Organized Chaos: A Start-Up Brand with 2020 Vision
By: Amy Rosner
Amidst a sea of unprecedented panic, young innovators are fueling their creative engines, brainstorming new, unique ways to leave a mark on our world. Organized Chaos, a student-run contemporary streetwear brand, embodies this entrepreneurial spirit. We had the pleasure of speaking with our very own, Sophia Distefano, and fellow Michigan student, Jordyn Staff, the co-founders and masterminds behind the brand. Although Organized Chaos was originally created to reflect the uncertainty of millenial life, the name has taken on a whole new meaning in the turbulent, wildly unpredictable, COVID-19 era. With no roadmap to navigate such chaos, we look towards young, brilliant minds who may very well have the answers. Can fashion cure us? Not literally, but it can encourage us to keep pushing forward despite the formidable current.
What is the significance behind Organized Chaos? What does it represent?
JS: We feel that growing up in the 21st century has gifted us with a power inaccessible to the generations before us. We saw the world change right before our eyes in awe. We watched the world grow more accepting, we listened as we were told we could change the world, and we cried because we recognized the world was a scary place. We believe that everything we have seen learned and experienced with our new eyes can be used to create a new future. A future filled with peace, expression, and passion. A future where two girls who wanted to take a risk can one day be leaders in the world we have created. Organized Chaos represents the flame rising within our generation, a flame that strives to wipe out all the hate in the world. We strive to embody the voice of the future leaders who are currently navigating unprecedented times while simultaneously trying to find their place in the world. We represent the imperfectly perfect and the organized chaos that is everyone's journey through life.
What motivated you to start your brand? What led you to working together?
SD: Not only did we have strikingly similar interests and hobbies that we connected through, but where one lacked a skill or asset, the other one completed it… like two matching puzzle pieces.
JS: Our shared love for creativity and fashion cemented Sophia and I’s friendship from the beginning. Both of us felt that despite our similar backgrounds in retail throughout highschool, we had never found the right person to share our passion with and we did not have access to a platform where we felt our voices would shine through. Coming to U of M, Sophia and I found ourselves competing with each other in order to get involved with fashion on campus. We felt that our relationship was stronger as collaborators than as competitors. We decided to create something that not only embodied us as individuals but also as collaborators, aiming to one day become a voice for something much bigger than the two of us.
How has your relationship evolved from friends to business partners?
SD: A motto I have always lived by is: “surround yourself with people who can conversate about visions and ideas, not other people.” Jordyn and I started off as just two best friends; the more our friendship strengthened, the more supportive we became of each other's goals. We found a way in which we could combine our ambition, determination and motivation to drive each other's success- that's what makes us great partners. We communicate in a collaborative, constructive and supportive way, building off each other's ideas. It is exciting to see how together, our minds can take the other partner's ideas to the next level.
JS: From the first time we met, Sophia and I have always been an unconventional duo. Our friendship grew stronger overtime as we realized it is not our similarities that make us perfect partners--in business and life-- but it is the way we utilize our differences to build off and balance each other. As friends, we strive to build each other up, focus on the positive in life, and encourage each other to chill when needed. The qualities we found in each other as friends are those we want to emphasize through Organized Chaos as partners.
What makes your brand different from other streetwear brands? How do you plan to stand out in a society inundated by accessible clothing?
SD: We look at our sweatshirts as a blank canvas. We want our designs to break boundaries and test the typical things you see nowadays. We would like the rawness of our designs to attract people bc of their “messiness” or disorganization, to show that nothing is as perfect as it seems. Our complete designs almost appear as incomplete, or in the process of their development to show the process behind the designs as a looking glass into our minds as designers.
JD: I think a lot of streetwear brands today are tied to specific influencers, and what makes us unique, is we aren’t. We’re regular college kids, just like everybody else.
How has your brand’s focus shifted due to COVID? Do you find more people are incentivized to buy comfy clothes?
JD: One of our core values for Organized Chaos is community and building each other up. We found our first drop was successful because of the small community of supportive peers around us. Given the current climate and enforced social distancing, we wanted to re-establish the Organized Chaos community into one that truly embodies our core values while adapting to the new uncertainties of everyday life. We have partnered with Fuel Our Heroes NYC, a student-run organization whose mission is to help provide personal protective equipment and other aid to frontline workers. We will be donating 10% of proceeds from Drop II to support the incredible work students like us are doing across the country. Even if it is just through the small act of purchasing the sweatshirt, we believe that if we all collaborate and support one another, the outcome can be monutmentous.
How do you relate to the mission of the MFMS, and what potential collaborations do you see with the MFMS or any other organizations on campus?
SD: Just like MFMS is the first outlet on campus to connect students with opportunities in the fashion industry, we hope Organized Chaos becomes a sort of club of its own - a brand with a supportive following that shares the same mission and values as us. I would love to create merch for the MFMS and potentially collaborate together by including other members of the MFMS to help us reach our goals. We are lucky to have countless different talents, from photographers to website designers, who I would be beyond thankful to work with.
What piece of advice would you give to young entrepreneurs, like yourselves?
JS: Because Sophia and I believe that collaboration is the gateway to expressive creativity, we have greatly valued any advice we have been given. That being said, we constantly evaluate the advice we receive to ensure it aligns with our specific mission. We aren't here to conform to the trajectory we are expected to take: we are here to break boundaries and do something different. We don't know where Organized Chaos will take us, but we are grateful to take this journey together. Wherever we end up, we have a partner for life. The best piece of advice I can give is to enjoy the risk and embrace every obstacle with positivity. You don't know where the journey will take you, so use every minute as a learning experience to pave the next step for yourself.
What causes/values align most with your brand? What is your legacy?
JD: Our journey with Organized Chaos has just begun and, in complete honesty, our process is exactly organized chaos. Our values of community, collaboration, and inclusivity are what make our process both organized and chaotic. Right now our priority is enjoying the journey that the path of Organized Chaos is taking us on and learning from our mistakes and success along the way. With each drop, we have used our peers and friends to help us finalize our designs. We want our consumers to be a part of our process because we want them to feel connected to the product we put out. Our legacy will be defined through the community we have built and continue to build around ourselves.
If you could describe your brand in three words, what would they be?
SD: Relevant, fresh, unconventional
JS: Organized, chaotic, different
We hope you enjoyed getting to know the faces behind the seams. If you’re still looking for more, show your support and follow @organizedchaos._ on Instagram. And while you’re at, buy some Organized Chaos merch! The future of local businesses depends on all of us.