He accomplished this not by sticking seeds in the ground, but by ?selling shirts, hats and other ?merchandise through his Green Dream Clothing Co. line. With every item a customer buys, one tree is planted through the company’s partnership with Plant-It 2020, a nonprofit dedicated to planting trees around the world.
Swartz started the ?company during his sophomore year at IU, he said.
“The fashion industry is very saturated, so it’s hard to do something and be ?different,” he said. “Being really good at what you do isn’t enough to make it. You need to do something new.”
The Indianapolis native said he noticed the passion college-aged people often have for the environment.
“I wanted to bridge the gap between nice clothes and doing something that’s good for the planet,” Swartz explained. “I also wanted to keep it affordable for ?college kids who don’t have 40 or 50 bucks to drop on a T-shirt.”
Swartz did not do it alone. His friend, Ben Tamir Rothenberg, produces photographs and videos of ?students wearing the clothes, which really helped the brand take off.
“We’re trying to go with a lifestyle feel and a friend feel,” Rothenberg said. “If you follow Adam’s Twitter page, you see that he makes everyone feel like they’re his friend and that they’re supporting a much bigger cause than just a clothing company.”
This attempt to promote a certain lifestyle can be seen in the company’s ?upside-down umbrella logo.
It symbolizes the company’s openness to both positive and negative experiences rather than shielding them out like an umbrella would with hail or rain.
Rothenberg, who now works as a media production specialist at the Kelley School of Business, ?emphasized that Bloomington was the perfect place for the company to find its ?footing.
“Bloomington is different from any other place in Indiana,” he said. “We’re the liberal dot in Indiana, so brands like this have a ?better chance of succeeding here than anywhere else.”
The brand has also ?received support from local businesses, such as Baked! of Bloomington.
“Adam and I met when we both had a booth at Culture Shock,” said Jason Voegeli, the co-owner of the cookie delivery service. “I told him my ideas about cookies and he told me his ideas about clothes, and we kind of hit it off.”
They have been friends ever since.
The friends and businessmen are planning to collaborate on a ?promotional giveaway ?toward the end of this ?semester.
The day after graduating last May, Swartz packed his car and moved to Denver. Though moving away from his main customer base was a potentially risky move, Swartz said it has only helped the brand grow.
“I’m getting to meet all of these new people and getting to share the message and the products in this whole new part of the country,” he said. “I’m getting more and more orders from people I don’t know, not just in Indiana, but from all over the place.”
Recently Swartz, who just turned 22, received his first international order of the year from a man living in England.
He said it was especially exciting because the man ordered one of almost everything on the website.
The British customer is not the only big fan. Looking at the Green Dream website today, the brand’s growing popularity is clear. Almost all of the items are sold out.
“I feel so bad because I need to get to ordering more stuff,” Swartz said. “New things will be ?happening soon, it’s just tough with time and work and everything.”
For now, Swartz is ?balancing a day job in Boulder, Colo., with his design plans for the company’s summer line. He said customers can ?expect a lot of hemp- and bamboo-based fabric for the new products.
Swartz is also working on a collaboration with Zeal Optics, a well-known brand selling snowboarding goggles and sunglasses.
“That’s really exciting for me because I love their products and I wear their goggles and sunglasses,” Swartz said. “The fact that I got to kick it in their office and meet with them not as just a customer was ?really cool.”
Even with the brand’s popularity, Swartz still manages to add a personal touch.
“When you talk to Adam about Green Dream, you hear his energy,” Rothenberg said. “He’s put his heart and soul into this, and you can definitely see that in everything from the quality of the clothes to the handwritten messages he sends with every purchase.”
In the future, Swartz hopes Green Dream Clothing Co. will continue to grow so he can make it his full-time priority.
“I would definitely love to have a storefront someday, a physical location where people can come and shop and also just come to hang out,” Swartz said.
In the meantime, Swartz ?continues to keep in touch with his Bloomington friends while getting inspired by his new home.
“Looking at a mountain and just seeing a shit-ton of trees and being able to think that I helped put some of those trees somewhere in the world, it’s an awesome feeling,” Swartz said.
