a lot of risks and setbacks I have faced for the reason that art is all subjective. When you’re a small artist trying to also run a business, everyday tests your resilience. Putting your art out there on social media for the world to see can oftentimes leave you feeling very vulnerable and it hurts A LOT when it feels like no one cares or sees the hard work that you put in. There have been plenty of times where I have felt like that. However, I continue to overcome these obstacles each and everyday by continuing to make things, always being open to new mediums and by making art that I truly enjoy. It’s very easy to let negativity poison your creativity and take over your thoughts, making you want to stop. Although it may sound dramatic, it’s the truth for a lot of us young artists. I have been listening to a lot of Teezo Touchdown as of late and in his song “Impossible” off of his latest album he sings “Who’s to say what’s impossible? The only way is if you never start.” I think about these lyrics often as I create because they are true, nothing is impossible if you try. If you continue to strive for greatness and continue to create, there is bound to be something positive that comes out of it. You never know who is watching. Your next creation or Instagram post could be the next greatest thing. I am resilient because I won’t stop. I will create, evolve and persevere to be the best person and artist that I can be.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I started my business at a young age, thus there were plenty of times where I needed to pivot in order to fit my current situation and lifestyle. As a result of starting my business during my senior year of high school, I was also at the point in my life where I needed to focus on creating a portfolio and applying to post secondary education. Throughout my four years in design school, I had to put my brand on the backburner in order to prioritize my schooling and projects more. I was only creating art and collections during my freetime, which drastically slowed down the growth of Couch temporarily. Now that I have graduated from university, I have pivoted once again to having a high focus on my brand, constantly brainstorming new ideas for collections, events and social media posts. Since I have recently moved to Toronto I have now been prioritizing more in-person events to showcase my work, including pop-ups and event booths while simultaneously pushing my artwork on multiple social media platforms, such as Instagram and Tik Tok. After growing up in a small town for my entire life, moving to the city has been one of the biggest lifestyle changes I have had. I have always dreamt of living in the city since I was a teenager and now that I’m here, it has opened a world of possibilities for the growth of myself as an artist and for the outreach of my brand.
Contact Info:
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INSTAGRAM: https://www.
instagram.com/couchapparel -
FACEBOOK: https://www.
facebook.com/CouchApparel -
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/
CouchApparel -
TIK TOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@
couchapparel
Image Credits
Briana Leung (@briannezzzz) Daniel Huszar (est_daniel)