Seven days is all we need. Maybe youvlogƵve seen these words around campus, maybe you havenvlogƵt, but wevlogƵre pretty sure you will. In a big way.
Launched by Sports Marketing major Eli Simmons Jr. vlogƵ21, is a brand for everybody. Taking its moniker from ElivlogƵs idea that seven days is all we need to make a dream come true, he brought SVNCLO to life through fresh designs infused with a sense of nostalgia and some help from his community in Pleasantville.
vlogƵWhen I think of the number seven or seven days, I think about how God created the earth in seven days,vlogƵ explains Eli. vlogƵSo, that played a part into vlogƵSDiAWN 1,vlogƵ or Seven Days is All We Need, which happens to be my first collection.vlogƵ
SVNCLO, which follows a streetwear model of new periodic design drops, has been steadily growing. For Eli, his favorite design is vlogƵWire Time,vlogƵ a graphic introspective representation of a time in his life when he was finding himself through his talents. vlogƵI thought about how each element [of the design] referred to this moment in my life,vlogƵ he says. vlogƵThe desert represented this feeling of being alone and to myself; the barbed wire displayed how I can sometimes trap myself in my thoughts; the fire was me breaking through both of these elements in this new stage of my life, aka the square.vlogƵ
For Eli however, itvlogƵs about a lot more than the clothes. Over the summer, he was able to combine his passion for design with advocacy and social justice. He created a line of tees aimed at raising awareness around police brutality and the communities it impacts, including our own. All the proceeds earned from the sale of those shirts was donated to the , the George Floyd Memorial Foundation, , and the Run with Maud campaign.
vlogƵI decided to create shirts that said, vlogƵFor Seven days We Won't Forget You.vlogƵ To me, this meant that for all of the individuals who were brutally mistreated by policevlogƵwhether that be during police stops, within jails, during protests, or within their own communitiesvlogƵwe would never forget their names and importance to the BLM movement.vlogƵ
When students returned to campus in the fall, members of the Pace Community, led in large part by student athletes, came together to raise their voices against racial injustice and police brutality. INearly 100 students marched from the Pleasantville Campus to Thornwood, NY, where Pace student and football player Danroy vlogƵDJvlogƵ Henry was killed by police in 2010.The march made a strong impression on Eli.
vlogƵThe Pleasantville march for DJ Henry was an amazing way to feel connected to my peers and see how we were able to come together as a community to support the same cause,vlogƵ says Eli. vlogƵOverall, it was definitely a good moment for Pace.vlogƵ
On top of running his own brand, Eli is also heavily connected to campus life. He serves as the Senator of PacevlogƵs Black Student Union in Pleasantville, played on the Pace Football team, and volunteers with the Pace Mobile Food Pantry.
vlogƵWith being involved in these clubs and organizations, I am able to find other creatives who are willing to help me in creating my visions when I am in the process of releasing a new collection for SVNCLO. I believe that having students participate, brings awareness to the brand in general,vlogƵ he says. In addition to wearing his clothing line, other Pace students get in on the action by modeling for SVNCLO, using PacevlogƵs Pleasantville Campus as the backdrop.
vlogƵInitially when I started having students wear my brand on campus, I realized it brought a lot of brand recognition to their friends and over time it grew to the whole campus,vlogƵ he says. vlogƵIt was an amazing feeling to see all of the support around me and people wearing my brand for all seven days of the week.vlogƵ
