Thrill City debuts winter clothing line

Art can be expensive — but it does not have to be.

Ryan Cocca, co-founder and owner of Thrill City, a Chapel Hill-based clothing brand that benefits local nonprofits, said T-shirts and traditional art are mediums that should be on display.

The clothing brand is debuting its winter line, including five new T-shirts, each designed by a UNC fine arts student, today at University Square as an art gallery called “Medium.”

“Everything was inspired by fine arts pieces — lithographs, oil paintings, dark room photo manipulation,” Cocca said.

“It’s out of the box and different than what I would have conceived on my own.”

Cocca, who had previously designed all of Thrill City’s products, said he was worried the line was getting repetitive.

With no experience organizing galleries, Cocca said he decided to collaborate with UNC student Jeremy Bass, creator of Students Benefiting the Fine Arts, a student group, to select a location and design the show.

Bass said attendees can expect to see the T-shirts on racks and the artists’ work hung up side-by-side.

“It’s creating a new conversation between fine art and commercial art,” Bass said.

Cocca said he hopes that by displaying balance between the various art forms, the gallery will send the message that Thrill City isn’t for a particular audience.

“I want the brand to have a bigger audience,” Cocca said. “Not just sports fans, but also people who are interested in art, clothing and music.”

To do this he enlisted the help of artists like lithographer Reilly Finnegan.

Although he had previously experimented with printmaking, Finnegan said “Medium” has been his first time coupling art and fashion.

“It was exciting to have art put on a T-shirt,” Finnegan said. “(Buyers) can much more easily afford to have it, and then they can wear it around.”

In the spirit of customization and originality, Cocca said attendees can expect to experience an atypical art gallery — complete with a low-key house set by DJ EverVida, food and drinks.

Through all the hype, Cocca said it is important to remember the principles Thrill City was founded on.

“It’s based on the concept of having a brand relationship to nonprofits and addressing social issues.”

Contact the desk editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.