“I was always an entrepreneur as a kid, always coming up with different ideas. The AEPi guys were definitely an entrepreneurial group and especially so in New York, so I fit right in,” said Brother Justin Baer (NYU, 2004).
Growing up in the Baltimore area, Justin attended NYU where he joined AEPi’s Alpha chapter and studied Real Estate, Finance and Marketing. While working at a tech company during COVID, he continued to play with different ideas for businesses and products.
“I was always itching to do this idea – a firm collar polo shirt to wear under a sweater — because I find a long-sleeved dress shirt under a sweater is annoying, the sleeves get bunched up and it’s not comfortable and I don’t like the way it looks.”
Justin took his idea to different manufacturers to see how it looked. With no experience in the apparel industry, he was flying blind. “It was just learn as you go. We’re still learning as we go, four years in. I basically made a run of 300 white polos with a firm collar and called it the ‘dress collar polo.’ I had my daughter take pictures of me and created a website.”
From a good idea and a great deal of hard work and ambition, Collars & Co. was born. “My daughter told me that the next thing I had to do was create a Tik Tok video, so I put a shirt on and looked in the camera and said, ‘Guys, don’t you hate to wear dress shirts? They suck. They’re hot. They’re uncomfortable. Check out one of these dress collar polos.’ We were all sitting down in the evening to watch Netflix and all of a sudden, my phone goes Ka-Ching and that meant that somebody bought a shirt through Shopify on the website. I looked at my wife and said, ‘Oh my g-d, somebody else wanted this!”
About a year later, he turned his attention to getting onto Shark Tank. “I looked through my network and didn’t know anyone connected with the show or ABC and I didn’t think I had a chance. I filled out the form like 50,000 other people and didn’t think I was going to get on. And they called me and started the interview process.”
After a memorable pitch and negotiation, Justin made a deal with Mark Cuban and Peter Jones who remain great partners.
One shirt turned into more colors and different styles and suddenly Collars & Co. became one of the hottest clothing brands around. “Now we’re into about 3,000 SKUs. We just sold over a million shirts. And we’re on our fourth warehouse and 50 employees. It’s grown a little bit, but we’re still having fun. We sell everything now from polo shirts to dress shirts to performance blazers and pants. Everything’s very travel friendly. Everything is style meets performance. It’s been a wild ride!”
AEPi has played a role in Justin’s life since he enrolled at NYU. “I was at school (in New York) right after September 11th. I remember the camaraderie we got from the fraternity. It gave the guys and me a way to come together. It felt like we had a family in New York.”
He called on his AEPi network early on in the development of the business and found a fulfillment center and embroidery house to partner with. “AEPi remains important to me. I’m still in touch with a lot of my AEPi guys.”
Collars & Co. continues to grow. “We’re mostly direct-to-consumer but we now have six retail stores and we’re collaborating with others. We’re the official performance dress shirt of the Arrow McLaren Indy Car team and we have some celebrity partnerships with, obviously, Mark Cuban but also Tiki Barber, Greg Olsen, and Jimmy Johnson.”
“We’re just continuing to grow and trying to create a 40 year old brand in four years!”
One of the newest Collars & Co collaborations – and just in time for your Hannukah shopping – is with Alpha Epsilon Pi! Check out the AEPi branded Collars & Co. merchandise here and know that you’re not only wearing great apparel and “repping” AEPi but you’re also supporting an AEPi brother!
#ProudtobeaPi
