Provo culture has influenced clothing brands like Royal Army Brand and Stakeconf to incorporate the unique aspects of Provo into apparel for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and BYU fans around the world.
Stakeconf was created by BYU students in 2017 for members of the Church who wanted to show off their faith without being overbearing. Founding members Franz Osborne, Wyatt Hall and Sam Osborne own the brand.
“We wanted to have something cool to wear that represents our faith a little but not be stupid. Something that we would want to wear,” Sam Osborne said.
Taking that small bit of culture into its brand, Stakeconf was able to create a product that showed a message without being too forward.
“We want something different; we want something cool. We want for the cool kids in Provo to wear it,” Franz Osborne said.
The black hat, black hoodie and pink long sleeve shirt are the most popular items sold by Stakeconf. These items follow the minimalistic clothing trends in mainstream media while including the small insignia of the angel Moroni.
Stakeconf was able to use the Provo culture to target a larger demographic by combining a simple design widely known in the Latter-day Saint culture and inspiration from larger brands.
BYU student James Macedone likes Stakeconf because of its ability to make clothes people want to wear while successfully sending the messages the companies and their customers want to send.
“I love that Provo and the Church as a whole are moving into mainstream culture,” Macedone said. “It shows that the Church can meet the needs of the members without compromising the message or the mission.”
Different clothing brands have taken into consideration the variety of personalities in Provo and used that variety to distance themselves from the basic style. These companies have helped fashion-forward students break the mold.
“Provo culture is vibrant. It’s full of life, from temple Tuesdays to Fuego Fridays,” BYU student Payge Cuthbertson said. “People wear a wide variety of brands so they are able to express themselves through their clothes.”
Royal Army Brand was created by CEO Kevin Wilson in the summer of 2017 as an attempt to escape the “sea of sameness.”
“We get a lot of our ideas from BYU’s unique culture,” Wilson said, “That includes the cool and quirky, and really anything is game from LDS Primary songs to Brigham himself.”
Royal Army Brand spotlighted the legacy of BYU sports while embracing the culture that comes with the fans and school. This brand has been able to introduce new designs using BYU jargon such as “let ’em hear you up north” and “Saturday is a special day.”
One of the most prominent designs they have created is their flat brim Brigham shirt. This shirt takes the original Brigham Young face and combines it with a fashion-forward flat brim hat. This combination of new and old Provo culture has created a unique design that is different than what’s traditionally been with different BYU logos.
“We are creating something that speaks to and about us, our culture, our school and our teams,” Wilson said.
By taking the culture of Provo and its community to mind when creating products, these clothing brands have been able to keep fans of the company happy with unique, quality products.
