While scrolling through TikTok in September of 2023, a video sparked an idea for Levi Picchi (‘25), and led him to create his own street-wear style clothing brand: Elysian Apparel.
“I saw other people my age doing a similar thing I was, [and I thought] ‘I can do that. I’m creative,’” Picchi said. “I pondered a name, made up designs, spent hours working on it, and [then] sold it.”
The brand name, Elysian Apparel, was inspired by the meaning, heaven and paradise, which incorporates Picchi’s style.
“I thought [the name] sounded cool,” Picchi said. “It just has an angelic sound to it.
For each new design or collection that is released, it can take up to four weeks to be brought from design to production. Each of the designs is made on a graphic design app, drawn by Picchi, and can take a few weeks to finish.
“You have to first make the design and then make a tech pack, which is a guideline for the manufacturers,” Picchi said. “[It] shows the measurements, the color you want, and the placement. [I] send that to them, they do it all, they ship it back to [me], and [I] sell it.”
Though the brand is public, most of the people who buy the clothes are from AGHS, as well as some of the people in his pictures modeling the clothes.
Josiah Lozano (‘25) bought a shirt after Picchi told him about it.
“I like the design,” Lozano said. “[It’s] like a skull with a flower coming out. I liked the color of blue, [and] just the whole shirt in general.”
As for the future, Picchi hopes to continue expanding the brand.
“I hope it becomes a big enough side hustle that it makes like a good amount of money, and I can have it be well known, [and have] a lot of people wear it,” Picchi said. “It would be a dream to have it grow enough to be able to have a pop up store or just sell it with other retailers.”
Currently, Elysian Apparel can be found through his Instagram—@elysianapparelco— where mainly graphic tees and hoodies are sold. All the clothes are unisex and can be worn by anyone.
