While many students like to tan or hit the gym during their spare time, Keir Magoulas likes to design shirts. Born and raised in Connecticut, Magoulas is a junior new media production major who just recently started selling his own T-shirt line called Palm Arbor Supply Co. to his friends and other students on campus.
The 21-year-old designer is involved in various other organizations as well. Besides being the creative director of UT literary and arts publication Neon, Magoulas is the director of public relations for the Residence Hall Association. He also enjoys playing the drums, running, photography and graphic design. However, Magoulas didn’t always have a passion for designing.
Back when he was still an environmental science major a couple of years ago, Magoulas spent the summer studying at The University of Hawaii where he first got inspired by west coast fashion.
“I don’t know if it was the excess of shops or the style, but I just thought it was really cool,” Magoulas said. “I follow so many west coast clothing brands, such as the ones in California, so I came up with the idea of creating that similar type of style, but in Florida. The name [Palm Arbor Supply Co.] has the association to Florida. Then I started messing around with some designs and it all sorta took off from there.”
Palm Arbor Supply Co.op0l-; currently sells unisex T-shirts, but Magoulas hopes to expand his line and get into women’s apparel like crop tops, which he said has been highly requested. Students can purchase the T-shirts directly through Magoulas for now.
“It’s pretty basic right now. It’s still a concept and idea,” Magoulas said. “It’s definitely cool when I see a friend wearing one of my shirts. But the most rewarding thing would have to be when I’m out and someone asks me ‘where’d you get that shirt from?’ And then I tell them I made it.”
One of Magoulas’ good friends Katelyn Edwards, a junior English major and art/economics dual minor, owns one of his Palm Arbor shirts and said she has no doubt that he will go far.
“I love his designs because they are crisp, clear and comfortable, just like the words Palm Arbor suggest,” Edwards said. “It is a physical embodiment of Keir’s remarkable aesthetic: meticulous simplicity. The design is uncomplicated, but thoroughly thought out and precisely executed. I strongly believe that he will be successful, not just because of his degree of design talent and business savvy, but because he is indeed a good person.”
Magoulas hopes to manufacture his own shirts and have an online store in the future. He is trying to get the word out to other students. His goal is to eventually start a company of not just clothing but of a variety of surfer style knick-knacks and possibly even get into the local music scene.
“I want to bring a community together by bringing in bands possibly,” he said. “It’s all about the experience. It’s gonna be much more than the clothing.”
Maddie Smith can be reached at maddie.smith@spartans.ut.edu