Submitted Photo: Camren Avant

Senior Camren Avant shows off his new hoodies for his clothing brand (Avant Virtues). Camren hopes that through his clothing brand people realize that “people realize that you can actually talk to people without being judged about things like mental health.”

What is Avant Virtues?

(Avant Virtues) is basically a clothing brand. A couple of years ago I was going through a lot and I realized I wasn’t the only one struggling with mental health, and it’s also something that we don’t really talk about. I want to make that stigma go away.

How did you start this business? What inspired you to start? Did you have experience in business/running a business prior to starting this?

I didn’t (have any experience), but I just knew I liked fashion and I wanted to start something and I didn’t know how I wanted to tie (mental health) in. I also donate 10% of my profits to nonprofit organizations. I basically researched everything on my own, like attending seminars and classes. I would wake up at 7 a.m. and wouldn’t be done until 3 p.m.

Could you walk me through the process of how you come up with new clothing, the process of getting it finalized, on the market, etc?

Whenever I think of a design, I’ll start designing it. I have this thing called a heat press and a cricut machine, where for the first sample I’ll make sure it’ll look good on actual clothes. After I get that, I figure out the manufacturer (so) I can get the clothing shipped out.

How do you tie mental health in with your clothing brand?

(The way I tie mental health in is) usually design-wise, and also I donate my profits to organizations that support mental health awareness.

What impact do you hope for your clothing brand to have on your customers?

I just hope people realize that you can actually talk to people without being judged about things like mental health.

Do you have any goals/future projects you’re looking forward to? Any ways you’re hoping to grow your business moving forward?

I just dropped the hoodies, I have a couple of influencers lined up that are planning on wearing them, so that’s exciting.