One student took it upon himself to follow the path of changing fashion trends with an idea of his own. The clothing line NonCents is the creation of sophomore Trevor Batastini and his grandfather, Michael Benner.

“I’ve always liked clothes and fashion, and I have seen brands I’ve liked get more and more popular,” Batastini said. “I’ve seen what they have done, and now it’s our turn to follow them in their footsteps.”

Batastini said NonCents began when he was interested in the idea of creating a clothing line, and Benner was looking for ways to make money for Batastini and his siblings to go to college. Looking at current brands and what succeeded in the past, the duo built their line based on new and old influences.

“NonCents seemed to convey a general feeling about much of the tedium in life,” Benner said. “From bureaucracy in business to frustration with politics, it seemed that a common description was ‘nonsense.’ Our pun gave us a fun way to react to a world whose priorities seemed upside down. The bright colors of the trademark will make it distinctive and very attractive. We use the pun of substituting ‘cents’ for ‘sense’ to give our line a unique placement among the more conventional brands.”

They field tested their product within the high school, and peers such as sophomore Hunter Duncan expressed their fondness for the clothing line. Such positive reception inspired further progress in the brand’s development.

“I started wearing NonCents because I saw Trevor wearing one of the sweatshirts, and I was like, ‘That’s pretty rad, where’d you get it?’ and to my surprise he had made them,” Duncan said. “I like that NonCents is a unique brand with a dope logo.”

Expressing the importance of protecting their brand’s originality and logo, Benner and Batastini made steps to patent and trademark NonCents.

“The trademark development and filing of trademark applications as well as the setting up of the partnership preceded the production of samples and the market research that followed,” Benner said. “A great deal of work went into the design concepts and the graphic depictions of a dozen logos. Trademark applications were filed and so far we expect at least four more within the next 60 days.”

While their brand is still young, Batastini and Benner have their eyes set on the continued growth of their clothing line. They anticipate that through local distribution among youth and the influence of social media, NonCents will be be kickstarted into future success.

“We do see enthusiasm and we expect that to translate into sales and ultimately profit,” Benner said. “The first months and maybe a couple of years will be dedicated to getting the brand out there. Profits will come later. This is a time of investing and promoting. By this time next year, we will have a good idea where to concentrate our efforts. We expect to use social media as well as ecommerce to get the products in front of the target. Our concentration is on high quality goods to carry the brands.”

Batastini sees his brand as a lighthearted factor in a chaotic world.

“NonCents came about because there’s a lot of stupid stuff going on in the world right now and it just looks cool on a shirt,” Batastini said. “In the future I can see NonCents on billboards with not just clothes but other objects with our logo on it.”