OK, so imagine you took BRAVO’s reality show “Project Runway”, merged it with the Build-a-Bear Workshop, and then filled it with 20 or 30 screaming 11-year-old girls; and what you’ve got is two things, really:  1) a massive migraine that even a mallet to the head won’t cure & 2) an average day at the new make-it-yourself fashion workshop in Vestal: “NuWaka”.  OK, I’m lying just a little.  The screaming throngs haven’t yet descended upon NuWaka; but believe me, they will. Because this idea is just too freakin’ adorable to fail.

The front room of NuWaka is deceptively plain.  You walk in to be confronted by rack after rack of unadorned solid colored T’s and pants.  YAAAAAWN.  But this is why I’m not an 11 year old girl (or fashion-conscious boy, for that matter).  Because while I think “booooring”, they’ll see the possibilities.  At NuWaka, you start from scratch and design your outfit from the ground up.  Start with a T, choose some clip art at the computer workstations in the back, add a few rhinestones, and your tween daughter just got started on her long road to Fashion Week.

But it doesn’t end there.  For the advanced budding fashionista, owner Brian Cupp has hired design students to help with your look.  Want a layered shirt with the sleeves a different color from the rest?  nuWaka will sew it for you.  Two colors not enough?  Patch together a skirt from more than two.  Pick fabrics off the wall, choose a pattern, and design your own pants.

But really, that’s not the coolest part.  This is: even my 25-year-old friend Marissa couldn’t contain her 12-year-old girl enthusiasm when she realized that she could jump up on nuWaka’s mirrored runway and strike a pose.  This makes me feel like the only obstacle to attracting throngs of women older than 21 to the store is that it doesn’t serve cocktails to loosen them up first.  Marissa, on the other hand, is just high on life.

And although they might eventually form its fanatical core audience, NuWaka isn’t ONLY for the tween set—in fact, owner Brian Cupp proved he could also fill me with an embarrassingly giddy sense of delight.  When I arrived at the store last Friday, a BingPop T design was already waiting for me at one of the computer workstations.  Within moments, I was already wearing my own piece of NuWaka.  And didn’t take it off till bed time.

Will some of these outfits turn out to be WRETCHED?  Absolutely.  But even Pierre Cardin wasn’t Pierre Cardin the day he first touched fabric.  (And now he’s designing things so ugly, an 11 year old would sneer.)  But it’s the chance to create—even something mildly ridiculous—that makes this place so cool.  And it’s true, NuWaka could use a bit more glam up front, considering it’s target clientele, but it’s a damn good start.  For Vestal, for Brian Cupp, and for the kids that might go on to work for Chanel and Versace.

(Or, ya know, at the cash register of the Oakdale GAP.)

INTERVIEW: Brian Cupp.

Can you remember the spark? The minute you thought of NuWaka? What was it that made the idea happen?
I do remember the moment we thought of NuWaka. Roughly two years ago, my daughters (Jenna now 14 and Taylor now 11) and I were riding back from Syracuse after spending the day at the Carousel Mall. One of our stops during the day was Build-A-Bear and of course they had a great time but I dropped a hundred dollars on two bears that I knew would sit in the corner until Rylie (our dog) got a hold of the bears and ripped the stuffing out. I said to the girls wouldn’t it be great to do something similar to Build-A-Bear but make something you could actually use every day. Jenna said "How about clothes?". We then brainstormed the whole way home and I couldn’t sleep that night because ideas kept running through my head!

So before you did all this fashion stuff, you did. um, was it COMPUTERS for a living? Seriously?
Yes, I’m a Computer Science major and was a Software Engineering manager at Lockheed Martin for twelve years and was Vice President of Operations for Verticalnet (now BravoSolutions). I headed up software development, customer support and Infrastructure Technology (IT). So yeah, this is quite a change from what I was used to. I also have owned some Subway franchises for the past 15 years however I have a great partner and managers that keep those running well.

Who’s your IDEAL customer. Who will get addicted the minute the walk in the store and why?
Our ideal customer is someone that enjoys creating their own look. We had a birthday party for eleven eight year olds on Saturday. They all made shirts that were centered around fashion. They created different designs to print on their shirts, some with Fashion by “their name” and some with just “Fashion” on the shirts. After they printed on their shirts they went over to the rhinestone station and accented the designs with rhinestones. Once they were finished creating their fashion pieces they all changed into them and modeled their new look on the runway while viewing themselves on our big screen high def television. It was amazing watching them walk down the runway, striking poses and generally being the center of attention. Every one of them walked out with a huge smile on their face and we received lots of comments around, “I want to have my birthday party here” and “can we come back later to make more clothes?” So, I think quite a few of them were addicted once they saw the runway!

That same day another customer came in that was roughly fourteen years old. She’s interested in fashion and while she was designing her shirt graphics she commented that she’s done shopping in stores for clothes, she’s going to buy them here and customize them to her own look.

One other area that I think is going to catch on is with the sports team / school groups. They love to create “team shirts” that aren’t part of their uniforms. They can come in here, design their own looks / graphics and walk away with the garment.

I know your daughters inspired you to make this happen. I bet they had a lot to say while you were working on the store; what was it?
It’s funny Joshua, I actually felt like I was working for my oldest daughter on more than one occasion. Every day I come home she asks me what I did at the store today to make sure I’m not slacking off! They had plenty to say about the type of clothes that we ordered. We would travel back from different sporting events that they were competing in and they would be online ordering clothes and accessories. More than once I would order clothes without consulting them and I received the comment, “those are ugly Dad – I don’t like those”. 

I went into this wanting to make this as much a learning experience for them as for me. I wanted to show them not only the process of starting a new business but also that if you have an idea, are persistent, believe in yourself and the idea that you can accomplish what you want. Probably one of the best moments I’ve had of being a Dad is when after our first birthday party we had at the store (in which Jenna helped out) we were having dinner with my Mother and Jenna commented, “Mema, my Dad has had lots of ideas but he followed through on this one and the store is awesome”… brought tears to my eyes. I think our kids are watching us a whole lot more than we notice.

Are you a fashion person? Do you care about fashion?
I’m a lot more of a fashion person now then I was two years ago! I always enjoyed shopping for new clothes and would check out People magazine to see what was in but that was pretty much the extent of it. Now I’m reading fashion blogs, attending fashion trade shows in NYC, and watching the latest trends to see what we can make here.

This biz seems ripe for the franchise. Will you do it? Where to next?
Yes, I believe this is ripe for franchising. The plan is to prove out the concept here and if it’s successful in this area open another one probably in the Syracuse area. My long term vision is to have them in major markets across the country. I want to make sure we have the operations and logistics worked out before expanding too quickly however I have had inquiries from several different individuals indicating that they would be interested in a franchise if and when we go there.

Tell me about the folks you’ve hired to help out at NuWaka. What are THEIR fashion backgrounds?
I was very fortunate in that I have been able to find some great employees. All of our employees are fashion conscious and most have an art background that comes into play with helping to create a unique look. My first employee was a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in NYC. She worked as a fashion consultant for MTV so she was a perfect fit for getting us started. She helped pick out the product line and helped with making sure we had the right equipment and products. Another one of our employees has a degree in costume design and has worked in the field. All of our employees are fashion conscious and enjoy working with the “tween” market.

The comparisons to Build A Bear are inevitable. What have you got that they don’t?
Build-A-Bear is great – people love making the cute cuddly bears but once you make the bears they just sit on the shelf. We offer the same process except instead of making a bear, they are able to create their own clothes. Our customers walk out of the store with a product that they had fun creating and they can actually use / wear the product. Oh yeah, and of course we have the runway that the customers can model on!