By Erika Kuehl | Staff Writer
Penland Residence Hall — also known as the warehouse of the Fino St. apparel line. With three guys, 150 square feet and boxes full of sweatshirts, it’s a recipe for success.
What was once a Pro Sales lunch quickly turned into a business opportunity for Keller senior Diego Chavez and Lake Oswego, Ore., freshman Daniel Zhang.
“It was a week after the lunch,” Chavez said. “When he came to me with the idea, we really sat down and dove in and realized the gaps within the market. And from that, we came up with Fino St.”
Chavez described Fino St. as “a luxury clothing brand that blends comfort and affordability while partnering and collaborating with universities to bring clothes that accurately represent their students.”
“It is a brand that was started for college students by college students,” Chavez said.
The name originates from Chavez’s background, being Mexican-born and fluent in Spanish and English.
“I realized that our brand truly was a high-end clothing line but made to be comfortable. Clothing that is comfortable is streetwear,” Chavez said. “’Fino’ in Spanish means luxury, and ‘St.’ plays on the streetwear part. In essence, it’s showing people it’s high quality and not stiff material. It’s something you can wear around your house or to a nice dinner.”
Zhang said student collaboration across various disciplines sets the company apart.
“We have 19 people on our team across nine different [majors],” Zhang said. “At Baylor University, the different majors and programs often feel very separate. When we asked the apparel and design program director for some help prototyping and creating some samples, we talked to her, and she said that there are so many people in the program that potentially wanted to do something in clothing but knew no one in the business school and were too intimated to even step foot into the business school.”
Because of Zhang’s previous endeavors in the clothing industry, he was able to connect with a company in Los Angeles.
“We’re not buying a Champion hoodie and putting a new design on it,” Zhang said. “We’re really creating our cut and soak garments from scratch. We’re creating garments that are Fino St. No other brand has the same exact garment that we are creating.”
Chavez said his and Zhang’s strong connection with the business school allowed them to secure a license with Baylor within 48 hours.
“Really, what we want to do is give back to Baylor students,” Chavez said. “Our motto is ‘made by college students, for college students.’ We see Fino St. as a gift to college students. We want to give people the gift to feel confident in what they’re wearing while repping their school.”
Keller senior Cambry Comstock runs the company’s social media accounts. She said her background in marketing and digital design prepared her for the position.
“We had an aesthetic that we were going for,” Comstock said. “We wanted it to be appealing to our target audience and also be able to relate what our age groups like — so casual while also looking professional.”
Frisco senior Andrew Schneider works to form connections with other businesses. He helped find all the models for the initial photo shoot.
“I focus on collaboration and networking with other businesses or organizations around Waco specifically,” Schneider said. “I coordinated a collaboration with The Backyard. We organized an event there with one of our ambassadors, Ani, who’s a DJ. Ani used the Fino St. shirt design and then posted about it, and The Backyard collaborated with the post and is helping get our name out there.”
Sammamish, Wash., senior Elena Schreiber is developing the merchandise for the company’s future collaboration with Sigma Chi’s Derby Day philanthropy event. Zhang said her skills in Photoshop and her background in design have been crucial.
“Kind of just bringing these guys’ vision to life, because they have a lot of ideas, and I love them all,” Schreiber said. “Just being able to put that on paper for them has been a really cool experience.”
Seward, Neb., freshman Luke Seevers and Flower Mound freshman Ben Childs are the superheroes for Fino St. When something falls apart at the last minute and help is needed, those two are on the way.
“Every time we are going, it’s obviously a super high-stress environment,” Chavez said. “These two are so versatile. You could throw them at anything, and they could figure it out. The night before the photoshoot, we had the photographers and the models all ready, but no product. He stayed up with Daniel till 7 a.m. embroidering stuff. He just learned on the fly and figured it out. They got it all done with eight hours before the photoshoot.”
With a team of 19, Fino St. is full of talent and energy — and with future collaborations on the horizon, it hopes to expand to universities nationwide.
“We are looking to do something bigger than just ourselves, and we want to be able to give this to college students around the nation,” Chavez said. “Ideally, being in every college would be great. The thing that we are looking forward to when it comes to expansion is being a stand-alone brand, giving Fino St. the name it deserves.”
