This year, Ramaz’s student government has upped its merchandise game by creating well designed, trendy sweatshirts that all community members can enjoy. Thanks to the new selection of apparel, tens of Ramaz students can be seen wearing chic sweatshirts and tasteful crewnecks, with many upper schoolers abandoning their usual Adidas and Champion apparel in favor of an all RAM wardrobe. Aside from being comfortable and affordable, these sweatshirts also create a sense of community and school spirit that Ramaz has lacked in the past. The school has abandoned their average zip-up sweatshirts in favor of some far more trendy and affordable designs, imitating popular logos such as the Kith box logo, the Michigan stamp, and a prep school styled logo. The diversity of these designs has increased the demand for school merchandise.

Inspired by Supreme, Kith and other “hype” clothing brands, the G.O. uses a “limited production drop” marketing strategy to stir demand for its products. By producing small quantities of each piece and continuously generating new designs, the G.O. has increased student demand for apparel tenfold and aggregated a larger customer base.

Olivia Bourkouf ’19, who spearheaded the initiative to reinvent the school’s merchandise, stated that her goal was to “rebrand” Ramaz’s apparel line. “We wanted to transition the production of school merchandise from being less about inspiring school spirit and more about designing a brand,” said Bourkouf. “This year, I believe we have accomplished that goal.”

In the days leading up to each apparel release, the G.O. uses social media to publicize sneak-peaks of the new merchandise. The anticipation and excitement builds as students come down to the lobby during their lunch periods to purchase these sweatshirts, which range in price from twenty to thirty dollars. It is the G.O.’s mission to keep the apparel affordable for all students. G.O. Vice President Avery Sholes ’20 stated that the G.O. is “determined to make all apparel affordable even if it means taking money from funds meant for other G.O. related activities to do so.”

On February 5, all divisions of the Ramaz School participated in swag day, a day during which students showed their school pride by wearing Ramaz apparel. Overall, the student body was eager to come dressed in one of the five sweatshirts created by the G.O. this year. Students who came dressed in G.O. apparel were entered into a raffle to win even more apparel. Freshman Izzie Ottensoser ’22 said that the raffle “brought an exciting, and yet surprisingly competitive, atmosphere to the school.” She continued by stating that she “hope[s] the G.O. will continue to plan activities like this one.”  

Although many students represented Ramaz by wearing themed apparel on swag day, it is thankfully not the only day during which students are permitted to show off their favorite Ramaz merchandise. Sophomore Yola Ashkenazi ’20 said, “The merchandise this year has really been in tune with what the students want, such as the quarter zip. That was great and everyone loved it”. Daniel Levy ’19 continued by explaining that he even “wears the merch outside of school!”

The G.O. is looking forward to creating more merchandise that all students will want to own — and maybe someday even resell.