Exetra GatewayExetra Gateway is my senior thesis project, a cut-and-sew hand printed capsule collection/pop up shop inspired by internet culture and the dark web. This project was the culmination of 9 months of work and over a years worth of brainstorming. The final collection included 5 original pieces - a t-shirt, thermal, hoodie, hat, and custom polypropylene tape. I made 4 prints of each item + a few misprints here and there.
Alongside my garments, I also designed the space for my pop up shop with large scale posters and a projection of the Exetra Gateway website I created. After my thesis presentation, I gave away my entire inventory to the crowd of my peers and professors who had come to support me, as I wanted anyone who liked the stuff I made to be able to walk out with it free of charge to emphasize this brand being something for my community rather than something to profit off of my community.
I see this brand as something for my community not only in that it was free, but also in the fact that it filled a niche in my school that hadn’t been filled prior. I pursued creating this project because I felt that if I was a freshman, this would be the project I resonated wiith the most, as it reflects pieces of my identity though nods to internet and youth culture and was in the format of a piece of clothing I could keep and wear.