Arts & Life

Alumni clothe Californians

Two Cal State Long Beach alumni have brought both international and home-grown influences to create Cali Beach Clothing, a true Californian clothing line.

Co-founders David Olson and Eddie Sitkovetzky met in the dorms as freshmen and have been friends ever since. When they graduated in 2012, they decided to start a business together, a clothing line. They wanted to keep everything California: California inspired, based and produced.

“Coming from a background of business economics and geography, we had no particular skill set to launch a clothing brand,” Olson said.

Sitkovetzky, who graduated with a degree in economics, was an international student who had lived in multiple countries, including Russia and the Ukraine. He said that when anybody outside the U.S. mentions that they have been to California, it’s a big deal, and everybody always looks at and follows California for the up-to-date trends and styles.

“What I’ve realized is that everybody loves California,” Sitkovetzky said.

Unlike his partner, Olson is a Northern California native. Having graduated with a degree in geography, he said he noticed the prestige that a California-based company has in the fashion world. This is one of the most important reasons why Olson and Sitovetzky have everything produced locally.

“It makes it more unique than going overseas,” Olson said. “It gives it better quality, a higher sense of detail to make sure everything comes out perfect.”

According to Olson, he and Sitovetzky want to “represent the California lifestyle to the fullest. We like picking our own fabrics and designs.”

They said that they want to blend the fashion of Northern California — such as clean, pocketed tees and flat-billed hats — with Southern Californian influences, like the printed tanks that have become extremely popular.

“While in college, we noticed a lack of a certain fashion style in California, and were surprised that we were unable to find any apparel that combined both the Southern beachwear and Northern streetwear trends together,” Olson said.

Some of Olson and Sitovetzky’s stylistic elements are inspired by the Native American tribal designs as well as beachy floral prints, which are represented in their prints. Other aspects of California are shown through the surf references, clever tees featuring the popular California Republic bear and also a mermaid shirt.

It’s important to Olson and Sitovetzky that when people see their clothes, they see the easy, breezy lifestyle for which California is known. While their men’s line and hat collection is already running, they said they hope to expand with a women’s line.

Some clothing has been sold internationally in Australia and Romania, but the majority of their sales have taken place in the U.S.

Sitovetzky said that their recognition in Australia is due to the easygoing surf, sand and fun vibe that California breathes.

The pair has encountered some troubles as a growing business. Shortly after opening a kiosk in Huntington Beach in July with the intention of debuting the clothing line, it was broken into and raided during the riotous U.S. Open, which they said resulted in big losses of product.

They said that despite the setbacks, the incident helped them realize that people liked and wanted the clothing, a realization that they said motivated them to continue supporting the company.

According to Olson, he and Sitovetzky are fundraising in part through a kickstarter, using pledges to fund their promise that everything is California- produced.

Cali Beach Clothing is available online at calibeachclothing.com.

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