On the front of DaVILLE Outfitters’ Web site flashes “Where YOU from?” in a bold retro font. MSU alumnus Hossein Razzaghi explained his newly launched clothing company’s motto.
“I grew up in Starkville, and my group of friends always called it DaVille,” he said, “but that’s only what it is to me. It represents where anyone is from.”
Razzaghi didn’t look like he sold clothes for a living. Clothed in khaki shorts, a solid colored shirt, a silver watch and Birkenstock shoes, he looked like the norm on Mississippi’s college campuses.
“I’ve hired 16 designers for guys and girls each,” he said. “This is because diversity is my main goal.”
“I don’t want to be that clothing company that you either shop all the time from or not much at all,” he said. “I want to sell clothes to people with a hippie, urban, preppy, indie…every [type of] style.”
Razzaghi said he wanted to reach many people on every scale. The more he talked, the more excited he became.
“We as Americans live in a time when diversity is prevalent and acceptance is of utmost importance,” he said. “All of my friends in Starkville are diverse; it should be like that everywhere. There are so many types of people that we have to be able to get along with those who think differently,” he said.
Relating the peaceful ideal to his apparel, he said, “I’m not only selling a good product, I’m selling a concept.”
In the “About DaVILLE” section of his Web site, www.devilleoutfitters.com, sits the headline, “Where your style influences our style, not the other way around.”
Razzaghi explained the relevance of the headline with a question.
“Who wants to shop at a place where everyone you find there looks and acts the same way?” asked Razzaghi.
His site also sponsors an up-and-coming musician or band every three weeks by playing their songs in the site’s interface.
Razzaghi received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and later received a master’s degree in business administration. He conceived the idea for the clothing company while he was in graduate school, and since then he has materialized it into a company that will have its line distributed by other companies.
“This isn’t just an 8 to 5 job.” he said. “I’m constantly thinking about it, even right now. I think about it while I’m asleep, when I wake up and while I’m with my girlfriend, which sort of gets me into trouble.”
Right now the company is only selling T-shirts with the DaVILLE logo printed in different designs. Since the clothing line’s July 1 launch, Razzaghi has planned to increase the types of clothing to full-scale abundance.
Razzaghi said that he loves this project so much that he just can’t stop trying to improve it, either by thinking up new things or learning from other clothing companies.
“I’ll be walking in front of someone and pull the tag up on their shirt to see what it’s made out of,” he said.
“He’s competitive like that,” said local friend Casey Pratt, whom he grew up with. “He’s always been ambitious and original.”
“Original” seems to be the idea behind DaVILLE. T-shirts are the trend in retail companies, and the urban look is gaining more popularity. Razzaghi has a heap of competition as a hurdle, but he seems motivated by that hurdle.