Pilar O'Connor, a young designer based in New York City, recently launched the first collection for her new brand Sucka Free Certified. You can see the full collection here.

Hey Pilar, how's it going? Tell us a little bit about yourself:

It's going good! I'm originally from San Francisco but studied Graphic Design & Computer Science at Boston University. I loved the creative community there and the program was really open ended and concept focused as opposed to super technical. I was definitely able to define the types of styles, mediums and topics that I wanted to explore.

What types of projects did you work on there?

A lot of my school projects revolved around sports and social justice. I did a visual project inspired by Colin Kapernick my junior fall, and when it came to do my thesis I created a project using women's soccer jerseys to highlight inequality (Game Inspires Game). I definitely feel like what I'm working on now is a natural extension of those.

So what are you trying to do now with Suck Free Certified?

I had been wanting to create a wearable product for the last couple years, but I never had an idea that really stuck until last January when I came up with Sucka Free. I knew that I wanted to create pieces that had a very tactical and layered style, but make it all about repping city pride.

Growing up in the Bay Area obviously I was a huge Warriors fan and I still wear their merch all the time... I have like 50 different pieces. I feel lucky because we have pretty cool merch, but a lot of teams don't because "sports-thetics" are so slick and minimalist these days.

I love jersey design but I definitely miss the loud, bold and colorful identities that were around in the 90s. A lot of my designs are a tribute to that style & those identities of the teams.

How does sustainability play into the identity of the brand?

I knew that I didn't want to buy and make new sweatshirts. I wanted to upcycle old ones, and the sustainability idea is a big part of it. I either buy them on depop or a vintage/thrift store.

One of the hardest parts is that I try to match the source brand of the sweatshirt with the brand that the athlete would actually wear. It's not always possible because I have to prioritize the quality of the sweatshirt.

I love that level of detail. You're inspiring city pride through design.

And also creating my ideal dream merch for every team, even if it's not my team. The first couple that I did for pre-release were dedicated to the winners of the NBA Finals, the WNBA Finals, and the World Series.

Everyone from my family is a Giants fan so obviously LA is a huge rival, they were looking at me like, "why do you have all these Dodgers sweatshirts?" Meanwhile I'm just trying to be an unbiased business owner haha.

Imagine trying to ignore the LA demographic as a designer.

Right? But I'm very intentional with the athlete that I put on each piece. I try to choose someone who really represents the city or team. Every team has that irreverent big personality that people identify with.

Did you have a lot of experience sewing and working with fabric before this or is that something you've had to learn?

I grew up sewing, I actually had weekly lessons with my cousin when I was little. But throughout high school and college I really didn't at all, until the summer after I graduated. I had an internship with Nike and they had this incredible creator's studio that we had access to. For part of my final project I made this bag and that was the first time I really got back into it. Honestly that was when this idea really came about.

Did COVID play a part in launching the brand?

Yeah for sure, because I originally had the idea that summer after I graduated, and then that January I put together a concept deck and that was the first time I really put time into it.

It wasn't until April during quarantine that I went back home to San Francisco (I live in Brooklyn right now). When I was home I showed that same deck to my younger sister and she thought it was so cool, she gassed me up and that's when we put together the first piece. If I never came home to see my sister who knows how far I would've gotten. COVID definitely played a role in that.

Are you doing any custom orders or just working on this first release?

I've made a couple that I've been selling on the side but haven't made them my priority. Depending on how this first collection does, maybe I'll change the model to just do customs but for now I'm just gonna see what the demand is.

So what's next?

For now it's just my side hustle, I don't have any expectations for it because I feel like that would ruin the fun, but I would love if it picked up steam. Just today I got my first order from someone who wasn't a friend of a friend, this girl from France just randomly found my instagram.

One of my long term goals if I can create enough and sell enough, is to donate to nonprofits that support extracurriculars for kids in underfunded communities in San Francisco & Brooklyn, ideally sports or design because those are my two passions. It would be so cool if I could generate enough revenue to help others.

That's an incredible cause, & thanks so much for sitting down to talk.

Of course, Thank you!