Penn State sophomore Aisha Ba is the creator of Varsity Society, a custom clothing brand that promotes high-quality pieces for college students.

Before creating Varsity Society, Ba noticed that the typical merchandise available to college students sells at a high price point for low-quality materials. She also realized that many of the items are made with polyester and nylon, which are poor quality and can be irritating to the skin.

“It kind of seemed like a lot of these companies were scamming girls out of their money and overcharging them, especially when they cost $15 to $20 to make with the materials that they’re using,” Ba said.

After joining a sorority, Ba researched some of the companies that her sorority, along with many others, were ordering their merchandise from. The majority of them were male-owned and had no affiliation with the Panhellenic community or the students they were selling to. Ba knew she could create something higher quality and more personalized to the consumer, and that became the catalyst for Varsity Society.

“I was really intent on founding my own company that was 100% cotton and at a rate with the same price point but for better materials,” Ba said. “I’ve been able to communicate with so many girls, and I can incorporate their ideas and their designs and kind of have more of a woman’s voice in this apparel and merch.”

In January, Ba released a test launch of products with a “college town” theme that was met with success, but she began to run into licensing problems. To include any university name on the apparel, she would have to pay for licensing rights, which is extremely costly. To avoid this, she found her niche in sorority apparel for her most recent launch.

“We worked with 10 of the sororities here for their sorority merch and even are working with some of the Penn State sororities to make their merch for next year, and everything has just been really fun,” Ba said.

As a psychology student, the brand has little to do with Ba’s major. Instead, she uses it as a creative outlet in a field where she doesn’t have much room for creativity.

“I’m a really creative person, and I was looking for an outlet to be able to do that,” Ba said. “Because I don’t have an outlet to be creative in my major, I really wanted to find something I could do outside of it.”

Ba promotes her clothes through TikTok and Instagram and has a storefront for custom orders. On top of her schoolwork, she manages the whole operation out of her apartment in downtown State College. While she handles everything on the design side of things, her co-founder and boyfriend, Austin Knight, manages the financials.

Keeping in line with her mission statement to provide the highest quality materials possible, Ba works with an ethical manufacturer to produce heavy-weight, 100% cotton hoodies that will last longer than the average brand.

“I want girls to say ‘OK, I’m comfortable spending this amount of money on this because I know it’s good quality,'” Ba said.

When designing, Ba offers customers the chance to share their vision with her and then receive a mockup design. The whole process is customizable based on the needs and wants of the purchaser. She also draws much of her inspiration when designing from what she sees girls wearing around campus and what she sees trending online.

Varsity Society is not only a passion project for Ba, but what she hopes is an opportunity for students to purchase merchandise that they are excited about and will feel good in. As a student, she understands that people want to spend their money on long-lasting items, and Varsity Society offers them that chance.