Sem Students Start Stylish Streetwear Syndicate

By Philip Gristina ’20

Sem students and wrestlers Beau Bartlett ‘20 and Niko Katsuyoshi ‘20 have released a new line of sweatshirts as a part of their clothing brand, Project Ivy. The brand has been a new venture for the two young men, and it has already found success within the Wyoming Seminary community.
The brand has origins in a concept Bartlett and Kastuyoshi thought of in 2018. They wanted to create a clothing style that embodied west coast fashion and came up with the name Next Wave Apparel accordingly. Early in the following year, the idea solidified under the name Project Ivy.

The name came from Bartlett and Niko’s dream of reaching the Ivy Leagues for college. That goal lasted for a few months until Bartlett announced his commitment to Penn State. The name stuck even though the reasoning changed. According to Katsuyoshi, the “Ivy” part is more for the sound of it. He says it sounds suave and professional, which makes it useful for branding.

The line has produced a limited number of items. For instance, there are t-shirts and, more recently, hoodies for sale. The company started with branded t-shirts and a free sticker. This past month, hoodies have gone up for sale on their Instagram page as well.

The shirts and hoodies come in several different colors, like Carolina blue, red, and yellow. All feature the name of the brand, or simply Ivy with the logo of an ivy branch.

The acceptable payment method is through the application CashApp. Both Bartlett and Katsuyoshi claim it is much more streamlined than sites like Venmo or PayPal. With every new signup to CashApp, the company is offering five dollars off of the first purchase.

In an interview with the two founders, they discussed what the business means to them. Bartlett said, “It’s fun to be an entrepreneur. Besides this, Niko buys and sells clothes. I make graphic designs. It’s more fun to see the people around us support us with our gear. It’s less about the money and more about the support.” Bartlett, as another venture, creates graphic designs and edits for wrestlers when they commit to a college.

Katsuyoshi stated that “going into Project Ivy was to be able to create clothing that actually had meaning behind it and wasn’t just a name. Our goal is to push people to be their best selves and be great people in their community. That’s what Project Ivy represents.”

To these two young men, the brand is a message of unity under a community. With many wrestlers and some non-wrestlers endorsing the brand, it has proven to be efficient in showing support within the Sem community for new ideas and ventures.