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UCLA students James Buyayo, Joshua To and Kevin Kim run clothing company Resonance while attendin

The first pages that fourth-year student Joshua To sees when he flips open his school binder are lists of customers, stores and events. Besides working on a double major in design and communication studies at UCLA, To runs the clothing company Resonance with three other students. About 30 mostly local retailers sell Resonance attire already, and the UCLA store may soon carry their clothes as well. “I personally felt the need to found a clothing company that has a little more weight and substance to it,” To said. Bringing the clothing line to the UCLA campus would be just another step toward the students’ goals of advancing their social message and managing a profitable business – all the while being full-time students. “It’s definitely a lot to juggle,” To said.

Student entrepreneurs On a regular day, To gets up at 7 in the morning and starts the day by answering e-mails for about a half hour. He stays on top of his business while he is on campus as well. “During longer classes I go out in breaks and make phone calls,” he explained. Third-year student James Buyayo, who is head of design at Resonance, said he works about 20 to 30 hours a week for the company. “It really depends on school,” he said. During the summer, To and his co-workers have an office in the Bay Area. When they are here at UCLA, they do most of their business out of their apartments, but they also have a mini-office in downtown Los Angeles. Buyayo said To’s apartment functions as their headquarters and is usually full of boxes. To described his business as a “socially conscious clothing company.” Resonance wants to get people involved and speak up for what they believe in, he said. The current fall line of “Resonance” includes T-shirts for guys and girls and hooded sweatshirts. One of the designs shows the slogan “Realize real lies” with a generic image of a politician giving a speech. Other shirts bear drawings of Albert Einstein or Martin Luther King. “We try to encourage young people to spend their time to do research and form their opinions. We want to get them involved in the democratic process,” To said. He stressed that their company is a politically diverse group and follows no specific political agenda. For their printings, the students use sweatshop-free clothing made by American Apparel and Bay Side.

Supporters and inspirations To, Buyayo and Daniel Scherbakovsky, a fourth-year student at UC Berkeley, founded Resonance as a Limited Liability Company in May 2003. Fourth-year UCLA biology student Kevin Kim joined the company later. To’s inspiration stemmed from an independent study with African American studies professor Paul von Blum. “He came and talked to me, and I got interested,” Von Blum said. “He felt strongly to combine his design talent with a vision of social and ethical responsibility.” The professor, who also teaches in communication studies, put To in touch with various artists and encouraged him to found Resonance. “I’m always interested in students who want to use their specific skills in socially responsible ways,” Von Blum said. Von Blum added he has received some free Resonance shirts from To and wears them often. The professor especially liked a design that targeted racism. This specific shirt bears black text on a white background and shows the slogan “Race is a social construction” incorporated into a poem. He said To’s approach to combine fashion with critical social messages is very effective. “You have so many people in America who are acutely conscious of fashion,” Von Blum said. According to the company’s Web site, the scientific term “resonance” describes the process of various molecules combining into a stable product. To related this action to his company’s philosophy, saying, “When things and people are working together you get a more stable and powerful result.” With this mission in mind, To has established a community of supporters for his products. The supporters, who are featured on the company’s Web site, include designers, musicians and dancers. One of the most prominent members of the Resonance community is Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Richard Walden, president and founder of the aid organization Operation USA. Sheila Pinkel, political artist and professor at Pomona College, is also part of the community.

The business To keep track of his design ideas, To has a book of designs that he constantly adds to, even during school. Buyayo comes up with ideas as well, and when they discuss new designs they often find out that their ideas are very similar. Buyayo said the two are very honest with each other, which helps during the production process. In designing new shirts, the company uses a variety of techniques. Buyayo explained that some of their designs are hand-drawn by artists, but he likes to do his designs with the computer. Buyayo said the current fall line has taken two months of “solid work” on the designs with another two months spent for printing and selling. To pointed out that unlike Resonance, the big fashion labels have their seasons designed a year in advance. “We’re just a couple of months ahead,” he said. Buyayo sees some advantages in this way of working. “This allows us to tackle issues that are more contemporary.” Some stores that carry Resonance apparel are Fred Segal, Workmen’s in Melrose, and the online retailer DigitalGravel.com. On average, the stores sell their T-shirts for prices between $20 and $30, To said. He admitted that sales is the most challenging part of business for his company. Resonance does not have a large cash flow and is not financially stable yet, To said. The four students reinvest all profits they make with their business activities back into the company, Buyayo explained. Consequently, they don’t get to reap their profits, but the company can grow.

Goals and dreams After graduation from college, the Resonance team wants to keep working on its project. Buyayo plans to get a job and pursue the fashion label on the side. The eventual goal for both To and Buyayo is to turn Resonance into a profitable business while at the same time sticking to moral principles. “It is not a non-profit organization,” Buyayo said. Mentioning corporate scandals such as Enron, he added, “We’re out to prove that businesses don’t have to be bad.” Bringing their attire to the UCLA store would be a further step toward their goal. “Being UCLA students, we would love to be represented in the UCLA store,” To said. “We hope that we’ll be in the store in spring.” Patrick Healy, general merchandise manager at the UCLA store, confirmed that the store is close to a decision on Resonance clothing. A student advisory group is currently evaluating the clothes. Healy expects the group’s report by the end of this week. In their dealings with the UCLA store, To does not want to rely on their student status too much. “Our clothing speaks for itself,” he said. Healy explained that other factors are more important for their evaluation. Most importantly, the product has to match the target audience and the pricing has to be reasonable, he said, adding that while merchandise made by UCLA students is a good thing, it comes down to the product when making a decision. For To, an on-campus retailer for Resonance clothes makes a lot of sense. “We feel that our clothing is very, very suitable for college students,” he said, adding that people’s minds are more open to new things during their college years. Besides the goal of making Resonance profitable, To has a personal objective attached to the Resonance venture as well. In case of financial success he wants to give something back to his parents, who have worked “ridiculously hard” to put him and his brother in college. “My biggest dream in life right now is to prematurely retire my parents,” he said.