How BUGGIRL200 turned her viral, ironic ‘Twilight’ T-shirt into a business

Madison Sinclair, 22-year-old owner of BUGGIRL200,(opens in new tab) teach.Really, really, really stupid was ironic twilight shirt(opens in new tab) Robert Pattinson painting designed by Sinclair for her best friend’s birthday in 2020. On top of that, Pattinson’s smoldering is framed by the text “Bite me big boy” and “I love my vampire boyle” in mismatched hilarious font. The back reads, “Edward Cullen’s number one fan.”

Sinclair posted a shirt on TikTok and accidentally launched her brand. Two and a half years later, she’s still alive and well, with a warehouse and her three full-time employees. On TikTok, she posts to her 268,000 followers. On the other hand, buggirl200brand Instagram(opens in new tab) It boasts an audience of over 46,000.

Sinclair is proficient in a particular brand of irreverent internet humor, which draws her into the market of very online youth who are obsessed with celebrities. Her joking design goes from a necklace that reads, “I am an adult director and deserves to live freely in society,” to “I was raised to cook and clean for my husband.” They all feature cool moments that declare the wearer an inside joke and regain fandom.

Her design is so momentous that Gen Z pop star Olivia Rodrigo posted a picture of Iris Apatow in a BUGGIRL200 t-shirt. twilight THE MOVIE IS AMAZING!!!!! IF IT DOESN’T MAKE ME SEXY AND COOL DO NOT TALK TO ME!!!!!(opens in new tab).

I spoke with Sinclair about how she turned viral t-shirts into a viable business, who she thinks her average customer is, and her enduring love for Taylor Swift.

Mashable: How did this start?

I never set out to do this. I never thought this would be my career path.I’m very lucky because it’s hard for me to imagine myself in any other field. twilight We had just seen our first movie together in the summer of 2020, so I made a shirt for her birthday. I wanted it to be so ugly and horrible that you would never wear it outside. I just wanted to make the worst shirt you’ve ever seen. It was the first design sold to

I [initially] I made one for me and one for her. I posted a TikTok I wore. People commented, “Let me buy this.” I said, “Really? Because OK…” and jumped on Depop, started selling, created a website, got a domain, and kept throwing some designs. At first, my jaw dropped every time I sold anything. do you want to buy from me what i made? It’s weird.

how did you make it?

I finished them straight up with custom ink. Then the orders started coming in, but with custom ink there was no bulk discount for 80 purchases of the same design. Originally, I wasn’t trying to make money with these. I was giving them to people at the price that custom ink would charge me. Then I realized I could do this more affordably and actually make money. literally went to Amazon and got a heat press, a heat transfer setup with a printer, and everything else. worked well. The first run was pretty rough, but I’m glad I did it and started investigating all of this.

WHY BUGGIRL200?

Everyone asks so. BUGGIRL200 was my girlfriend’s TikTok username. I didn’t think this was going to be long term, so I didn’t think ahead.

On your TikTok, you’re promoting your brand, but you’re also a personality. How do you balance that?

I honestly feel like I should post more about my brand, which is totally unbalanced, but I’m just not putting in the effort and I don’t have time to make videos. But I also consider myself lucky to be a real person, to be able to interact with people, and to have a personality that goes beyond just a clothing brand. I have made a lot of friends with people who follow my brand. I make his TikTok more funny and silly. Usually I post normal stuff like I’m talking about. If I’m doing anything branded, it’s because I was forced to step into that gear.

When you started TikTok, it was a big moment for sarcastic tees.

I’m sure there are still terrible clothes out there. But I think that fad is over. Is this sustainable? But at this point, I feel lucky. I am able to incorporate my skills into my work and design, and not the fun creative side of my brain. [just a] A really crazy catchphrase. In the beginning, I wasn’t very proud of the product I was making. I was excited to be able to sell something, but it wasn’t something I wanted on my resume.It was very immature. And I didn’t really know what I was doing. Now you can make what you want. I was able to become a weasel on a path that didn’t require me to keep up with silly, crazy, sarcastic catchphrases. I could add them if I wanted to, but people are really supportive of making things that fit my creative style.

Do you think there is an average customer or type of person who would be attracted to your designs?

It’s mind-boggling how many different genres of people are involved in my work. I’m like, “How are you in my audience?” I love it. i’m so happy.

Mostly young Harry Styles fans between the ages of 16 and 25 are passionate about pop culture and online, and that’s not a bad thing. My client’s best explanation is that they know for sure what celebrity inside jokes are, perhaps more than I do. Are you going to?” comment. I had no idea there was such a thing in the world of celebrities, but thanks for letting me know. I think I’m a young lady that I can be friends with. That’s my genre.

Your design often requires online knowledge and a sense of humor. have you been online for a long time?

I definitely grew up in the social media age. He got his first iPhone when he was 14. From that moment on, I fell in love with social media. No doubt my brain has rotted quite a bit, but it’s been rewarding to know what’s going on.

A lot of your designs are Swiftie/Directioner. Are you a longtime fan of theirs? twilight?

That sort of thing is like Koa’s childhood. The roots are really deep. For a while, like One Direction, taking the bullied type of person you liked in high school and going the opposite direction and saying, “Fuck, I love One Direction.” it was fun. I’m a grown woman and I’m proud to wear a shirt.

When you started in 2020, there was a fandom explosion and a movement to repurpose uncool as cool. Why do you think that happened?

Perhaps enough people have gotten to the point where they realize, “Wait, we’re so busy with the idea of ​​being cool that we’re missing out on a lot of the fun.” If you try every day to be the coolest person in the room, you will become A: the most boring person and a very stagnant person. You have to be really sick to do it. You have to go through life, embarrassed.

Are all the celebrities in your design people you ride with?

Most of them are people I ride with. The only person I argue with at Thanksgiving dinner is Taylor Swift. Me and all my friends say it’s okay if you don’t like Taylor Swift. That’s good. it is valid. But if you jump on the Taylor Swift hate train out loud it’s probably misogynistic. That’s what it means. I go into it.

But other than that, celebrities literally aren’t real. Everything we see about these people is PR and marketing. But in real life, I wouldn’t bet anything on these people. I’m sure a lot of them are really, really great, but we don’t really know them.

What are the most requested design themes?

More recently, Pedro Pascal. We get a lot of requests based on who is the hottest right now. Nathan Fielder also gets comments every day to this day, ‘Please release more Nathan’.

Is every design rooted in a commitment to bits?

Honest to God, yes. This is the longest possible bit I’ve committed so far. Every day I wake up and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe this is my life. And I am very happy with it! I love it! But it’s really interesting and never really made me want to do it.

Everything I do with my brand is real, but the way I do a lot within my brand because that’s the brand. It’s fun. I really like doing really silly, weird marketing — you can turn difficult, weird business stuff like marketing into something that isn’t even compelling advertising.

Do you have a favorite design of all time?

I really love my unique creations. They are my favorites because I spend a lot of time making them and they are all unique. I recently did some Harry Styles for his birthday on February 1st. It was a lot of fun. It’s probably my favourite.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.