Tank tops from gameday-inspired clothing brand Indianola Collective, which released its second apparel line Tuesday. Credit: Courtesy of Molly Mullahy
Indianola Collective, a gameday-inspired apparel brand founded by Ohio State alumna Molly Mullahy, launched its second product line Tuesday following a successful debut in August.
The brand first released a collection Aug. 23 featuring baby tees and tanks.
Her latest drop features crewnecks, including reimagined versions of some of Mullahy’s most popular designs.
Mullahy, who graduated in May with a degree in architecture, said she began designing gameday apparel as a student after noticing a gap in the market.
“I felt like there was a need for trendier gameday apparel, so I thought it could be a good avenue to get into,” Mullahy said.
Her sister, Annie Mullahy, said she first heard about the idea last year when Mullahy was making her own apparel for gamedays.
“It’s overtaken my whole basement — her factory,” Annie said. “It’s so cool coming home and seeing all the shirts and designs laid out downstairs.”
Mullahy runs the business from her home in Cleveland, where she creates designs using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Fresco on her iPad — skills she said she accredits to her time as an architecture student.
She said each piece goes through several iterations before reaching a final version.
One challenge has been creating Ohio State-inspired apparel without using the university’s trademarks, Mullahy said.
“If you look through my website, you’ll see everything just says Ohio,” Mullahy said. “There’s no ‘Ohio State’ or ‘Buckeyes’ because I can’t use those phrases.”
Since launching the brand, she said she has learned how to buy rights to an LLC, register for taxes and navigate the realities of running a small business.
While entrepreneurship wasn’t always part of her plan, Mullahy said she enjoys the independence.
“It’s nice being in control of everything, setting my own schedule,” Mullahy said. “It’s been really good so far.”
Annie said her sister’s determination has paid off.
Samantha Kwan (left) and Steven Kwan, left fielder for the Cleveland Guardians, pose on Progressive Field in Cleveland on Sept. 28 after the Guardians defeated the Texas Rangers 9-8, winning the AL Central title in the MLB. Credit: Courtesy of Molly Mullahy.
“She had the idea and wanted it done exactly right, and it ended up working out very well for her,” Annie said.
Mullahy said social media, particularly TikTok, has fueled much of the brand’s early success and has been a very important tool for growing her business.
“I knew posting TikToks would be a good way to generate interest and get customers, but I didn’t expect to get so many,” Mullahy said. “I sat down and recorded a video, and it got 50,000 views.”
Mullahy started posting TikTok’s on her personal TikTok and immediately garnered attention, Annie said.
Indianola Collective has reached as far as Steven Kwan — a Cleveland Guardians player — whose wife sported an Indianola Collective tank at a Sep. 28 Guardians game and posted a photo of herself wearing it on Instagram.
“It was so cool to see my tank at an MLB game, especially on the wife of a player,” Mullahy said in an email. “It also inspires me to eventually expand my business beyond Ohio State apparel and explore Cleveland related designs in the future.”
While Indianola Collective’s first launch was “design illustrative,” Mullahy said her newest drop will be a more basic text that just says ‘Ohio’ to maintain simplicity.
“I wanted to do some basic crewnecks, so that’s what a lot of the designs are,” Mullahy said. “They’re [a] pretty simple varsity style, because I know that’s super trendy right now.”
