Building Blocks for Varsity Jackets

January 01, 2004

There's no feeling like slipping into a varsity jacket. And now, through BUILDYOURJACKET.COM (BYJ), there's an easier way for students to personalize a letterman's jacket.

BYJ, the brainchild of Mike Doyle, a Rocklin, Calif.-based embroiderer, allows students to select jacket styles and stock designs and obtain a customized letterman's jacket through a local embroidery shop.

Doyle has built a gallery of 2,000 sports- and mascot-related stock designs for the site, at which a student athlete can select a jacket style and color, choose custom designs, then find a local embroiderer who can sew the design and supply the jacket. The student makes a printout of the customized jacket to present to the embroidery shop, and the shop buys the design from BYJ.

For a monthly fee, embroiderers can join BYJ, allowing them to purchase the stock designs at a discounted price. Nonmembers can also order designs for $50 each.

Decorators benefit from membership because the service eliminates the cost of digitizing and opens the door to a highly specialized and profitable market. "Every time a kid walks out your door in one of these jackets, they become a salesman for you," Doyle says. – CP