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Raw Potential

The best way to succeed in design school is to be self-driven, to have initiative and motivation and if you have that, they can provide the guidance. It's a magical combination.

NC State junior Sarah Yarborough

By Dave Pond, Web Communication

Armed with a splash of confidence and a gym bag stuffed with design samples, Victor Lytvinenko ('04) threw open the doors at Fred Segal - one of the hottest, trendiest West-Coast clothiers - and went inside, ready to show off his company's handmade, custom-wear jeans to whomever would take a look.

A few minutes later, he re-emerged on the streets of Santa Monica, California, clutching in his hands the largest order his Verses Jeans Company had ever received.

"We got lucky - that doesn't happen very often," said NC State junior Sarah Yarborough, who is both Lytvinenko's girlfriend and business partner. "Fred Segal has really built a reputation on being able to pinpoint what's hot now and what will sell."

Since landing the Segal order, the duo has spent countless hours in their Bloodworth St. studio, cutting, sewing and stitching up to 20 custom pairs of jeans per week as the deadline approaches. Meanwhile, Yarborough balances her work with classes in the College of Design while Lytvinenko deals with loans, grants and industry analysis - all skills he honed during his years on campus.

"The College of Management really gave me the skills to run my business - or any business, for that matter," Lytvinenko said. "Running the company is so much harder for me than making and designing jeans.

"I had one professor, Greg Young, whose class was all about industry analysis and business analysis - I still have his textbook in the office," he said. "That book is like the 'Bible of Business' for me.

"It's amazing and honestly, I don't think we'd be here and be self-employed now had I not studied business at NC State."

After high school, Yarborough and Lytvinenko headed to separate schools in the New York City area, where it turned out they lived closer to one another than they did in Raleigh. Lytvinenko - who also dabbled in modeling while in the Big Apple - soon became disillusioned with the industry and began to focus on design.

"There was a point where I tore all the tags off my clothes and started sewing my own tags on," he said. "It just went from there - I really didn't begin making clothes until about two years ago.

"It was the most logical thing for me to do at the time," Lytvinenko said. "I had a lot of different interests at the time and the business knowledge was essential to doing any of them.

"It was either going to be design or business, and I ended up picking business. Sarah's in design school, so we have the best of both worlds."

Designing clothing for themselves and others has allowed Yarborough and Lytvinenko an avenue to not only express their individuality but a chance to make a significant impact in the ever-changing fashion marketplace.

"It's hard to find the perfect garment," Yarborough said. "It seems that either the products are made well, but then you find out they're made in China where you have no idea what the conditions were, or that the factories are fine but the materials used aren't so great.

"We felt like between the two of us, the resources that we have and a lot of help from other people, that we could do better and that there was an opening in the market for that."

Everything made at Verses has an organic, original feel to it, from the 30-year-old industrial sewing machines to use of selvedge denim - a high-quality, rare material only produced stateside on 16 original looms located in Greensboro, N.C. Unlike the more common stone-washed denim found on discount-store shelves across the globe, selvedge is presented in an unwashed, raw state, which allows each pair of jeans to fade and wash individually to the wearer's body.

"I really like the small differences that occur from pair to pair - every pair is different to some degree," Lytvinenko said. "It's a really popular style in Japan right now - they are all trying to make this American Vintage-style look, and we are one of the few companies that get real American Vintage denim."

The duo can crank out up to 20 pairs of jeans a week, but when the need arises, family members and a few part-time workers chip in to lend a hand in the downtown Raleigh studio. Verses is housed in a building owned by Chuck Stewart, an NC State doctoral student who is relocating Tumbling Colors - one of the top textile dyeing and finishing companies in the world - to the same location.

"Chuck does work for some super high-end designers - many garments he has finished will be on the runways in NYC during Fashion Week." Lytvinenko said. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him - he really wants us to succeed and is doing a lot to help us.

"He's an amazing connector with people - if I need anything, he knows who to talk to."

In fact, just this week, Yarborough and Lytvinenko are going head-to-head with some of the top names in the industry at the Project trade show, taking place in Las Vegas. If this sales trip proves to be as successful as Lytvinenko's recent jaunt to California, they'll need all the help they can get.

"Project is basically a market for all of the stores in the United States," Lytvinenko said. "It's insane - like 80 percent of the clothes that get sold in America happen because of this show."

Regardless of their success, the opportunity to pursue a degree while chasing her design dreams has allowed Yarborough the chance to get even more out of her classes at NC State, where she has build incredible relationships with fellow designers and professors like Vita Plume.

"I started in graphic design and that wasn't hands-on enough for me, so I took some time off and now I am back in art design focusing on fibers, textiles and fashion," she said. "In my studio this semester, it's really cool because my assignments are linked to work, so everything supports everything else.

"They do a really good job of encouraging exploration," Yarborough said of NC State's College of Design faculty members. "The best way to succeed in design school is to be self-driven, to have initiative and motivation and if you have that, they can provide the guidance.

"It's a magical combination."

Related Links:

• College of Design
  
• College of Management
• Verses Jeans Co.

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