TWO business students have put their entrepreneurial skills to good use to launch a Huddersfield University clothing range.
Hugo Tsagliotis, 21, and Alexandre Clerch, 23, will unveil their collection of trendy university T-shirts during graduation week to compete with the more traditional university-branded garments available for students to buy as souvenirs.
The T-shirts feature an eye-catching Huddersfield-themed graphic, emblazoned with the logo HUD.
The idea came after Hugo, from Paris, met Alexandre, from Toulouse, whilst studying at Huddersfield and set up a group named LinkedHud for students interested in developing business ideas.
Their first business idea was to design, produce and sell new ranges of on-trend university clothing.
The French pair teamed-up with graphic design student Stephen Bradshaw and photographer Josh Couchman, who came up with a sequence of designs illustrating the Huddersfield campus. The HUD word was then superimposed.
Four designs were chosen to reproduce and will be sold through the Student’s Union priced £14.99 each.
The two French students have named their business Odace – French for audacious.
Hugo has completed his BA in European Business at the University and now plans to stay in the UK to study for a further degree.
Alexandre is nearing the end of his MSc in International Business at Huddersfield.
He said: “Our business courses at the University helped us a lot in conducting projects, leading a team, being convincing in front of an audience and negotiating prices with suppliers.
“It is when you start your business that you understand how a business theoretical background is important.
“The plan for the company is to keep going, producing more designs and always focus on the student’s need providing high quality and trendy university outfits.
“We want to take on-board students to develop their skills, building their experience and bringing their view on products. We desire to expand the concept to other universities and to develop new projects with Student Unions”.
