If you’re looking for an awesome tie – one that’s business on the front and personality on the back – look no further than student startup INK Menswear.
The company launched a Kickstarter campaign for their “Tongue & Tail” ties on Oct. 1, and it was fully funded within 48 hours. View the campaign page to learn more at: kck.st/1NkwbF2.
Nathalie Lindge, founder of INK Menswear and U entrepreneurship student.
INK stands for International Next of Kin. It was founded by Freedom Hamill and Nathalie Linge. Freedom is a designer and artist. Nathalie is a student at the U studying film, but her passion lies in the Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Certificate program at the David Eccles School of Business, where she has been both a student and teaching assistant.
Last fall, Hamill asked Linge for her opinion on a business idea. One thing lead to another, and INK was born.
“Living in a tie-wearing community, we saw a need for ties truer to the population wearing them,” Linge said. “These are not standard, run-of-the-mill guys. These are students, athletes, app developers, designers, musicians, entrepreneurs. These are discoverers and game-changers – men with passion and purpose. We recognized this and integrated it into our unique design.”
This unique design is their “Tongue & Tail” concept. They pair a classy, sophisticated front (the Tongue), with a personality charged back (the Tail).
“Our Tails are designed to show individuality and style – never too flashy or over the top, they’re meant to be subtle and cool for ‘accidental’ sightings,” Linge said. “People call us the ‘Stance Socks of Neckwear’ and we love that!”
Tails are designed with the help of local Utah artists.
As INK was preparing it’s Kickstarter launch, they brought on BYU student Seth Ferguson and a team in the ENTP Marketing 2010 class, including Dujuan Mitchell, Damian Benedetti, Dane Goodwin and Bahaar Rokhva. The U students jumped in, learning all they could to build momentum and help INK succeed on Kickstarter.
Learn more on their website: inkmenswear.com.
