Sometimes we do stuff just because our hearts are in it. We had been talking about how there weren’t any cool after-school programs for high-school kids to learn design. We put an idea together and walked across the street to Mark Ecko’s offices and presented an idea for a non-profit that would support NYC students. Out of these conversations Sweat Equity Enterprises was born.
The project unites teens from local high schools, design students from regional universities, and Ecko executives together in a program designed to introduce teens to the creative services and fashion industries. Under the tutelage of the program’s mentors, teens are taught a variety of design softwares and develop a particular piece for the semester’s sponsor brand each semester. The students’ designs are composited by Ecko’s manufacturers and then presented to the program’s advisory board (which includes representation from Sub Rosa’s management team). Upon reviewing the products, some are actually selected to move into production. The non-profit works with these students to help forge solid career paths and provides application assistance intended to garner entry to some of the country’s best design colleges. Any profits made on the products created by the students go into a scholarship fund for the program. Everybody wins.
