Status Foe: Following the Muse
Sean Woolsey is living out the Orange County kid’s dream with his successful T-shirt line, Status Foe.
“Every kid I know wanted to either be in a band or start their own clothing line,” said Woolsey, a native of California’s Orange County, where surf clothing is as much a part of the culture as the sport is. The affluent area is home to many surfwear companies, including Volcom Inc., Quiksilver Inc. and Hurley International Inc.
Woolsey started designing and producing cotton T-shirts on a random schedule two years ago, but his business got a real kick when he met his muse, a man he knows as Donovan V.The designer saw the 50-something-year-old in a coffee shop in San Francisco, and the two began talking about art and music. Donovan’s life stories about living in a restored church and being a musician, poet and international traveler provided the inspiration Woolsey needed to take his graphic designs past the norm. A T-shirt with bees buzzing around the corner pocket and a tipped-over jug of honey, for instance, is a reference to Donovan’s days of blending honey and selling the concoction at farmers’ markets.
Woolsey took Status Foe to the Pool Trade Show in Las Vegas last August. Despite strong sales, he said he is not planning to attend the next show because there was heavy competition from the many T-shirt lines exhibiting and he would rather not be influenced by what others are producing.
“To truly be creative you have to be a hermit in some sense,” he said. “What you really want to do comes out.”
Wholesale prices for men’s and women’s T-shirts start at $11 for screen-printed tees and $14 for tees in different cuts or with pockets. Zip-up hooded sweat shirts with front pockets for men wholesale for $35. Status Foe is currently sold at Fred Segal, Active Ride and Habit at The Lab shopping center in Costa Mesa, Calif. For more information, call (714) 666-8750. —Rhea Cortado
