03 March 2024 , 15:53
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A teenager who used his last £800 to launch a t-shirt business has now 'made £100k' - after a chance post on Instagram.
Tommy Rawlings's firm Velocita had little initial success. But when an influencer posted a pictured wearing one of his tops his fortunes changed. Tommy, 19, says he sold thousands of t-shirts in one night.
His business has gone from strength to strength since then and now has a turnover of £100k, he claims. Tommy said: "It just went crazy. It happened so fast I could hardly process it. I just saw the money coming in and kept working hard to keep it up. That t-shirt just got really popular. I do them in black and white, normal and oversized, and hoodies now too.
"I wasn't at all into fashion. I was really into cars. I just wore plain unbranded clothes, but I just decided to give it a go." Tommy, who lives with his parents, quit his car job in November 2022. He started a clothing company because he saw a similar business overseas making loads of money.
One of Tommy Rawlings's designs (Tommy Rawlings/SWNS)Tommy designs his garments and has them custom made in a factory, then sells from his website. Instagram influencer @laetitiaastern then posted a picture wearing one of Tommy's tops on May 30. It is a t-shirt with the caption 'need money for Porsche'. Tommy then shared the picture on TikTok - and saw the orders start to flood in.
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Tommy sells the t-shirts for £40 and hoodies for £60. He said: "I've always been into cars. This other guy sells in the US, he just makes crazy money selling really simple car design clothes. I just thought 'I can do that'. I had no bank loan or anything. I just took my last £800 pay check and put it all into starting the business."