The 98th Academy Awards are less than one week away, and while not all the nominees will walk away with an Oscar, some of them are guaranteed apparel from a Northern Virginia-based company.
Included in this year’s swag-bags given to the nominees will be various clothing items from the Northern Virginia apparel brand Bored Rebel.
CEO and founder Stacy Flax said Bored Rebel is known for its signature-style graphic T-shirts with a vertical saying down the middle. She came up with the idea five years ago when she realized her husband didn’t have any “fun” undershirts to wear below dress shirts.
“I ended up creating this vertical saying down the middle, so the thick part of the fabric by the buttons covers it,” Flax said. “It’s the first graphic T-shirt that can be worn under a dress shirt without showing through.”
Its making bags for 25 of the nominees this year, each of which will get two signature T-shirts sporting various sayings, a sweatshirt and a cashmere beanie. Flax said the T-shirts are customized to each nominee based on size and personality.
“Leonardo DiCaprio got ‘My Dog Thinks I’m Awesome.’ You know, when I can find out that they’re a dog lover, that’s something I think that they’ll love,” Flax said.
“Kate Hudson and Emma Stone got one of our really popular ones that say ‘Champagne Will Fix It,’ so that seemed like an easy win for them.”
Also included in each bag will be what Flax refers to as a “cheekier” option.
It’s a T-shirt with the saying “ICE in Cocktails, Not in Streets,” a reference to the recent anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement movement.
This is Bored Rebel’s fourth year getting a spot in the swag-bags. Flax recalls when she learned about the opportunity to get her apparel in what she calls “arguably the most famous gift bag in the world.”
She said she reached out to the firm in charge of organizing the gift bags — Distinctive Assets — to get an application. After putting together her best pitch, Flax said she got word they were in.
“This feels really special this year, because I would never have guessed that we would have been in it for four years in a row,” Flax said.
As for the ultimate goal, that would be seeing one of the celebrities photographed in her apparel.
“I mean, that would be a lottery ticket for sure,” Flax said.
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