Combining urban street wear with a foodie’s lover ambition..was the start and idea for Bain Marie Clothing Co. With the spruce minds of Nadia Marrero-Silva, Jack Townsend, and Xavier Sales, all Maryville College students, the start of a new idea was born.
Toward the end of Spring semester 2016, Townsend wished to create a brand he would be proud of and collaborating with Marrero-Silva, they both sketched ideas until the Bain Marie’s iconic pig’s head logo was born. And always being a lover of cooking, Townsend wanted to have the name be a play on words poking fun at the usual seriousness of cooking terminology. “I heard the word Bain Marie, which simply is the French word for double boiler, and I liked and ran with it.” But it was not an overnight success by any means as they later explain. “It was a trial and error process since the beginning,” Sales pointed out.
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Never giving up on the idea, however, he continued to say, “It seemed so far-fetched to draw, make, print, and sell a design people will dig... and they did it!” Sales later recognized Marrero-Silva and Townsend as his inspiration. Marrero-Silva explained hers was simply looking at ‘psychology Start-Up’ on Reddit and Townsend based his mainly on Brian Reed, a recent MC graduate who is very well known for his art as the “The Pride Artist,” but also a book he keeps close, The Hustle Economy: Transforming Your Creativity Into A Career.
The three hold a psychology page as well as an Instagram page where they sell their merchandise, using Sales as their main model. Although the brand has come a long from sketches in a notebook, this is only just the beginning for them. “I want to create a brand and make our own community, rather than just a name for ourselves.” Townsend explains. All three agree they wish to appeal to larger diverse community and build the brand to more than just merchandise, but to make it a movement. Marrero-Silva explains how she wants it to more than just a brand, but an opportunity. “I want to have a physical place. To own a business and have an entrepreneurship with it.”
Although all agree the brand has a long way to go, all are confident in its future. I asked them two last questions before closing our discussion. One being is if you could offer any advice to anybody having an idea but not sure where to start or simply scared to start, what would it be? And second, if anybody could wear your shirt (dead or alive) who it be and why?
Townsend: “Be ready for anything. Be ready for change and new ideas...and if anybody could wear the brand..it would be Action Bronson definitely. Guys like him and Matty Matheson are the whole reason I got into ideas like this.”
Sales: “If you have an idea and you’re not comfortable with it just yet, find people who will be. Who will be constructive and honest with you to refine your idea, but also who will support it. Lastly, stick up for your idea, don’t let others change it if you truly believe in it. And if anybody could wear it...it would be Charles Kinsey. He recently shot by Florida police while trying to help his patient calm down. I want the brand to mean something more than just clothing and I think putting it on someone like him will definitely do that.”
Marrero-Silva: “Just start. That’s all there is to it. And I’m going to keep it simple and say my mom. The day I see my mom wearing a Bain Marie shirt, I’ll know I have made it.”
All three continue to be a Maryville College students and plan to grow exponentially in the brand in the months and years to come. If curious about their label or simply want a shirt of your own,
Follow them on Instagram : @ eBay
Special thanks to :
Nadia Marrero-Silva
Junior, Design major with a minor in Psychology
Xavier Sales
Senior, Sociology major
Jack Townsend
Senior, History major with a minor in Art
