Local streetwear retailer Arch Apparel has helped St. Louisans thrive during the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to its creative director Kirsten Warman Coonen, ’16.
Local streetwear retailer Arch Apparel has helped St. Louisans thrive during the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to its creative director Kirsten Warman Coonen, ’16.
It’s difficult to go anywhere in St. Louis without seeing hats, T-shirts or stickers made by Arch Apparel. The local streetwear retailer is known for its signature City Circle design — a thin circle with the block letters “STL” — as well as their Play Gloria design in honor of the Blues’ winning the Stanley Cup. The retailer also has collaborations with hometown brands like Imo’s Pizza and Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.
Arch Apparel’s creative director Kirsten Warman Coonen, ’16, believes the company’s success is not just a reflection of their eye-catching designs and brand collaborations; it’s because their employees call St. Louis home. “We have our finger on the pulse of what’s happening in our city,” she said. “We’re able to respond quickly because we’re experiencing the same things our customers are experiencing.”
In March, as the number of known coronavirus cases increased in the St. Louis area, the Arch Apparel team knew they needed to do something to help. “People started saying it was likely schools would close, and we realized that would adversely affect children in our community, especially those who depend on going to school in order to receive meals,” she said. Coonen and the Arch Apparel team decided to donate all their profits from one day of sales to the St. Louis Area Foodbank and Operation Food Search to help provide food and resources to fellow St. Louisans in need. In just one day, they raised nearly $16,000.
Their support of the St. Louis community during the pandemic didn’t stop there. In early April, due to a growing need for face coverings, Arch Apparel began creating masks made from T-shirt fabric. Profits from all face covering sales were donated to local groups providing meals to St. Louis health care workers.
Arch Apparel also collaborated with Bud Select by donating all sales from their collaborative T-shirt design to the Gateway Resilience Fund, which supports those in the service industry who are without work due to the pandemic. Combined, these two initiatives raised an additional $24,000 for St. Louis-area nonprofits.
Coonen and the rest of the team feel it’s their responsibility to do what’s best for their city. “We show up for St. Louis, and they show up for us,” Coonen said. “I’ve gained a new sense of gratitude for my job, this company and the St. Louis community during this difficult time.” Though it feels like a natural fit to her now, Coonen didn’t originally imagine herself working for a small business.
“I’ve always thrived in fast-paced environments and am good at making decisions under pressure,” she said. She was drawn to the chaos and creativity that go into making a magazine and began considering a career in publication design. “I knew I didn’t want to be a writer, so I tried to think of what else I could do in a creative environment,” Coonen said. “In high school I had designed T-shirts for my cheer squad, so I thought I could try out graphic design.”
Halfway through her college career at another school, Coonen heard about Maryville’s graphic design program. She was impressed by the designers it produced and how well-connected the faculty were with creative professionals in the area, so she transferred to Maryville for her final two years of school.
One of her internships was with St. Louis Magazine, which led to her first full-time job after college. She was doing exactly what she’d hoped to do: working in publication design. However, one of her magazine projects ended up changing her career path altogether.
Assigned to create a holiday gift guide featuring local products, Coonen stumbled across a new company called Arch Apparel. At the time, the company was only making a few items and was run by a single employee, founder Aaron Park. She reached out to Park and asked if she could feature his beanies in the gift guide. “After that, we just kind of clicked,” Coonen said. “We stayed in touch and he reached out to ask if I could help with some design work.”
By the end of 2017, she was ready for a career change: she wanted to work for Arch Apparel. “In the time I had known Park, I had seen Arch Apparel go from printing one T-shirt at a time, to releasing a full Blues collection,” she said. When the hockey collection released, there were so many orders, it took days to fulfill them. “I saw the success of that project and knew this wasn’t going to stop any time soon.”
Changing careers required a leap of faith and a little persuasion. Coonen would be leaving a secure job and joining a one-man small business — and Park wasn’t immediately convinced he should hire her. But by then, Coonen had proven she was invested in the brand and could help take it to the next level. “What separates me from other graphic designers is that I learned a lot about the components behind design at Maryville, like how to define your audience and create packaging that helps you sell,” she said.
The abrupt cancellation of the 2018 LouFest two days before its scheduled start also helped put Arch Apparel on the map. No LouFest meant no clear way for Arch Apparel to move the inventory it had stockpiled for the event. The company quickly organized a party they named Arch Fest as a replacement and invited other LouFest vendors to set up and sell their products. Arch Apparel, and many others, were able to sell nearly all of their merchandise.
Today, Arch Apparel has 12 full-time employees and a large team of part-time staff and interns. Once making just T-shirts and hats, the company now sells more than 400 products and recently celebrated its 100,000th order. Last year, the company moved from a small warehouse to a large brick-and-mortar space in Brentwood, Missouri, with plans to open additional retail locations in the St. Louis area.
Coonen’s ability to follow her instinct and a genuine desire to help others has shaped both her career and the success of Arch Apparel. “I like to take chances,” she said. “When I feel like something is going to be a good thing, I go for it. If it doesn’t work out, there’s no better way to improve than learning from my mistakes.” The city of St. Louis is a better place because of her determination and spirit.