Junior Ethan Cardillo has been skateboarding for as long as he can remember which inspired his clothing brand, Take Note.

Cardillo started his company last year alongside junior Alex Cheney, but Cheney is no longer a part of the company.  His brand is inspired by skate culture and is influenced by other brands like Holiday, Illegal Civilization, and Only New York that also incorporate skate styles in their clothing products.

Cardillo releases a new line of clothing and accessories each season. Along with his products, he includes a short film that is inspired by the collection and has a group of his friends model the new looks.

“Skate clothing is cheap, typically oversized and has simple designs,” Cardillo said. “So I took that to heart when designing my clothes.”

Cardillo loves to include other personal interests and hobbies like film, art, photography and music into his brand by incorporating it on his website.

“The thing about a brand is it’s not just clothing,” Cardillo said. “What you wear represents something about you.”

Take Note has given Cardillo discipline and taught him about graphic design, time management and how to use social media to promote his brand.

“[Take Note] has taught me so much,” Cardillo said. “I have learned a lot within the short year Take Note was made.”

Cardillo started his business with 20 sweatshirts, which he sold on his company’s website. Within the first 24 hours, all of the sweatshirts sold out. This gave him confidence that his brand would succeed in the future.

“Take Note has definitely made Ethan a more social and confident person,” close friend junior Joe Kearney said. “He is not afraid of what others think because he knows that he has people that have his back and love his work.”

Cardillo dreams of going to the Fashion Institute for Technology in New York for college. Although he does not know if he’ll continue his brand once he gets to New York, he knows that Take Note will help him with whatever he does in the future.

“I think it would be really cool to own a brand of my own and make a living off of that,” Cardillo said. “But working for a skate company designing clothes that I like, for a brand, would also be a dream come true.”