Pride Shorts
Junior Ian Moritz didn’t come to this university expecting to leave a fashion designer.
But the management and finance major did exactly that when he created his own line of embroidered khaki shorts. With the help of the business school, Moritz was able to take his line of Maryland Pride Shorts to students on campus.
Q: How did the idea of Pride Shorts come to you?
A: My roommate was wearing shorts and they had lobsters on them and I was like ‘That’s stupid,’ and we were going to a football game I said, ‘I wish they had something spirited on them.’ I thought about it and I wanted to make some shorts that are spirited because I was never a big fan of the shorts with the Maryland flag on them.
Q: How did you start to make the shorts?
A: I chose the M because it is a classic Maryland staple and I converted to an embroidery file [on the computer]. From there I went to a local embroiderer and said, ‘Hey can you make me a personal pair of shorts and put these on it?’ … They were my first prototype … now I’m kind of getting nostalgic about my first prototypes.
Q: When did you do all of this?
A: I started wearing them fall of my sophomore year toward the end. I wore them just for myself at the ball games and everyone kept asking me ‘Oh, where did you get these?’ and I realized people were trying to buy them. Over the winter I fleshed out the idea more.
Q: How did you know how to do all of this?
A: I had no fashion expertise, so my biggest challenge was learning how to construct a pair of embroidered men’s khaki shorts. I love the challenge; that was something that was fun about making these shorts was coming up with a new idea and teaching myself about fashion and stitching and short construction. I just like learning about new things.
Q: That’s a great quality to have! How did you get them produced?
A: I got them manufactured overseas, so I had to go back and forth a lot with different manufacturers because I didn’t want to lose any quality with these shorts. They are getting constructed to be entirely Pride Shorts. If you are putting on a pair of Pride Shorts, I want you to know that they are well-made and constructed with good materials.
Q: Where do you see your shorts going?
A: I feel bad because girls are always saying that they want a pair of shorts. But I haven’t made girl shorts yet. … In the spring I am trying anything to get girl and guy shorts for Maryland.
You can buy Pride Shorts online at www.prideshorts.com.
