Young designer finds fortune in clothing venture

CEBU, Philippines - Young as he is, a 25-year-old merchandise designer seemed to find his good fortune in an unplanned business venture and successfully established a brand name on his own in the international and local clothing industry, driven by his passion and talent for music, arts and originality.

Nicolo Nimor, owner and designer of Nick Automatic, admitted that what was just supposedly for fun among acquaintances turned out to be a hit in the market.

It all started with his hobby in doodling since childhood. He then learned to develop the skill when he used to work as an illustrator in a Korean company that is inclined to making storybooks for children.

Nimor took up Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Advertising Arts at the University of San Carlos - Talamban Campus but stopped on his third year due to financial constraints.

With his passion for music, he has also started to work with various artists in the music industry who get to wear his shirts.

In 2008, he worked as a freelance merchandise designer online for various international and national bands such as Paramore, A Day to Remember and New Found Glory and foreign celebrities like Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown.

He is also into a local band named Maria Campbell as drummer.

From then on, Nimor's signature clothing brand of cartoon-inspired doodles reached to Metro Manila, United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

"I get to meet members from international and local music bands. I give them tees and once they wear it, it's a form of indirect endorsement. From then, I create a network of connections," he said.

He revealed that as a freelance artist, he earns five-digit income for every design.

Realizing the potential of his shirts in the market, he then started to print his creative ideas on designer tees and established his own clothing line dubbed as Nick Automatic in 2009.

With P20,000 as starting capital, Nimor began to produce around 20 to 30 pieces and eventually earned P100,000 as his initial profit  which he then used to invest  to grow the business further.

The production then grew to 2,000 to 4,000 pieces every month which was distributed to branches, dealers and customers nationwide.

During peak seasons of the year, he said his business produces an average of 5,000 T-shirts from March to June for summer time while there are around 8,000 pieces produced from December to January for the holidays.

Nick Automatic tees that are available for shipment within the country and abroad are priced at a standard rate of P450 to P550.

It also sells other items such as hoods, sunglasses, caps, sandos, tank tops, sportswear and accessories.

To date, Nick Automatic has two branches situated at D12 Borromeo Arcade Building, F. Ramos Street in Cebu City and 3rd Floor, J Centre Mall, AS Fortuna Street in Mandaue City.

Nimor further revealed that he is eyeing to put up another outlet in Manila and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia within this year.

Admitting that Manila is a stronger market than Cebu, he said that the brand is also carried by other outlets in the country such as Built by Sonic in Quezon City and at 612 Indie Shop in Cagayan de Oro City.

Nimor then shared that he will stay in Australia to study for an animation course next year.

With the current trend of designer tees nowadays, he does not intend to compete with other players but instead focus on strengthening Nick Automatic's identity and style.

"I don't follow with the trend. I make the trend. Just be original and do what you want to do," Nimor told The FREEMAN.

He added that although he is contented with what he has right now, he feels he has not completely achieved his dreams to be an international graphic designer.

"Initially, I don't have high ambitions. My goals are constructed along the way. For now, I want more," he said.

Asked about his management skills over his 10 employees at present, he said that he doesn't want to put pressure on his workers but instead get flexible with their capacities to gain productivity and earn their loyalty.

"I don't want to pressure them. If I do, they will get tensed, become unproductive and leave. I am still young and I don't want to get stressed with life because of that. I want to be the coolest boss ever," Nimor concluded. /JMD (FREEMAN)