Wear The World, Change The World
Above: Serengetee comes in many pattern choices. Stock Photo.
By ERIN SOZA
Staff Writer
Dressing well and helping people around the world has never been so easy until Jeff Steitz decided to create a new brand of clothing that helps different causes around the world while allowing the owner to still look nice and stylish. The name of this brand is Serengetee (ser-uhn-get- ee).
Serengetee started as a project of two college students, Steitz and Ryan Westberg, who were a part of the program “Semester at Sea” in 2011, and came back with the idea of finding a way to help people around the world. Steitz collected different fabrics from each place they traveled to.
Upon returning, he had this idea of using the fabrics he collected on t-shirts and tank tops by selling them to collect money for the causes he visited. Once they started working on it, only a few months later in early 2012, Serengetee officially started up. It was a small business that only their friends knew about and with time, friends of other friends started getting more and more involved, and the word of Serengetee started to spread.
Now, three years later, Serengetee is involved with 32 countries and several causes around the world. It has donated a total of $102,458 to different charities and has sold $54,712 in fabrics.
There are 102 fabrics and patterns from all over the world. Every fabric supports a different country, which means a different cause. For every purchase made, five percent of the profits go to the cause that the purchased fabric supports. There are different styles and products to choose from, backpacks to t-shirts and tank tops, from headbands to headphones and even pillows.
Serengetee is now working with some famous personalities, such as YouTube sensation Jimmy Tatro, Vine star Jack Dail, “Teen Wolf” star Tyler Posey and campus representatives all over the US.
Steitz and Westberg gave the world the chance to help while looking good.
