There’s been a shakeup in the formal clothing sector in recent years: Bland corporate grays and blues have been replaced by bright patterns and quirky accessories. Individualism trumps conformity in modern fashion, and boldness is favored over subtlety.

At the forefront of this fashion evolution is bow ties.

“I think that people should always embrace being eccentric, in whatever way, shape or form that may be,” said Jacob deHahn, founder of Bowtie Boulevard. “Bow ties have always stood out.”

deHahn is a fifth-year industrial and interaction design major and entrepreneurship minor at Syracuse University, capitalizing on this fashion shift with his business. Started this past summer, the company is an online marketplace for “limited edition bow ties and accessories made from upcycled fabrics,” he said. In addition to bow ties, the company also sells cufflinks and pocket squares.

Each accessory is made from a variety of fabrics chosen by deHahn from thrift stores, tag sales and garage sales. He then makes the necessary alterations to the fabrics and sews the products himself.

Once completed, the pieces are named after streets in the surrounding areas where he discovered the material. deHahn chose this strategy because it helps provide the backstory of each item.
“It’s all about the story and I think a lot of people get really sucked into that,” he said.

Through this process of upcycling — taking old, unused material and reappropriating them into new products — deHahn aims to make his business eco-friendly and frugal. These dug up fabrics make each bowtie and accessory unique. Once one style is gone, it’s gone forever.

“It’s the concept of you being your own person and you having that limited edition bowtie,” he said. “I’m trying to create stories of being one of a kind.”

This is not the first time deHahn has led a business. From summer 2016 until the end of last semester, he headed Jake’s Patches, which sold hand-sewn patches. The “word-based patches” were marked with stitched statements, such as “Black Lives Matter” and “No coffee, depresso.”

Jake’s Patches has been a success — deHahn said he’s invested $90 into the company and has walked away with about $5,000 in profit. But he said his knack for soft goods and business savviness runs in the family.

Christofer deHahn, deHahn’s father and an engineer, started his own business in high school and has had several throughout his career. He was instrumental in turning his son onto upcycling.

“Since he was very young, we used to go to tag sales and flip stuff for money,” Christofer said.

deHahn initially learned his sewing craft from his mother, Martha deHahn, a grant manager. His first pull to the art was sewing a pair of shorts, she said. This started deHahn’s sewing journey.

“We pulled out the sewing machine and he sewed a pair of shorts,” Martha said. “That was the start of it.” From there he would mend and hem clothes, and ultimately took a soft goods class at SU that bolstered his sewing confidence.

In the future, deHahn hopes to expand to a storefront once he has more products. But for now, deHahn is content with just bow ties.

“It’s to be you and be different and that’s the best part of clothing in the first place — is to wear what makes you feel like yourself,” deHahn said. “If it means wearing a bow tie, then buy out bow ties.”

Published on September 24, 2018 at 8:16 pm

Contact Tighe: tgugerty@syr.edu