arts
rts & life
f as h i on
on t h e cover
We’ve Got Spirit,
Yes We Do!
Eee’s Tees, launched
by a native Detroiter,
are sweeping college
campuses around
the country.
Lynne Konstantin | Arts & Life Editor
Brett Mountain | Photographer
Julie Feldman | Stylist
details
Eee’s Tees are sold at Guys N Gals,
West Bloomfield (248-851-1260)
and can be viewed on Instagram
(eeestees). Prices start at $55.
70 August 25 • 2016
W
hen Elisa Cohen’s
twin daughters,
Samantha and
Sydney, now 22, were accepted
to Indiana University, she was
thrilled for her soon-to-be
Hoosiers and wanted to send
them off on their adventures
with some school spirit.
But as she began helping
them pack, she realized that
there weren’t a lot of options
of T-shirts with their school
name on it.
“I thought they were all so
plain,” Cohen says. “I wanted
something different from the
big T-shirts all the boys wear.”
So she began playing
around with different designs.
Working with basic university
logos, Cohen began to create
different backdrops on which
to display them. She sent her
girls off to college with her first
design, a tee that zips up the
front — and their new friends
went nuts for it.
She soon launched Eee’s Tees
— “E” being her nickname —
and the collection spread like
wildfire, all by word of mouth
with the help of Instagram. She
started doing some shows at
friends’ homes, and, she says
“it kind of snowballed.”
Now based in Delray
Beach, Fla., Cohen grew up in
Southfield, attending Camp
Walden and graduating from
the University of Michigan
with a degree in communica-
tions.
“But I’ve always been inter-
ested and involved in fashion,”
she says. She opened and
managed the first Kenneth
Cole store in Birmingham and
worked at Roz & Sherm in
Bloomfield Township. After
moving to Florida with her
husband-to-be, Seth Cohen,
who attended law school in
Miami, Cohen completed
a management program at
Burdines department store
before becoming busy raising
her children.
Now, she’s come full circle
— letting her inner fashion
designer loose while inspired
by her children. Cohen contin-
ues designing new styles, often
with the help of her youngest
daughter, Spencer, now 18 and
heading to IU herself.
“One of our most popular
tops, a zip-back halter, was
designed by Spencer,” Cohen
says, adding that it, along with
the original zip-front tee, has
become so popular that other
companies have “borrowed”
the look. She has added tube
tops, lace-up tees, sweatshirts
and long-sleeve flannels, skirts,
denim jackets and more —
and plans to add accessories to
the mix.
She offers a collection of
rock band flannels and tees,
emblazoned with vintage-style
imagery of Aerosmith, Led
Zeppelin and the Grateful
Dead. She also has created a
specialty line of vintage tees
she’s collected applied to the
backs of flannels and denim.
Cohen also accepts custom
orders. Although she stocks
most colleges and universi-
ties, including U-M, MSU,
Indiana, Syracuse, Wisconsin
and more, she’s created tees for
Harvard, Stanford and Yale for
customers from Chicago to Los
Angeles.
“There’s really nothing like
this around,” Cohen says. “The
pieces are feminine, funky and
cool — not just a simple men’s
shirt. And I love hearing what
the girls have to say — I want
to hear their input. I cater to
them and want them to feel
good in what they wear, from
the quality of the fabrics to the
fun designs.”
Her customers love being
able to share their excitement
in their finds. Cohen hosts
an Instagram page (eeestees)
where a growing group of fol-
lowers clamor to place orders.
“Every Sunday I make a col-
lage of girls wearing Eee’s Tees
to tailgates from the weekend
and post them on Instagram
and the girls love it,” she says.
“And I love seeing everybody. I
get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
It doesn’t seem like a job — I
really have so much fun doing
it.”
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