If your spring wardrobe needs some new threads, Hybrid Clothing has you covered.

The company, launched last summer by local designer and entrepreneur, Champ, just released its newest line on March 3.

“It’s always been just me doing it all and the clothes have always been oriented to males in the 18-24 age range,” Champ says.

“I’ve always been into apparel and ever since high school I’ve always been on top of trends so it just seemed like a no-brainer to try to do my own thing and see how it goes. I basically just design my line based off of stuff that I would actually start wearing myself.”

The new spring line is called Second Place and features a variety of shirts, jackets and sweaters.

Youths Motto ($40) is a striped black-and-white t-shirt with the words “overworked” and “underpaid” on the back

Karma’s Curse ($30) is a plain white t-shirt with the phrase “Hopes kept high, nothing is ever right. Overworked, underpaid. I guess this is what they call second place.” written on the side in black ink.

“It’s just about accepting the fact that you’re not always first and everything’s not always going to come easy so that’s what we sort of played the designs off of,” he says.

One of Champ’s personal favourites is a long sleeve open cardigan that you can pick up for $58. It’s available in a heather oatmeal shade and the fabric is a polyester rayon mix.

“It was a real challenge with choosing the right fabric and getting the right measurements, but everything turned out and I’m really proud of it,” he says.

Hybrid Clothing’s spring line even includes a skateboard deck, which features the company’s name.

“I’m getting back into skateboarding personally and I’m trying to offer some sort of accessory piece with each collection,” he says.

“I wouldn’t limit the collection to just skater clothes though. I think some pieces are actually formal, like the long cardigan can be worn formally. Everything is kind of all over the place.”

Most of the pieces can also be mixed and matched, something Champ was considering when he was coming up with the designs.

“It all plays back to each other and it all sits nicely so we can offer the customer a whole outfit rather than just a single piece of clothing,” he says.

Right now the clothes are only available for purchase on the company’s website, but Champ is working at getting his clothing stocked in brick and mortar stores across Winnipeg and the United States.

Most of his customers are from the U.S. and in 2015 he’s hoping to get more local interest in the clothes.

Winnipeggers can even get free delivery and they can also meet up with Champ if they’d rather pay with cash instead of credit.

“I hope more people realize that there’s people in this city who can design and can put out quality products,” he says.

“I would love more people in Winnipeg to jump on board with the brand and hopefully that will come sometime soon.”

Published in Volume 69, Number 25 of The Uniter (March 18, 2015)