Starting his own clothing line was something he always wanted to do, but it was not until his transfer to Harding that sophomore marketing major Ben Bauer brought his vision to life.
The idea for Bauer’s clothing line came to him about six months ago after deciding to transfer schools. Bauer wanted a hobby to focus on with his spare time and energy, which led him to develop Patriot Values.
“I was thinking, if I’m going to do this, wherever it goes, or however it takes off, I’m going to give the glory to God,” Bauer said. “If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be able to do this and I wouldn’t be at Harding now.”
Because of his pride for America and his core beliefs, Bauer came up with the name, Patriot Values.
“I really like a lot of the southern brands but I felt like it was all over done,” Bauer said. “I also wanted it to be Christian-based. People have said things like, ‘What if someone doesn’t like that?’ But I would rather crash knowing I did it through God, than to do it and not please him.”
Sophomore Andrew White said there is no better piece of clothing than a worn-in jean button up that has a soldier wearing a bow tie as the logo.
“I support a friend who has an idea to start something new and who believed in it enough to actually put forth the effort to act on his ambitions,” White said.
Currently, Bauer’s Patriot Values line includes polo shirts, denim button ups, fleece vests, athletic headbands and bumper stickers. Bauer’s company is also working on hats and T-shirts that should become available in the next few weeks.
Sophomore Audrey Moeckel discovered Bauer’s Patriot Values line on Instagram.
“I think it shows huge potential that somebody so young has already started a small company,” Moeckel said. “It shows a lot of leadership and that’s something that more people should strive for.”
Bauer uses Facebook and Instagram to promote the brand. To order from the Patriot Values clothing line you can contact Bauer through the Patriot Values Facebook page.
“Having some guys in Knights and people around campus wear the brand is really humbling,” Bauer said. “Knowing that people actually want to wear the brand and care to support it is pretty cool.”
