As a collaboration between Bookstore communications coordinator Stephen Brua and  University Relations, the University Bookstore has released Weary Wil Vintage, a new line of vintage style clothing that commemorates old school logos and designs, and has proceeds going back toward the Hobo Day Committee.

Whether it’s the old Barnyard Cadets mascot or the previous school acronym, SDSC, printed on a T-shirt, a driving force behind this vintage line was to connect with alumni and their days at SDSU, according to Brua, the designer of the clothing line creations.

“I would think [the alumni would especially connect with this]. Some of the older generations do know the history behind the university … we have everything with the new rabbit on it. These are unique pieces with old logos on it,” Brua said.

With the new rabbit logo on much of the merchandise sold in the Bookstore, one alumni thinks that students may be looking for something different that represents their school to wear around.

“If it’s something different they [college kids] probably enjoy having that … I can see how the new variety would be nice for the kids,” said SDSU alumni Keely Elsasser.

As students start wearing some of the older SDSU logos and designs, Elsasser believes this will create a stronger connection to those who went to SDSU in the past with their kids who are now attending the same university.

“I think especially for students who have had other family members before them go to SDSU, then it would be even more,” Elsasser said. “I could see a SDSU student going home with one of those vintage shirts and the parents seeing and thinking it’s cool and maybe wanting one, so I think that’s how that could make a connection.”

While Brua works on the designs and looks of Weary Wil Vintage as well as the vendors, University Relations approves or declines T-shirt designs and provides the vendor with files to work with, according to Mike Lockrem, the director of University Relations.

While this collaboration between SDSU departments to create a historical line of clothing has not been the first among national universities, the approach to these vintage clothes was taken cautiously by using experimental marketing methods, according to Brua and Lockrem.

“Other universities have vintage lines so it’s not unique [in that light] … Looking at other universities who have done this, we should do this with a soft launch because what was popular 30 years and maybe isn’t popular now, so we have to find out what people like and don’t’ like,” Lockrem said.

The reason only Weary Wil Vintage T-shirts are available right now is because of the uncertainty of how many will sell on the shelves, according to Brua.

“It’ll be something we keep trying to build, it’s not limited. We’re always going to be rolling out new designs and trying out a couple of different things. We’re doing a lot of research into finding the old designs and also finding out what our customer base likes,” Brua said. “Once we build the base of what customers like for colors and designs, we’ll expand it into other articles of clothing.”

As the line continues to experiment and grow its articles of clothing, some alums would like to see certain logos or types of clothing to represent their alma mater.

“[I would like to see something] more like a varsity jacket [that] would be kind of cool to see. The big letters kind of stand out rather than just screen-printing,” Elsasser said.

Brua said he enjoys coming up with the old designs, and explained how finding the vintage logos and utilizing them in a modern manor that would appeal to a multi-generation level has been a challenge in launching this line.

“University Relations has every single yearbook that has existed, so I pick a time frame and go page by page and take a picture of something and start remaking it … this whole project has been kind of fun looking at different T-shirt designs from around campus,” Brua said. “I wanted to fill people in on the history [of SDSU].”

Alongside featuring new designs aside from the Jackrabbit, Weary Wil Vintage is spreading awareness of campus history and is hopefully generating a greater sense of school spirit among current students, according to Lockrem.

“I think the signs help educate people which in turn leads to potential greater interest in the products … I think there’s an interesting historical piece there,” Lockrem said. “What it does is creates a connection to different generations of alums … If you start getting into the generations of alums, they start looking at it and it appeals to different people in different ways, like age and what time they were on campus.”

Weary Wil Vintage has its own section in the bookstore and plans on having informational plaques next to each T-shirt explaining each design or logos meaning to SDSU, which may benefit sales, according to Lockrem.

“I think the signs help educate people which in turn leads to potential greater interest in the products,” Lockrem said.

The shirts sell for $24.99 in the bookstore and are priced higher due to the unique 50-50 cotton-polyester blend the shirts have for the vintage feel.