OverdoseVE

Clothing Brand

Maracaibo, Venezuela

Samuel Figueroa

Projects

Tech Stack

Have a goal

Creativity

Consistency

The goal

Officially, The Overdose brand was created to inspire people to explore new styles, moving beyond of what they were used to wear. In Maracaibo around 2018, floral fabrics were gaining popularity, but no local manufacturers were producing them. Seeing this as an opportunity, we launched what would become the most significant project of my life.

Personally, I wanted to be part of something bigger. I wanted to step out of my confort zone and put all my heart into something to see where it would take me. I knew we weren't going to be the most succesfull clothing brand out there, but it definitely made me feel that I did something unique and genuine, something that wasn’t just about the product, but the whole learning process of making it and all the incredible experiences with everyone who helped us along the way.

The project

The history of Overdose

Looking back, it’s incredible how the universe of Overdose came to be. It all started when a friend approached me, asking me to create a logo for a clothing project he had in mind. I agreed to design it, but only if I could join the team, which already had four members. We were all enthusiastic about creating a clothing brand because we each had an interest in fashion and of course making some extra money. My mom had a clothing brand when I was a kid, which probably sparked my passion for clothing. Thanks to her, I knew a few places where we could source fabrics and kickstart this project.

First concept logo

However, in any project, the most challenging part is the beginning. While most of the team loved the idea, only few of us had the conviction to make it real. That’s why my best friend and I decided to start this journey ourselves. Week by week, we tackled social media, logos, printing techniques, fabrics, and many other tasks from our checklist. We redesigned the logo and launched our social media to showcase what was coming. On the meantime we work on the manufacturing process with a professional garment maker we hire for this.

Creativity Above Circumstances

When money isn’t an issue, everything is possible – the best quality, best materials, more options for anything and everything. However, we weren’t that resourceful but still wanted to achieve the best result.

Typical luxury brands use personalized dust bags or wrapping paper for their goods. To achieve a similar result with less money, we went to a local wooden stamp business to create our Overdose stamp. With tissue paper and a huge amount of time, we wrapped all the hoodies in our personalized paper within our personalized boxes.

Unboxing experience

I was very insistent on using boxes instead of regular paper bags, as I believed they would give an illusion of premium quality and a more substantial unboxing experience. After many calls and much research, we discovered that we could use pastry boxes for our merch packaging. A simple white box with a vinyl detail on top created the exact look we wanted
We also had the idea to include a special thank you note inside each box. Unfortunately, this process was so time-consuming that we eventually decided to move on to the next phase: selling.

Photoshoots

Famous people often attribute their success to connections. When you’re 17, most of your connections are typically your friends. These friends will either buy your merch or help you with various purposes. This is why many of our photoshoots were in casual settings, such as rooftops, building parking lots, or even the street itself. Good friends and a borrowed camera were all we needed to showcase what we were creating.

After all, you know you’ve done something right when you’re getting a haircut and your barber is wearing an Overdose shirt without knowing you made it. Even though we sold probably only 50 pieces, what truly resonates with me is the fact that if you really put passion into something and dedicate all your time to it, people will recognize talent and quality. Overdose spoke for itself; people weren’t buying our merch just because we created it. They bought it because they liked it, they liked the style and the brand concept, and that’s what we were aiming for.