The Hip Wears of TAGD | TAGD的时尚服饰
Written by (作者): Vincent R. Vinci 魏文深
Photos by (图片来源): TAGD
If there’s one thing that makes a university unique, it’s the cool sweaters, t-shirts, hats and other stuff covered with their logo and name in campus bookstores and shops around the school. While options for university gear don’t generally abound in China, we’ve come across some unique examples in our travels. The most unique is coming right out of Ningbo University, where Josh Tsou and Mark Mordiac, the co-owners of TAGD, are cranking out some unique NBU gear for students and citizens alike.
Josh, originally from Taiwan and who grew up in Canada, and Mark, from South Africa, have both been students at NBU for three years, with Josh studying Business Administration and Mark having recently switched to an Art major. The two connected instantly, both had ex-military fathers, absent mothers, both grew up in a third culture, plus they were both massive hip-hop fans who wanted to change the world.
The two had been thinking of the concept of TAGD for some time, seeing what Josh calls a culture of complacency among their fellow students from the university, but it would only be after Josh left NBU that the initiative would happen. “At the summer of 2013… I was failing in school, in relationships and at work. Thus I went back to Taiwan to start my annual compulsory military service, hoping, willing myself to change,” says Josh.
Following Josh’s return from Taiwan in 2015, he met Mark again and the two decided it was time to start something good. The community needed something that they could identify as their own. The best way to bring people together, Josh and Mark found, was through clothing. “We believe apparel is very closely related to identity. If we can make you believe that you will become great, you will become great! “ Thus TAGD was started, a symbol not only of NBU but for the students and youth of Ningbo, something they could rally behind.
To the owners, TAGD is a game, its name deriving from the game of tag. “It’s a game of influence, we are the original it, we influence, we encounter, we impact. We seek to transform people into its. We don’t agree with the values of pop culture, so we’re changing it, one it at a time.” This philosophy has carried over well into their designs. Their debut was strong, a black baseball cap with the symbol of the university: the triangular glass Nantian Gate that marks the central part of the NBU campus, lined steps acting as an entrance to the university, to Ningbo.
Designs following were nothing short of unique, with caps with NBU in large letters across the front and sweaters and shirts featuring the Nantian Gate with the words “I am NBU” written vertically across the back. Another feature is personalization. Students can add their names to the shirts and sweaters, adding a deeper meaning to the words on the back, an announcement to all of pride for their school.
With their drive to success, there has been a variety of issues, but Josh tells me they try to keep positive. Starting TAGD was the hardest part, and they have both realized in the 7 months the company has been working that their lifestyle has changed drastically. “Ningbo is a great place to rest and recharge,” Josh says. “As young entrepreneurs, this definitely has had a reverse effect on us.” The team has had to stay competitive, as there are many other small clothing brands that have popped up in the city offering a similar uniquely Ningbo theme in their wears.
Even though they are best friends, Josh and Mark both soon realized it didn’t always translate well into the workplace. Thanks to different artistic and aesthetic tastes and different forms of management, both fought often. Instead of quitting though, they used their diversity to make the company stronger, with Mark managing suppliers, customer service, sales and visual creation, while Josh managed marketing strategy, creative directing, accounting and investor relations.
Josh and Mark won’t let the hard times stop them. With an awesome brand and heart, they’re going strong, seeing their venture at NBU as a testing ground for future endeavors, hoping to expand locally, nationally and maybe even internationally. Through and through their mindset is tough with Josh telling me “if we do fail, we’ll pick ourselves up and start again. We’re millennials, man, we’re tough as nails.”
如果说有什么能让一个大学显得独一无二的话，那就是校园书店里到处摆放的印有学校徽章和名字的运动衫、T恤衫、帽子和其他物品了。中国大学的服饰不尽相同，在旅途中我们见到过不少特别的设计。而最独特的还是要属TAGD的共同所有人乔希和马克为学生和市民推出的宁波大学系列服饰。
来自台湾的乔希和来自加拿大的马克都已经在宁大读了三年书，乔希读的是工商管理专业，而马克最近刚转到了艺术专业。两个人有着相似的背景：父亲是退役军人，母亲缺席生活，在“第三文化”下长大，又都是梦想改变世界的嘻哈迷，所以一拍即合。在看到同校同学中安于现状、自我满足的氛围之后，两人就有了创建TAGD的想法，但并没有马上付诸实践。“2013年夏天并不是个好时机，我的学习、恋爱、工作全都不顺。因此我回到台湾服义务兵役，希望自己有所改变。”乔希告诉我。
2015年，乔希服完兵役回来，两人再次见面，就决定要行动起来。校园里要有能够得到学生认同的东西。而乔希和马克所能想到的可以把大家团结起来的最好方法就是服装。“我们相信服饰和身份认同紧密相关。如果我们能让你相信你很了不起，你就会变得很了不起！”就这样TAGD成立了，不仅为宁大，也为宁波所有的学生和年轻人提供了一个可以团结在一起的象征物。
对于创建者来说，TAGD是个游戏，它的名字就是由标签游戏衍生而来的。“这是一个有影响力的游戏，我们是最初的追逐者，我们主导、我们触碰、我们产生影响。我们试图把别人转变为追逐者。我们不认同流行文化的价值，所以我们想改变，一次一个人。”这种理念贯穿于他们的设计之中。他们的首款产品很有冲击力，黑色的棒球帽上印有学校的标志性建筑南天门，那一级级台阶不仅通往宁大内部，也通往宁波这座城市的文化内核。
后续推出的产品也不乏特色，前面印着大写字母NBU的帽子，背后印有南天门和“我是宁大人”的运动衫和T恤衫。另一个亮点就是个性化。学生可以在运动衫和T恤衫上加上自己的名字，在背后写上含有深意的话，向全世界宣告对自己学校的自豪。
在通往成功的路上，他们遇到过各种各样的难题，但是乔希告诉我他们一直努力保持积极的态度。创建TAGD是最困难的部分，公司运营七个月以来，他们两个都意识到自己的生活方式发生了显著变化。“宁波是一个非常适合休闲的城市”乔希说，“作为年轻的创业者，这当然会对我们产生反作用。”团队得保持竞争力，因为这个城市还涌现着许多小的服装品牌，同样提供以宁波为主题的特色服饰。但这并不能阻止他们前进。
他们意识到的另一件事情是，尽管俩人是好朋友，在工作上也会时有分歧。他们经常由于艺术和审美品位上的差异以及不同的管理理念发生争吵。但两个人没有一拍两散，而是决定求同存异，各自发挥所长。马克负责供应商管理、客户服务、销售和视觉创造；乔希掌管营销策略、创意指导、会计和投资者关系，共同愿景代替了各自为政。
乔希和马克不会让困难把他们打倒。出色的品牌和令人敬畏的心灵会让他们变得更加强大。他们将这场在宁大的冒险视为未来事业的试验田，希望能将它在本土、全国，甚至是世界范围内推广开来。他们拥有不屈不折的心态，乔希告诉我：“如果我们失败了，也会振作起来，从头再来。我们是千禧一代，我们是男子汉，我们像钢铁般坚强。”
Scan the QR codes to check out TAGD’s products and WeChat shop.
扫描二维码进入TAGD 微商城浏览产品。
