“Syncopation Clothing,” established in the summer of 2016, has recently released a collection of hand-embroidered, minimalist baseball caps. Each cap is embroidered by the founder herself, Chrissy Walker, to ensure that no two hats are the same.
Walker, a Sophomore in Wharton studying Marketing and Management, has a deep appreciation for fashion and a unique interest in streetwear. “I define streetwear as athletic-style clothing mixed with lounge-wear but still very edgy,” Walker explained. While she says that it does not reflect her personal style, Walker is excited by street wear’s increasing relevance due to popular cultural emphasis on hip-hop, urban communities, and college street style.
“Baseball hats,” Walker continues, “are a huge thing.” While enjoying her vacation home in Austin, Texas, Walker also wanted to use her time off school to develop her concept for her hat collection. She even went a step further to create an edgy promotional video by using sheets in her garage as a backdrop, finding random lamps from around the house for lighting, and casting her two friends as models. In the span of a couple months, Walker had taken great steps: she had designed and produced a sophisticated collection of minimalist hats, an impressive website, and a successful promotional video.
Walker’s hats are not only trendy, but a personal experience between the designer and the customer. She embroiders each herself, meaning that everyone’s hat is unique and has Chrissy’s personal touch. On top of that, she designs and names the hats in a personal manner as well. The name of each hat has an interesting back story, Chrissy explains. “My best friend is deathly allergic to pineapples,” she reveals as her inspiration for “Poison” – a hat featuring a pineapple.
The name of the company itself also has personal significance and emphasizes the unique. In naming the company “Syncopation Clothing,” Chrissy was inspired by the musical beats that are played off the down-beat. She explains, “In music, syncopated rhythms are when notes are played off-beat to make the song sound better than it would have without.” Walker emphasizes the importance of being true to yourself and your style because, like in music, doing something contrary to the main rhythm can be more interesting and impactful.
With the rapid success of “Syncopation Clothing”, Walker hopes to expand her team and her plan for new hat designs. She is hoping to use the downtime over winter break to release new material for the upcoming semester. Her developing concept involves moving away from black and white and towards color. Additionally, she wants to retire this season’s designs once she creates a new collection.
Make sure to purchase your favorite hat while they’re still for sale! They can be purchased through the company’s website, http://www.syncopationclothing.com, and don’t forget to like “Syncopation Clothing” on Facebook!
-Shiri Gross