arts&life

fashion

Cool

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A local entrepreneur

fi nds the true

meaning of

“no sweat.”

details

The Lawrence Hunt Charity Trunk
Show runs 7:30-10:30 p.m. Thurs-
day, June 29, at Detroit is the New
Black. $30 includes appetizers,
desserts and drinks.
Reservations are required and
can be made at facebook.com/
lawrencehuntfashion or at twitter.
com/lawrencehunt_co. Information
on the shirts is available at lhwear.
com.

32

June 22 • 2017

W

hen Jeff Schattner
tells people “don’t
sweat it,” he not only
means what he says. He literally
shows how — in a way to make
clothing more comfortable.
Schattner, with a career that
gave him experience in finance
and accounting positions,
has developed a business that
manufactures and sells dress
shirts able to wick away per-
spiration and keep the mate-
rial feeling dry.
Shirts from Lawrence
Hunt Fashion (LH) — which
Schattner set up using his
dad’s first and middle names
— are available online. They
also will be shown in person
during a charity event with a
celebrity presence.
“I wanted to create the ideal
dress shirt, one that is not only
stylish and professional looking
but also is breathable and com-
fortable,” says Schattner, who
grew up outside Washington,
D.C., graduated from the
University of Michigan (U-M)
and decided to stay in the state.
The core idea for the shirts
came to him in 2013 while
attending an outdoor wedding
in 90-degree temperatures. As
bride and groom exchanged

jn

TOP: Detroit Tigers catcher James McCann, a brand ambassador and business part-
ner. ABOVE: Jeff Schattner at Detroit Sewn in Pontiac, where shirts are prototyped.

vows, he silently vowed to work
at coming up with apparel that
could remain dry under swelter-
ing conditions and reduce the
effects of perspiration.
“Although I started my career
in accounting, even when I was
at U-M, I was in an entrepre-
neurial program,” Schattner, 34,
recalls. “I was running an online
clothing resale business to help
pay for my books.

“After that wedding, I won-
dered, why can’t someone com-
bine the material in golf shirts
with the material in dress shirts
and get the benefits of both
fabrics — the functionality of
athletic wear and the look and
feel of cotton.
“I went to Google and
searched for somebody in the
area who could help sew a
prototype and found a fashion

student. In 2014, we launched
a center for our concept and
set up a successful Kickstarter
campaign.”
In 2015, the shirt was
revamped, and the line was
launched in 2016. In its first
month, he filled 10 orders,
almost all from friends and
family. Now, Lawrence Hunt
reports 3,000 customers.
While most of the 100-per-
cent Egyptian cotton shirts
are made for men, there
are three styles made for
women. White shirts and
blue-checkered shirts have
been the most popular. With
loyalty to U-M, a maize and
blue version became available
and, in the interest of non-
discrimination, a Michigan
State-inspired shirt has not
been far behind.
The special event, the
Lawrence Hunt Charity Trunk
Show, has been scheduled for
June 29 at Detroit is the New
Black to showcase the growing
line for prospective and continu-
ing customers while benefiting
the community.
For every shirt purchased at
the showing, one will be donat-
ed to the Michigan Veterans
Foundation. Fifty percent of