ECS student entrepreneurs launch innovative start-up

A group of ECS students have launched an innovative online company which offers outstanding opportunities for designers, trend-setters and discriminating consumers.

Garmsby, which has the slogan "designed by you. chosen by the crowd. worn by everyone.", enables aspiring or established designers to submit a t-shirt design to its website, and then uses crowd-sourcing to enable potential consumers to vote on their favourite designs. The most popular designs are then offered for purchase on t-shirts and, hopefully in the future, on other types of garments.

The company is the brainchild of ECS students Adam Adeniran, Marc de Vos, and Jonny Morrice, who had the idea in a Southampton coffee-shop and have been working for the last six months with ECS Business Strategy Advisor to Students, Jason McMahon, to hone the concept.

The site has launched with 10 submitted designs and a two-week voting cycle. The majority of the profits go to the original designer, providing a platform that will help aspiring designers in building their own clothing brands and establishing their careers. But the site is open to anyone who has a design that they would like to see printed on a t-shirt.

The Garmsby team told the Soton Tab: "We are always looking for people to submit more designs - and they can make money if their designs get the most 'likes'."

The team spent the summer preparing for their launch on 2 September and are now hoping that the idea will be supported across the University and beyond.