Meet Morgan Febrey of FashionEco + Idiot Cult in North City Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Febrey.

Morgan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Storytime, yay! So I have two companies I run, FashionEco and Idiot Cult. The first is a connection platform for the fashion industry and the latter, a tongue in cheek apparel line.

Idiot Cult started in 2008 when the DNC came to Denver. Came up with a “Baraccoli” design which, as you may have guessed, was a visual pun mixing President Obama and broccoli. Hand made 40 iron-on shirts, walked to 16th St Mall & Mile High, and sold them within two hours. People’s faces lit up and smiled at the shirt. It was even featured in Rolling Stone’s article about the convection. Felt good. My second design was the GAP logo but it said RAP. I have (2) XLs left if anyone is interested… On the clock 24/7, yo.

As the brand and designs expanded, I decided to market to the tattooed subculture. Along with my abrasive humor, it was the perfect pairing. Like Scotch and CapriSun… not sure who’s who in that simile. I found a tattooed model here in Denver. She had a solid following but no website. BOOM! I offered to trade a website for a photoshoot. BAM! Two months later InkedMag (2.5M IG followers) is carrying my line and the rest is, well, not history, but it is my story.

Fast-forward to 2018. I’m shooting pool at Don’s Mixed Drinks. The guy I’m playing, Ahmad is an anesthesiologist from Baghdad… nice dude and a killer shot. Anyway, he says he’s looking for help concepting and building a fashion app. Well, I’ve been coding since the mid-90s and had a decade of experience in the fashion world, so we rapped. It was a Hot-or-Not style idea. We wireframed it and designed the screens over the following year. I was fulltime in the Bitcoin scene so our progress was slow. We called it FireStyle. Cheesy name, sure, but was the best my part-time mind could produce.

I left my crypto gig in the summer of ’18. Ahmad and I were then able to dedicate much more time and attention to the idea. I drew upon the fashion industry insights that Idiot Cult had given me; everything from sourcing to photoshoots to sales and distribution. You’d be surprised how discombobulated the industry is considering everyone has a closet full of their product. FUCKING LIGHTBULB! We pivoted and shifted our focus to creating a platform that helps fashion professionals connect. Something like Facebook but without every dickhead you’ve ever met hanging out in the same room. Pros speaking exclusively to other pros.

FashionEco [the fashion ecosystem] is what evolved. “Ecosystem” in the sense that we cater to every step in fashion production. Oh, you’re sewing and need help producing your line? We got you. Want to get a photoshoot together? We’ve got people. Need help promoting and marketing? We even have buyers in the system to help with distribution. I’ve always hung out with creative types and the fashion scene is brimming with them. This is a great way to help our creative community.

Idiot Cult will be appearing in Denver Fashion Week in November and FashionEco’s full product launch is scheduled for this Winter. We’re at nearly 2,000 members prelaunch.

Dang, you wanna read this long-ass article or maybe marathon all eight seasons of Breaking Bad. I’m like freakin’ Tolstoy over here.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Struggles. Let’s see. I’d be a total jerk if I said it’s been nothing but smooth seas. But for the most part that’s kind of the case. The reason being is that Idiot Cult was never my primary gig. I worked full time and kept it on the side. I was able to learn what I needed to know without relying on the sales to get me by. I was able to grow at my pace without an investor breathing down my neck. Here’s the catch, it hasn’t been hugely successful. That’s BECAUSE it hasn’t been my primary focus. I’ve been diagnosed with idearhea. That’s where you have a shit ton of random ideas and you jump on them. Bouncing around like an electron in a microwave. It’s not a serious condition but it does require long walks with a poodle. I have a poodle. He’s very cool. I also have an amazingly supportive girlfriend. She’s cool as well… and French. Hi, Rachel!

So anyway, where was I?? Smooth road. Yes. So my success has been both a luxury of and restricted by my lack of focus. FashionEco will be receiving my full love as soon as Fashion Week is behind me. Excited to see if my full attention is all that has held me back or if I’m just another idiot with 1,000 dreams.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
FashionEco is unique in that there isn’t a lot of fashion/tech crossover. I should probably shut my fat mouth, but it’s true. Most of the tech in the fashion industry has been born from a mother that has a particular need and a father that just does as he’s told. It’s very prescriptive. Our benefit stems from more than a decade of experience in both worlds.

Denver’s fashion community has been exceptionally welcoming to what FashionEco is doing… and to the US! Not only does it let me know we’re on the right track, but the best part so far has been the inclusion. We’ve taken part and helped out in so many things over the past year.

One of my personal highlights was connecting Denver photographer, JJ Constantine, with Chicago based fashion designer, Alicia Perrillo. We helped send them and a team to Iceland. The content they produced was nothing short of breathtaking. They just landed the cover of a high-end Italian fashion magazine. That’s pretty freakin cool.

What were you like growing up?
What was I like growing up?? Haha. Let me lay down on the sofa and get comfy. This is gonna take a minute. JK. Jokes aside, my dad moved around a lot when I was a kid. By the time I was in 7th grade I had attended five different schools. This left me without any close friends. I was reliant on listening to the radio, Legos, and my own damn imagination to have fun. It probably helped develop my overactive imagination. Kind of like how napalm helps develop a fire.

I was always on the outskirts socially. I was friends with the popular kids and the punks, but I was never quite one or the other. I bounced around. I gave me insight into both groups and the freedom to not have to conform to either. When I finally made my first best friend in elementary school, he was the same way. He was a little older and I really looked up to him. He helped usher in my rebellion at a very young age. We were both into metal, punk, kungfu and comedy movies. Speaking of metal and punk, check out my band, Sounds Like Words. We’re playing a couple of gigs in Sept and Oct.

That sort of social demilitarized zone has lasted my whole life: a social chameleon with no real center.

Pricing:

• FashionEco – Profile listing (FREE)
• FashionEco – Collab and Gig listings ($10/mo or $100/yr)

Contact Info:

• Website: FashionEco.com (prelaunch) and IdiotCult.com

Image Credit:
Idiot Cult images shot by Jonny Edward.
Models: Alicia Myers, Rachel Lang, Dan Moore, and Victor Ayala.
FashionEco team photo by JJ Constantine.
Team: Rachel Lang, Ahmad Alsalih (co-founder), and Alexandra Knox.

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