St. Thomas first-year Yubi Hassan and his business partner Plamedi Bangila have expanded Gocciolare, their clothing brand that they started in high school, to the college community and beyond.

Gocciolare, which translates to “drip” in Italian, was founded by Bangila and Hassan in 2019. The business started as an idea in high school and, after its creation, grew into a popular brand among their high school peers.

“I came up with this nice design,” Bangila said. “I was like, ‘OK, this kind of looks fire,’ and I asked most of my classmates and people around me and they were like, ‘Yeah, I would wear this.’”

Bangila saw meaning in Gocciolare when he founded it. To him, the brand represents something bigger than the name; it’s a reminder to people to always express themselves in the way that best fits them.

“When you drip, you look nice, you’re glowing, you’re shining,” Bangila said.” “Just be out there and be yourself, don’t let nobody stop your shine.”

Brendon Sackey, a junior at St. Thomas and an ambassador for the brand, says he wears the line to support his friends’ small business.

“I wear it because it looks nice and the clothing is very comfortable,” Sackey said.

Sackey feels empowered when he wears the clothes; he uses some of the pieces, like the hoodies, to gain support for Gocciolare.

“In a way, I kind of take the brand as my own,” Sackey said. “I’ve had a couple people say, ‘I like this hoodie you’re wearing,’ and then I tell them, ‘Oh, yeah, I have a friend who’s making the hoodies,’ and then I tell them to follow the page.”

The pair has come a long way since establishing Gocciolare. They have used the power of social media to market their clothes and build the brand’s platform.

“Originally, we started doing online advertising on our own social media accounts, and most of the people who were buying were some of our closest friends,” Hassan said. “Now, we have both an Instagram account and we have our online store, our main means of distribution.”

The pair attributes the success of their business to their partnership; they understand each other on both a personal and a business level. While they may agree to disagree sometimes, they are always able to find solutions with their brand’s best interest in mind.

“To find a partnership nowadays is not easy; you have to find someone who speaks the same mind as you,” Bangila said.

Hassan expanded on that idea, saying the partnership’s decisions are made with a business mindset.

“Having the mindset of everything we do is for the common good of our business, so every decision we have to make is not a personal decision, so no hard feelings if my idea isn’t taken,” Hassan added.

What sets Gocciolare apart from other small businesses at St. Thomas, according to Bangila, is the partners’ drive to make clothes that make their customers look good and feel good. The duo also sources clothes in Minnesota to keep the business local.

“We’re not in it for the money,” Bangila said. “We want you to wear our clothing line and say, ‘Yeah, this is me, this is who I am.’”

In the near future, Bangila and Hassan hope to grow their business to reach a wider audience.

“In a couple of years, we’re kind of looking forward to scaling it and seeing how big this thing goes,” Hassan said.

Leila Weah can be reached at weah7721@stthomas.edu.