Thanks in large part to a series of tweets from Nolan Smith, a new apparel website has blown up on many Duke fans' radars. It's called AmpersandThreads.com—named after the creator's love for the typographical character—and it may just have better duds than Duke's official stores.
I conducted a Q & A with the creator of the website, graphic designer Mitchell Phillips, by email last week. The transcript is below.
What got you started in the apparel business?
I've been a graphic designer for 8+ years now, so I've always toyed with the idea of combining two of my favorite things: Duke basketball and good, clean design. In early 2010, I begin thinking of exactly how I could make the two things work hand in hand and AmpersandThreads was born. After setting up the site and launching a few shirt ideas, I got positive feedback so I decided to continue pursuing the idea and it has slowly developed into the site it is today.
When did the site begin, and how big is it now?
AmpersandThreads started in the summer of 2010. The first few weeks there was very little traffic and minimal sales. As the site slowly begin finding its way onto various online message boards and Duke related web sites, the traffic steadily increased. It continues to grow and each and every day the number of visitors increases.
The shirts seem to show a bold design-- the "Z" on the Zoubek shirt, for instance. Do you have a background in design? Have you been influenced by anyone in particular?
I am a full time graphic designer focusing primarily on print and web. Apparel design is something new for me, but I'd like to believe my design background has provided me with enough guidance to develop a strong, clean product that flawlessly blends my love of design and Duke basketball. The first shirt I designed for AmpersandThreads was the National Champions shirt. It is influenced by the popular Beatles shirt that Experimental Jetset did a few years back.
Your apparel shows a pretty long Duke basketball history. How long have you been a Duke fan? What do you think about the team this year?
I've been a Duke fan since the early 90's. I remember going on a family vacation and witnessing the infamous Laettner shot. I didn't even care about the vacation after that. I just couldn't believe what an incredible athlete he was and was so glad I was a Duke guy. I grew up in a family of UNC fans, so I've always been the only one wearing the proper color blue at family picnics (not that pansy light blue). Luckily my wife is as big a Duke fan as I am so it makes things easier when we go home to visit now. I'm excited to see the team this year. After the awesome display the guys put on last year on their way to #4, I can only imagine what this year holds with the addition of the three freshmen and the return of Nolan and Kyle. And the future keeps getting brighter and brighter...
What happened as soon as Nolan tweeted about his shirt? Did you see traffic go up and how many Ndotsmitty shirts did you sell just yesterday?
I was actually in the office when a good friend of mine (also a huge Duke fan) sent me a message and told me to cheek Nolan's Twitter. I was blown away that he had not only seen the shirts, but that he liked them! That was definitely a great feeling. The shirt sales have gone through the roof since he tweeted about it. I designed that shirt in particular because I think Nolan has established himself as a true leader, both on and off the court. He represents Duke with pride and has a winning, positive attitude. My wife and I met him and Jon at a Charlotte Bobcats game not long after they won the National Championship and we were both blown away at how nice and friendly both of them were. It made me really proud that I support and cheer for such an awesome group of student athletes.
Were you concerned at all that people might think Nolan was in business with you, which would constitute an NCAA violation?
That was one of my initial concerns once people started responding to his tweet. I have definitely made a strong effort to show people that AmpersandThreads is in no way, shape, or form associated with Duke University, its basketball program, or any individual athletes. I would never purposely do anything that would get Nolan or the university in trouble and would gladly remove the shirts if they caused any problems. I started this because I'm a huge Duke fan and would definitely put the university first and foremost if any problems arose. And just to clarify one more time, Nolan as absolutely nothing to do with AmpersandThreads or the NdotSmitty shirt. All he did was inspire me with his excellence on the basketball court.
What's next for AmpersandThreads? Will you try to sell some of your designs to the Duke stores?
I've already started developing a few new shirt ideas that I hope to launch within the coming weeks. I've also thought of doing a few limited edition runs of posters featuring a few of the more popular designs from the site. I'm most excited about watching the team on the court this season and seeing what kind of shirts I can develop based on their play. I'm unsure at this point about selling designs to the Duke store as none of my shirts actually say Duke anywhere, but I would definitely consider the idea if put in touch with the right people. I hope people continue to visit AmpersandThreads.com and show their love for Duke basketball.
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