With its unique play on words, Sixfourteen captures the heart and soul of Columbus residents in their line of urban streetwear clothing. Credit Courtesy of Tony Garber
With its unique play on words, Sixfourteen captures the heart and soul of Columbus residents in their line of urban streetwear clothing.
Sixfourteen, a reference to the Columbus area code 614, is a local lifestyle clothing brand founded by Columbus resident Tony Garber in 2017. The clothing brand strives to provide Ohioans with premium, sustainable clothing and accessories inspired by their own communities, Garber said.
The brand’s mission, Garber said, has always been to bring people together, even through something as simple as T-shirts.
“We want to represent the city who made us who we are,” Garber said. “We’re actively working with designers and illustrators right here in Columbus on all of our next releases. Each piece should have its own story.”
In November 2019, Garber said he brought on lifelong friend Abel Solomon, a fifth-year in marketing, as a co-owner to help run the business and expedite their “worldwide takeover.”
“Tony and I have been friends for a while now. He originally came up with the idea, I saw it and I fell in love with it,” Solomon said. “I told him I wanted to get in on it and we started working. We pushed through, got some designs and had our first launch, and now we’re going through another one.”
Garber said he’s never worn a piece of clothing that creates so much conversation. He said the reactions he gets are the best part.
“The wordplay on the logo is what makes finding us so cool,” Garber said. “I think wearing it, walking around, having people comment and notice it is a special feeling.”
The community response to Sixfourteen since its launch has been incredible, Garber and Solomon said. They said their business is growing every day as they strive to work exclusively with local artists on new designs and are actively planning photo and video shoots for their website and social media accounts.
“This is everyone’s project,” Garber said. “All of our friends and family have contributed along the way and our community has given us some incredible ideas.”
Although Sixfourteen also designs clothing for other cities in Ohio, Solomon said Columbus is the epicenter of what they do, as it’s the city both Garber and Solomon are from.
“We tried to create a community brand,” Solomon said. “We feel that Columbus is an undervalued city. Its name is not really on the map, but it should be because there’s so much opportunity and great things going on here.”
Garber said Columbus is unique in that it is an educated, hard-working city full of entrepreneurs and creatives that he is thankful to be a part of.
Sixfourteen wants to give back to the community in any way they can as a small, local, e-commerce business, Garber said. The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down their business, but they’ve been active with the brand from a distance, he said.
Last fall, Sixfourteen sponsored a “Social Distance 5K” to raise money for Columbus charities. Garber said they also participated in a “Voices” pop-up event in Goodale Park, where they raised money to help combat social injustice and police brutality in Columbus.
“Once we can build up our voice, generate a little more revenue and have a bigger platform, we want to be able to help out more people and be a part of boosting up the community more,” Solomon said.
Garber and Solomon said they have some special events and releases planned for this year, but are currently working on a capsule of graphic tees designed 100 percent by Ohio creatives. Their next release is scheduled for late March.
