At the tail end of 2025, Ruby Garcia, a Junior at East, launched her very own small business, Garcia Garments. She offers custom-made patchwork sweatshirts, which can be decorated with your favorite sports team, your future college or any other custom design.

When asked what inspired her to launch her business, Garcia responded, “I would sew custom sweatshirts for my friends as graduation gifts, and so many told me that I should sell them.” When repping Garcia’s custom sweatshirts at their schools, her college friends reported that they received many compliments from their classmates. “My friend at Penn State has told me that every time she wears hers, at least one person asks her where it’s from.” Garcia’s Garments have been in high demand since long before the business launched.

Garcia added that she has had seven orders since she launched her platform on Instagram, making her quite busy. “It’s been nice getting so much support and business,” she remarks. 

All of the sweatshirt designs are completely cut and hand-sewn by Garcia, with a distinct vintage and authentic look. It typically takes Garcia a few weeks to handmake and design each sweatshirt, with lots of hard work and care put into each hand-stitch. When asked which of her creations was her favorite, Garcia said that “my favorite one is probably the white Bears hoodie I made because the logo was completely drawn, cut and sewn by me.” To check out this design and the rest of her handcrafted creations, follow Garcia Garments on Instagram. And if you want to rep your own sports team or school, send them a DM or reach out to Ruby directly to purchase your very own custom patchwork sweatshirt.