Sophia Boyer is: MOXIE WRRLD
Written by: Terra Bitan
Started from a small jewelry business, evolved into a one-of-a-kind fashion label.
When she was just in high school, Sophia Boyer started a small jewelry business back in 2017. Defying all odds, she created Moxie Wrrld, a brand for โgrrls who turn heads.โ Moxie Wrrld is known for releasing 1 of 1 collection pieces, making your purchase unique and only for you. I sat down with now 20-year-old Sophia, and we chatted about how and why Moxie Wrrld was born, diving into her design process and gaining insight on how she balances work life while still being a full-time college student.
Are you in school?
Yes, I just transferred to UGA, this is my third year. I switched my major to fashion merchandising this year, but before that, I was going to community college for two years for business administration.
Are you able to continue running your business while in school?
That is something that I struggled with this past semester because when I was in community college, it was online, which meant I did sewing all day because I had time and the environment I was in was very different. Since I was still living at home and without all my friends and distractions, it made me use my business as an escape to pass the time.
When I came here [University of Georgia], I still did a lot of sewing, I was trying to balance this new life of actually living at college. I planned my semester around my business, so on Mon/Wed/Fri I don't have any classes. My plan is to use those days for sewing, because unless I prioritize it, it is much harder to stick to it.
What is your origin story?
I started in 2017, back in high school in the beginning of the summer. Originally Strung By Soph, it was a jewelry brand โ my first product was a morse code necklace, and I really liked that because it was a good way to start making money without getting a traditional job. There were certain parts that I really liked, such as developing a brand, taking product photos, and all the social media stuff. I was kind of always interested in clothes, and I didnโt know how to sew, but I started getting into it by doing little reworked pieces.
What was your inspiration for transitioning to a clothing line? You were originally known as Strung by Soph, so why did you make that change?
I wanted to get my foot in the door with sewing, but I didn't know how to at all, and this was all before it was Moxie Wrrld. We have this sewing machine at my house โ it is such an old one, one that is attached to a table, and it didn't work for the longest time. One time when she was down at our house, my grandma spent the entire day fixing this sewing machine so that I could use it. If she hadnโt done that, I would have given up and not gotten into sewing, so I really attribute everything to her. I got started by little rework pieces, and during the pandemic, I shifted my focus to doing mainly clothing, because it was something I was always more interested in than jewelry. In 2020 is when I rebranded, so I changed the name to Moxie Wrrld and formed it as an LLC. Ever since then, I have gotten more into sewing and investing into my own machines. I also switched into fashion merchandising, since I learned that I really enjoy the industry, as well.
Can you tell us about how you grew a following?
I started in high school and gained some followers just from word-of-mouth and friends that I knew. I posted about it on my โfinstaโ at the time, and that is how I got my first few followers. Then I would utilize social media for free things, like reaching out to other artists and collaborating with them. I was working with people in ways that didn't cost me money, and other artists would promote my products to their followers. When I started making more money, I was able to invest in paid advertising, and that is what really started to grow my following. Using TikTok and just being active on social media also played a huge role in my growth.
Did you have to teach yourself different editing tools?
I was always interested in editing, back before I had any type of business. I was interested in Photoshop, and I had a phase where I liked to edit myself into weird pictures and stuff. Then, in high school, I took graphic design classes, and I am so glad that I did that, because they taught me the basics of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, which are programs that I still use today. It also so easy now with TikTok โ they can teach you anything in less than a minute. Other than that, I have little editing apps, such as Prequel, which I used for all my coming back posts. I like to edit my photos and create a vibe by using apps to inject moods and styles into simple photos.
What inspired your branding?
It's always been based on what my personal style is and what Iโm interested in. Since Iโm all over the place, so is Moxie. At the beginning of Strung By Soph, it had a very beachy theme and it was also the height of summer, but since we live in PA, I couldnโt pretend we lived at the beach all year round. Then, it was just me making the things that I am interested in, like Y2K. Now, Iโm more into this indie nightlife and old Tumblr era, which is what inspired my recent collection. Transferring to UGA also inspired me, since now Iโm going out and this collection was inspired by things that I like to wear when I go out. My style of branding is also very popular among many brands, since weโre in this age of โI am so sick of the pandemic, letโs go out, have fun, and party,โ so itโs just a combination of what Iโm feeling, as well as the environment around me and what others are interested in.
What is the first clothing piece you introduced to your line?
In the beginning, when I was first designing clothes, I was making these designer knockoffs and reworked pieces. Like I mentioned, I had very minimal sewing skills at the time, so this was very good for me, since anyone will buy something if it has a Chanel logo on it. It was a good way to become successful in this new area, since a lot of people look for these types of products. I would buy clothes from thrift stores and rework them since I didn't have the skills or understanding of clothing construction to make garments from scratch. I also used to make cardigans with matching bandeaus with designer elastic, which I think that was the first item that I made.
The first thing that I made myself for Moxie, once I had stopped doing that brand-designer stuff, was the โNo Smoking Without Meโ sweatpants. Those were interesting, since, in the beginning, I wanted to do cut-and-sew sweatpants. They were completely made by me, and then I switched to using clothing blanks since I liked the quality better.
What are your favorite pieces that youโve designed?
I got back into reworks and utilizing thrifted clothes and fabrics, because you can get so many different prints and styles. It was my first time making a bustier, corset-style top, and I still didn't really know how to do it, so it was a learning process, but I still really like how it came out. I had used a bra and based it off the bra that I found, then attached everything else that I found to that bra, and it is still my most favorite thing that I made. I was just so proud of it when it was done, since it was the first time I tried to do something like that.
From this past collection, I really like the bustier top that had all of the yellow stitching. That was one of my favorite things, and again, it is funny to see how they are both that same top style, but this time I just cut-and-sewed the whole thing. This is so exciting to see how my skills have translated and gotten better over time.
I also love the grommet pants. Theyโre my favorite and Iโm actually keeping them.
Which celebrities influence you?
Joey Thao, a celebrity stylist. I like to give credit to the stylist, because as much as the celebrity pulls it off, most of the time, they don't know what they are wearing, I bet half the time, and I really like Joeyโs work. He works a lot with Nikita Dragun, who I am not a huge fan of, but she pulls some looks and they work very well together. I think he makes a lot of custom looks for her and has them done by different designers, and I just think that the stuff he does is incredible. He inspires me so much.
Veneda Carter. I don't know if she is still Kim Kโs stylist, but I liked when she was styling Kim and putting her into archive designer pieces to get her out of the box in the way that she dresses.
Mimi Cuttrell for Ariana Grande. She had this one look that she wore when she was a judging on The Voice โ she had this 13 Going on 30 dress, the one with the different colored stripes. Itโs just cool to see how different stylists will style celebrities and use the celebritiesโ personal style to change up their look.
Were there any hardships?
The biggest one I can think of is when I started switching from doing the designer stuff to my own thing. Because that was partially something that I wanted to do since I was transferring into fashion merchandising, I would bring up my business sometimes and it was not as impressive if it was just knockoff designer stuff, so that was one reason that contributed to it and the legalities behind it. There was a point when I had to stop, and it was really scary, since that was what I was well-known for, it was easy money, and everyone loved it. I was gaining so many followers because of it, and up to that point, that was what all of my followers had came for. It was hard since a lot of people did not want my new brand, and it was hard to switch to that. In the beginning, I definitely lost a bunch of followers, and it was scary to put stuff out there that I wasn't sure would do well, but it was really putting myself out there and trying to come up with different ideas that people would want that was the biggest hardship for me.
Can you take me through your design process?
This past semester, I made this big mood board, which I never do, but I get all of my idea inspiration from Pinterest. I printed them all out and put them on a moodboard to visualize everything, and then at that point, I bought a bunch of fabric and then I could start making my decisions. Since I did online shopping, I didn't know what I was getting into, since I didn't know how they felt or if they had stretch, so those things determined what I could do with them. Then I would mess around with the fabrics on my dress forms and play around and see what I liked. Randomly, I like to make a lot of pieces work on a bunch of projects at once and add stuff over time.
How did you go about learning how to sew?
I am a big trial and error person. One thing about myself is that I don't like watching videos and trying to do something. I like the information to come quick and fast, and I prefer to try things out as I go. And of course, there were some things that I would need to look up and learn to make sure that I was constructing things correctly. I still rely on buying other people's clothing patterns, so I follow their instructions, but it is a hands-on approach where I am trying to make new things and figuring it out as I go. And I am on definitely sewing TikTok.
Do you make any custom work?
I am not sure if someone directly asked me and if that inspired me, or if I just opened the table to that. But I had this one piece that went viral and at that point, I put a form on my website and had lots of people reach out to me who wanted custom pieces. If someone has an idea of what they want, that's great, since itโs super simple, and all I have to do is buy the fabrics and make it. But most people only have a rough idea of what they want, so then I take into account their preferences and send them a bunch of different ideas and sketches that maybe they will like. It is pretty collaborative, I would say, because then we can kind of build off those ideas together, and maybe they like the top from one of the sketches and then pair it with a skirt they saw on a website that they like. I will also go to the fabric store and send them a bunch of different options that would work well. I like to involve the client as much as possible, since it makes it more special to them to fulfill exactly what they want. I don't like to push them in one direction, just guide their overall thoughts into something that makes sense and that I can do. But for the most part, I let them come up with everything and pick how they want it to look and what fabrics they like.
Is your family supportive?
Definitely. Last semester, I took a break, and my mom almost annoys me sometimes since she just knows that I'm the best version of myself when I am doing something I am passionate about. She really likes it and pushes me to get back into it and gets me out of a slump. She was also the one who pushed me to switch my major to fashion merchandising, since I don't think I would have considered it if she hadn't pushed me in that direction and kind of given it the go-ahead.
Tell us a bit about your new collection.
I would describe the new collection as pieces inspired by my personal style and nightlife. While my past collections are all still true to myself, I feel like this best showcases what I look for from a clothing brand.
Follow Moxie Wrrld on Instagram and shop at www.moxiewrrld.com!