We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lauryn Haygood a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauryn, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My sophomore year in college, I decided to change my major over to work Kennesaw State called “ Apparel and textiles.” I was in the process of learning, my own style and understanding of my love for fashion. After some time, it was clear to me that I wanted to design and I wanted to start my own brand. sooner than later. After doing some research on fabrics and obtaining my first sewing machine, I made my first IV3Y piece for Kennesaw’s homecoming in 2022. I got many compliments on social media, and in person about the pants that I had made. This was even more confirmation for me getting my brand started. At the time I was unsure of what I was going to name it. A couple months later, my great grandmother passed and her middle name was Ivey. On the day of her funeral something about this stuck out to me, and I decided to sort of remix it, and make it to be as I today call it, IV333Y.

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.

In August 2023 on my 21st birthday, I officially released IV3Y. Here at. IV3Y we believe in “ sending peace, spreading love and symbolizing individualism.” we make custom men and women’s garments. That including pants, shorts, sweaters, hats, and tote bags. The main fabrics that are used within the brand are corduroy, waffle Terry, and yarn for crocheted and knitted pieces. Lace will be a fabric that is featured in this upcoming release. As a new designer, I will say it has been a bit of a challenge to balance school, work, and being an entrepreneur. However. I will admit that I do use a lot of the skills that I learn in school as being a fashion major in my every day work in IV3Y.
Even though it has only been seven months, I am more than proud of the work that I have created, advertised, sold, and the genuine relationships with customers that I have built. I have multiple customers that have several IV3Y pieces from different collections.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

A lot of people ask me if I have a manufacturer of vendors, or someone else that works with me or helps me. No. No I do not. Everything that you see created for IV3Y is done by me. Whether that’s from handsewing, knitting, or crocheting, sewing with one of my two machines, surging, and sometimes even dying fabric. I will say it’s easier to be more confident in my products knowing all the hard work is done by me and I don’t have to put that level of trust in anyone else. On the other hand. He can become stressful when there’s a lot to do and I have to balance my mental, creative, and physical being.
Every now, and then I have to remind myself to be gentle on myself with all the work being done. Just because I do it myself doesn’t make the quality any less great that that you might find in a factory or done by a group of people.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Honestly, I’m still figuring out how to find my business. We live in a world where the cost of breathing is high. So imagine being a student, an entrepreneur, and still living in the society. I do what I can as far as work, this is staying for myself into further my brand. But I will say. The love and support that I get from my friends and customers, help a lot on the financials. I was making things happen. I am working on doing more research about entrepreneurial grants and possibly getting a sponsor.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.IV333y.com
• Instagram: @4.iv333y
• Other: TikTok: @ lolaatheebunyy