By Cole Gee | Staff Writer
When most people hear the words luxury clothing, Western wear or fine jewelry, they probably imagine a shopping center or high-end boutique, not a college campus. However, Cole Posey, Alan Koroluk and Sivan Katzav are three students launching their clothing brands into the stratosphere on campus. Despite all three having different visions for their clothing brands, there is one common thread tying the trio together –– the effect of inflation and rising prices on their businesses.
San Antonio junior Alan Koroluk is the mind behind the luxury Mexican fashion brand AlanDaniel. After seeing countries like France, Italy and Spain heralded as the face of luxury brands, Koroluk wanted to start a brand that would put Mexico on the same pedestal.
A majority of the materials he uses for his clothing are exported from Latin America, and due to recent tariffs by the Trump Administration the costs and shipping of his clothes have seen a drastic increase.
“What I have to worry about more than other people is that I have to pay not only the U.S.A. tax but also the Mexico tax,” Koroluk said. “I have to pay more for the material now, but before Trump was president I had to pay less for shipping because we were connected. Now because Trump implemented the tariffs, I have to pay more for everything, which kind of sucks.”
Student businesses like Koroluk’s aren’t bringing in millions upon millions of dollars daily. Therefore, he doesn’t have the financial capital to absorb any damages tariffs and inflation can unleash at a time. This means nearly everything from the production to even the shipping itself has to adjust until the economy settles down.
“I don’t know if I want to charge more because it’s already kind of expensive, but my margins do decrease a little bit,” Koroluk said. “So the way I’m offsetting that is through the packaging itself. So my next shipment is going to be cheaper boxes because right now I’m using boxes that are magnetic and they’re made with biodegradable materials which is better for the environment.”
Georgetown graduate student Cole Posey has a brand called Hondo Hat Co., which blends classic Western flair with a modern twist. Posey believes in the art of a good deal and tries to keep prices fair for his majority clients –– college students. Despite the rise of inflation, he is doing everything he can to keep his prices low and balanced.
“I’ve always tried to keep a fair price, but you can’t just eat the cost,” Posey said. “So if inflation is kind of going crazy and it’s costing me more to get product, prices will have to go up a little bit. But I’m always looking at the market and trying to figure out what’s fair because I want to give people a good deal.”
Even students who run their business as side hustles are feeling the pressure as of late. One of these businesses is San Francisco freshman Sivan Katzav’s jewelry store.
Katzav runs a homemade jewelry store on Etsy called LianaFaithBoutique. The store was originally called Rings and Things, and she’s been making jewelry since she was 13 years old. Like Posey, she likes making fun and affordable accessories for college students like herself.
“A lot of people will take their supplies and they’ll upcharge it like three, four times the amount it costs for them to make,” Katzav said. “But for me, one of my main things is making pieces that are affordable for girls that are my age or older or younger than me.”
However, she is realistic about her business profit margins since it is just a side hustle and doesn’t want to start losing more money than she already puts in. In her case, this means she has to cut back on many of the deals she offers to her customers regarding price and shipping.
“With inflation and the way that the economy is going, it’s been hard to keep things in that affordable range,” Katzav said. “When it comes to shipping, I really like to offer deals … but because shipping prices are going up as well, I do lose money through that. So I have to cut back on offering those free shipping prices, which kind of prevents people from shopping more from me.”
Trump recently agreed to pause his tariffs against Canada and Mexico for 30 days in order to negotiate stricter efforts against domestic issues like immigration and drug smuggling. While it’s currently up in the air whether or not he’ll continue with his tariffs on the North American countries, inflation is still at 3%, which is above their goal of 2%.
Whether Americans are buying from SHEIN, Amazon or even Hondo Co., the prices for many shipped and imported products may remain high for the time being.
