This Huntersville Native Designer Got The Nod From Vogue – Charlotte Magazine

As a fashion major at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Timothy Underwood hoped to make a name for himself someday in the fashion industry. But the Huntersville native never imagined his senior collection would catch the attention of Vogue magazine. 

SCAD’s annual fashion show, held last May in the courtyard of the SCAD Museum of Art, included collections from seniors and graduate students that a jury of designers, stylists, and brand ambassadors had selected. About a week before the event, Underwood learned the Ready-to-Wear Fashion Show would be featured on Vogue Runway, the magazine’s digital platform, which showcases photos, videos, and recaps from the world’s top runway shows. 

“Nothing could prepare me to see my name and my looks there,” Underwood says. “I must have screenshotted that on my phone, like, 10 times. Not a lot of people get to experience that, so that was really special.”

Underwood had spent a year creating his senior collection, which was inspired by his love of fishing in Maine. “Ever since high school, my dad brought us there in the summer, and I fell in love with it,” he says. “I always loved the water, and seeing the lobstermen was the coolest thing ever. They’re very traditional people, like Maine’s version of the blue-collar job.” 

To create the collection, aptly named “Sealegs,” Underwood reached out to the lobstermen he’d developed relationships with to learn more about the unique textiles they wear. “They’d give me their old jackets and bibs,” he says. “My whole collection was based on the workwear aspect of that, like rubber and stripes.”

Underwood, 23, says his love of fashion began in high school. “I hit that point where you want to redefine yourself and figure out who you are, and my whole wardrobe changed with that personality shift,” he says. “I went from a skater kid to thrift stores and let my imagination run wild.” He began to experiment with sewing patches to old pairs of pants and upcycling vintage garments. “I started with hand-sewing, then got a sewing machine for my 16th birthday. My dad was surprised I asked for that; it’s not exactly the typical gift. Ever since then, I knew I had something.” 

Underwood knew he didn’t want to attend a traditional college, so his mother suggested he tour SCAD. He loved the school and enrolled in the fall of 2019. But by March, COVID forced him to return to Huntersville and complete his freshman year from home. 

It left him plenty of time to purge his closets, so he started reselling his vintage clothing online. He’d alter pieces and refine them with custom patches and strips of flannel. His side hustle took off and inspired him to launch Despise Gossip, his vintage resale shop. Soon, he brought his older brother, Jackson, on board to handle the finances. 

In August, he launched a new brand, “Sealegs,” as an extension of his senior collection.

When lockdown ended, Underwood finished his degree at SCAD’s Atlanta campus. He balanced school with his growing business and hosted pop-ups in Atlanta and Charlotte. Today, Despise Gossip sells unisex pieces made from garments from the 1960s through the ’90s, and the brand has more than 40,000 Instagram followers.

Underwood has run Despise Gossip out of his home in Atlanta since he graduated in June; when his lease ends early next year, he’ll move back to Huntersville. If he keeps this momentum, though, he may expand. “Last month, I sewed 15 or 20 jackets and 15 pairs of denim,” he says. “I’m definitely getting my 10,000 hours behind the sewing machine. I just wish there were two or three of me to do all this stuff.”

In August, he launched a new brand, Sealegs, an extension of his senior collection. He was invited to show it at Charlotte Fashion Week in September and plans to run Sealegs alongside Despise Gossip out of his home studio in Huntersville. “It’s really cool to be able to do this where I’m from,” he says. “People think of Charlotte as a corporate banking town, so I think it’s cool to do something creative here.”