We're Building More Than Cars: The Future of The ROY Garage Apparel

If you've been following The ROY Garage for a while, you've probably noticed that we've started putting a little more thought into our apparel.

I've always wanted to create clothing for The ROY Garage, but I've never wanted it to just be merch.

I don't want to slap our logo on a shirt, put it on the website, and call it good.

I want to build a clothing line that I'd actually want to wear myself.

Something that looks good in the garage, at a car show, grabbing a coffee, working on a project, or just hanging out around the house.

And honestly, I think we're finally starting to figure out what direction we want to take it.

We're Building More Than Merchandise

There's a difference between selling merchandise and building a brand.

Merchandise says:

"I like this YouTube channel."

A brand says:

"I connect with what this represents."

That's what I want The ROY Garage clothing to become.

I want someone to see one of our shirts and think, "That's a cool shirt."

They don't necessarily have to know who we are.

Then maybe they notice the little ROY Garage logo and realize there's a whole story behind it.

That's the goal.

We're trying to create clothing that can stand on its own while still representing what The ROY Garage is all about.

Dream. Build. Drive.

One of the designs we've been working on lately is built around three simple words:

DREAM. BUILD. DRIVE.

I think those three words describe a lot of what we're doing.

Dream about what you want your life to look like.

Build it one piece at a time.

Drive it. Enjoy it. Live it.

And then dream again.

That's not just about cars.

It's about building a garage.

Building a business.

Building a family.

Building financial freedom.

Building your skills.

Building yourself.

That's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

The more I build things, the more I realize that the actual thing we're building isn't always the most important part.

The Dodgeball isn't just an old truck we're putting together.

The Meano Camino isn't just an El Camino project.

The garage isn't just a building.

They're all opportunities to learn something, solve problems, make mistakes, and prove to ourselves that we can figure things out.

That's the feeling I want our clothing to represent.

I Want These to Feel Like Your Favorite Garage Shirts

We're also paying more attention to the actual clothing we're putting the designs on.

We've started using Comfort Colors because I really like the feel and the washed, broken-in look of their shirts.

I don't want these to feel like something you wear once because you support a YouTube channel.

I want them to feel like the shirt that somehow becomes your favorite shirt.

The one that gets thrown in the truck.

The one you wear while working on a project.

The one you grab on Saturday morning when you're heading out to the garage.

The one that's been washed a hundred times and somehow looks even better than when you bought it.

That's the kind of clothing we're trying to create.

The Style We're Going For

You'll probably notice that a lot of our new designs have a vintage feel.

We're drawn to old racing graphics, classic garage signs, vintage typography, distressed prints and the kind of designs you might have seen hanging in a speed shop 40 or 50 years ago.

We're trying to keep things relatively simple.

A lot of vintage-inspired colors.

Creams.

Burgundy.

Faded blacks.

Earth tones.

Old-school graphics.

And designs that don't feel overly polished.

Because I think there's something cool about things that look like they've already lived a little.

That's also why I don't want every design to have THE ROY GARAGE printed huge across the front.

Sometimes the best branding is subtle.

If the design is good enough, people will want to wear it because they like the design—not just because they like the creator behind it.

We're Going to Experiment

We're still figuring this out.

And that's probably the most exciting part.

Some designs are going to work.

Some probably won't.

We'll make some mistakes.

We'll try different colors.

We'll try different styles.

We'll listen to what you guys like.

And we'll keep improving.

That's really how we've approached everything we've done with The ROY Garage.

I didn't know how to do a lot of the things we've done when we started.

I just started.

Then we figured it out.

The clothing line is going to be the same way.

What's Next?

Right now we're starting with shirts, but I'd love to eventually build this into a whole collection of things that fit the lifestyle we're building around The ROY Garage.

Hats.

Hoodies.

Coffee mugs.

Stickers.

Garage signs.

Workwear.

Maybe some things I haven't even thought of yet.

I can picture someone wearing a ROY Garage shirt, drinking coffee out of a ROY Garage mug while working on their project car with a ROY Garage sticker on their toolbox.

And I don't want any of those things to feel like advertisements.

I want them to feel like they belong in their life.

That's a big difference.

We're Building This With You

One of the coolest parts about The ROY Garage has been watching this thing grow from something I was doing in my garage into a community of people who are also building things.

And that's ultimately who I'm making these clothes for.

The people who are building a project that isn't finished yet.

The person who just bought their first project car.

The person who's learning how to weld.

The person who's building their first garage.

The person who's starting a business.

The person who's trying something they've never done before.

The person who's just trying to build a better life one day at a time.

You don't have to be an expert.

Heck, I'm certainly not.

You just have to be willing to start.

Dream. Build. Drive.

That's what I want The ROY Garage apparel to represent.

Dream about something.

Build it one piece at a time.

Drive it. Enjoy it.

Then find the next thing worth building.

We're still a small business figuring this out as we go, but that's part of what makes it fun.

We're not trying to pretend we've got everything figured out.

We're just going to keep building.

And hopefully, you'll keep building right alongside us.

Thanks for being here. Thanks for supporting what we're doing. And thanks for being part of the journey.

Dream. Build. Drive.

— Lee
The ROY Garage

Check out the new ROY Garage apparel

We're just getting started.