Beloved Shirts is a clothing and lifestyle brand that uses a unique printing process to develop whimsical graphics and fancy designs.
The brand uses a kind of fabric that completely wraps itself around the apparel, allowing the wearer to stand out.
Beloved Shirts began with a narrow line of t-shirts, but has since expanded into the hoodie, jeans, onesie, hat, and sock segments, while also offering many different types of accessories.
Some of Beloved Shirts’ most sought-after designs are the Kin Jong Un poster, big hamburger, and gushing unicorn.
The brand allows users to create their own prints, offering endless options and possibilities.
A Beloved Shirt can really make you seem different, and can even serve as an excellent conversation starter. A number of renowned figures and celebrities have purchased these apparels, of which Katie Perry is also one. Soon after, the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus were also donning Beloved Shirts’ brightly-colored outfits.
Beloved Shirts was founded by Jeremiah Robson, who started experimenting with the unique apparel-design technology around three to four years ago. Jeremiah shared a picture of his son wearing a pizza clothing outfit, which included a hat and backpack. The picture found its way to Reddit, where it triggered a Photoshop war between Jeremiah and another Reddit user.
Ultimately, the picture was shared by 9gag, one of the biggest Facebook and Instagram influencers, and received close to 350,000 likes.
One of Jeremiah’s hobbies was playing indoor soccer. He realized that, if he and his team wore shirts that were decorated with realistic food images, they could distract their opponents and gain an advantage over them.
The sublimation process, which involves using heat to transfer color onto the fabric, is used to fabricate the Beloved Shirts jerseys.
Jeremiah realized that the fun factor offered by his playful designs and brilliant colors, was very appealing to the fun-loving market that he was looking to target.
Is Beloved Shirts Still an Active Business?
Yes, Beloved Sharks is still an active business, and going quite strong. As of January 2022, the business is generating annual sales in excess of $4 million.
How Did the Shark Tank Pitch Go?
Jeremiah appeared on the seventh season of Shark Tank, seeking an investment of $75,000 in exchange for a 5% stake in Beloved Shirts.
Jeremiah explained that he has a 50 to 60 percent profit margin for every product. In addition, since the shirts are ‘made to offer’, there are no inventory storage costs to worry about. However, once an order is placed, it takes around 30 days before it is delivered to the customer – which can be a problem for buyers looking to make urgent purchases.
Robert asked about the sales revenue, and Jeremy responded that the company had generated $2.3 million in sales so far – a figure that impressed the entire panel, especially when Jeremiah added that, until that point, the business had only been operational for around two years.
Robert was skeptical about the valuation, and Mark was skeptical about this skepticism from Robert. Mark said that Robert could not accept the fact that companies could grow, to which Robert accused Mark of being an unwise investor.
Mark then asked Jeremiah about how he plans to increase sales, to which Jeremiah responded that he wanted to enter conventional retail markets. This time, the Sharks were unanimous, all of them disapproving of this plan.
Lori said that Jeremiah’s 60% profit margin would dip sharply if he decided to target the retail segment, since retailers only purchase large volumes under wholesale prices.
Mark Cuban expressed his admiration for Jeremiah’s achievements. However, he felt that the business model needed more fine-tuning before it could become investable and that, at this moment, he was out of this deal.
Robert, too, had glowing praise for Jeremiah and what he had accomplished. However, since he already held equity in TipsyElves, investing in Beloved Shirts would be a conflict of interest for him. He, too, stepped out.
Lori offered some expert advice: She felt that Beloved Shirts had way too many SKUs, and that a better strategy would be to focus on the bestselling items. She recommended Jeremiah to stock at least some inventory for these bestsellers, so as to reduce the turnaround time between order and delivery.
Despite her ideas for the business, Lori did not see Beloved Shirts as investable at this time, and she wanted to excuse herself from the deal.
Kevin had already shown his disapproval about the valuation, and it did not take long for him to step out of the deal. The final Shark, Daymond, said that while he did have ‘many concerns’ regarding the business, he was ready to make an offer: $175,000 in exchange for 25% of the equity.
This valuation was far too low for Jeremiah, who countered with $175,000 for 15%. Daymond said that he would only be able to go as low as 22.5%, but that was not low enough for Jeremiah, who declined the offer.
Beloved Shirts, therefore, left the Tank without a deal.
Despite not being able to secure a deal, Beloved Shirts’ Shark Tank appearance led to a huge spike in orders over the next four to six months.
Jeremiah said that he did not regret the decision of declining Daymond’s offer, as he felt that the Shark was struggling to see the hype and excitement surrounding Beloved Shirts.
However, he did not have anything negative to say about the Shark Tank or the panel itself, even though part of his very loyal fan-base did criticize the Sharks decision, calling it ‘greedy’ and ‘shortsighted’.
Are There Any Alternatives?
Below are a few alternatives to Beloved Shirts:
- Shelfies
- Yizzam
- Jakprints
- Kapinua
- Artscow
Our Final Thoughts
To sum up, Beloved Shirts is a clothing brand that is very appealing to the funky, fun-loving segment, and has managed to establish a very loyal fan-base over the years. Despite the Shark Tank disappointment, the brand is still going strong.
