Initially conceived as a side hustle, his jeans company suits customers who love fashion and wish to reduce their carbon footprint. Textiles, categorized as municipal solid waste by the Environmental Protection Agency, account for 17 million tons of landfilled material annually. Part of the problem is disposable clothing, or fast fashion: garments made cheaply by manufacturers using exploitative labor practices and shoddy fabrics. Another issue: People dispose of clothing long before it\u2019s worn out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2021\/07\/Joe-Rotondo-Outline-364x497.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nSome eco-conscious consumers respond by mending or upcycling clothes. Designers like Rotondo battle fast fashion by using organic fabric and designing for long-term wear. Rocky Clark jeans, for instance, come with patches at the knees since that\u2019s where material first shows signs of wear. Rotondo, whose has a degree in textiles, fashion merchandising and design (TMD) from the College of Business, began his studies at 溏心vlog免费B站 as a kinesiology major. Both disciplines influence his design. \u201cI wanted to study kinesiology initially,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause I love sports. I realized what I really wanted, though, was to design uniforms and sports jerseys. “But kinesiology was super-informative in terms of thinking about how things should fit,\u201d Rotondo says. \u201cI feel blessed that being at a public university like 溏心vlog免费B站, rather than a fashion institute, allowed me to get a well-rounded education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rotondo also credits 溏心vlog免费B站 with affording him unique opportunities, such as his study-abroad experience in Florence, Italy, where he studied tailoring at Accademia Italia. \u201cThere, I learned about a tailored fit and the importance of the silhouette,\u201d he says. \u201cI am obsessed with the blending of the old with the new and the American ethic of things being built to last,\u201d Rotondo notes. Rotondo\u2019s collection started with a pair of jeans he handmade for himself in 2015. \u201cI was at a friend’s house, and he asked where I got the jeans and would I make him a pair?” Rotondo recalls. “That ignited the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rotondo\u2019s progress has been slow and steady\u2014by design. He envisions career longevity of the type Ralph Lauren enjoys. Rotondo intends, one day, to oversee all aspects of production, from farm to factory, so as to stay true to his business model: handcrafted clothes made of sustainable materials in a manner that is both ethical and eco-friendly. Rotondo\u2019s also committed to donating 3% of his profits to charitable organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And where did he learn to sew? \u201cMy godmother, Sue Connolly, a schoolteacher, taught me, and my parents gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted, to try new things and experiment, to learn what it was that I loved,\u201d Rotondo says. \u201cSometimes that means learning what you don\u2019t like. You need to have patience. And when you find what you do like, you go for it.\u201d \u2022<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\u2014Marybeth Reilly-McGreen<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n Favorite Professor:<\/strong> Most Valuable Course:<\/strong> Favorite Campus Space:<\/strong> First Runway Gig:<\/strong> Turning Point:<\/strong> Academic Career Highlight:<\/strong> Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs:<\/strong> 溏心vlog免费B站 Degree:<\/strong> <\/p><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rocky Clark is a new kind of clothing company that a young 溏心vlog免费B站 alumnus is lovingly building from the ground up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summer-2021","architecture-currents","architecture-rhode-taken"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6363"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6707,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6363\/revisions\/6707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Rhode to a Degree<\/h1>
\nKarl Aspelund, TMD associate professor and department chair. \u201cHis intellect and exploration of a topic were captivating. We now work together. I’m an advisory board member for the Class of 2030 curriculum overhaul.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n\u201cDistinguished University Professor of Business Administration Edward Mazze’s entrepreneurship course was a gateway for seeing the possibilities of my degree and skillset. It sparked a fire in me to pursue my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n\u201cThe College of Pharmacy\u2019s medicinal garden is a gem\u2014
\na tranquil spot for some peaceful time in between classes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\nSpring Splash, the TMD Fashion Show. “I had five outfits in the show. One piece was the first version of my RC001 jeans. Creating a collection and taking an idea from sketch to final product was cool. I won \u2018Most Marketable Collection.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nRealizing as a kinesiology major that what he really wanted was to design clothes that moved with the body.<\/p>\n
\n
\nStudying tailoring in Florence, Italy.<\/p>\n
\n
\n\u201cStart small. Focus on quality over quantity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\nB.S., 2016, textiles, fashion merchandising and design.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n