Des Owusu, a senior studying management information systems, founded the clothing brand Manup Archives to provide high-quality, simple clothes for young people. He also hopes to give his customers more than just clothes — he hopes to give them inspiration to be better people.
“We want to provide clothes that are meaningful,” Owusu said.
In September 2024, the 40 pieces in the brand’s first collection sold out in two weeks.
Part one of the second collection, the Endurance collection, was released online Feb. 7. It features six designs of sweatshirts and hats and is much bigger than the first collection. A new workwear jacket will also be on sale in a few weeks.
Owusu said he tries to keep the prices affordable so more people can enjoy the collection.
The 460 GSM, 100% cotton sweatshirt material as well as the other materials Owusu uses for his clothes are made overseas. The garments are quality-checked by multiple manufacturers in Columbus, where Owusu is from. He and his business partners found the manufacturers by looking at online reviews.
Nana Oduro is earning his MBA with a concentration in finance, and he promoted the brand online and offline before it was released. Oduro helped find manufacturers for the clothes as well.
“We just went in, built a good relationship and went into their space to make sure that they were producing the best quality before we ended up going with them for part of our job,” Oduro said.
Kendrick Frempong, a senior studying exercise physiology, hopes to see more of a variety of clothing in future collections from Manup Archives, such as long-sleeve T-shirts. He bought a hoodie from the most recent collection, which he said was great quality.
The student organization Manup, a bible study that started in fall 2023, is not affiliated with the clothing brand, although Owusu is the head of both and they both have the same values. The two aren’t financially connected.
“Everything was just reinvested back into the brand,” Oduro said.
Manup’s pillars of strength, courage, purpose and integrity are values from the Bible the members use in their day-to-day lives.
“I think those are traits that we see for how to live significant lives, and also biblically,” Owusu said.
Endurance means “being able to go through hard times,” Owusu said. The designs are meant to inspire customers to endure whatever difficulties they are going through.
This theme came from historical and biblical figures who embodied the traits Owusu wanted to encourage. One figure he pointed out was Harriet Tubman, whose perseverance freed dozens of people from slavery.
“Black people have had to go through a lot . . . I kind of feel like (the theme) helps people, kind of like a sign of hope,” Frempong said.
