Dirty South Apparel

Laura Floyd's embroidery business Dirty South Stitches has been growing since Floyd started embroidery as a hobby in 2017. (Photo/Emily Rose Hamby)

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down nearly every aspect of Laura Floydā€™s life. Now an alum of the University of Georgia, her income from working part-time at music venues during school in Athens was halted. Revisiting a passion for embroidery that she discovered in high school, Floyd utilized the free time to make embroidered apparel for friends, thus revamping her brand, Dirty South Stitches.

Over the past year, with the help of the Atlanta Bravesā€™ World Series win, UGAā€™s national championship win, along with attaining booths at various markets in Athens and Atlanta, Floydā€™s small business has skyrocketed and continues to grow in popularity in the hearts of the Athens community.Ā 

In 2017, Floyd had her mind set on college. After deciding on attending UGA, Floyd began saving up the money she made as a babysitter for an embroidery machine.Ā 

Laura Floyd, owner of Dirty South Stitches

Laura Floyd's business has grown rapidly over the course of a few years, appearing at pop-up markets and collaborating with local businesses in Athens. (Photo/Emily Rose Hamby)

ā€œI was like, ā€˜Okay IĀ need a hustle, I need a job at UGA and Iā€™m going to UGA where Greek life is the most prevalent thing ever.ā€™ What do girls love? Monograms,ā€ Floyd said, so she began stitching Greek letters on sweatshirts.

This plan contributed to Floyd discovering her passion for embroidery. She also focused on making money and honing her desire to make her own music-based merchandise.Ā 

After debating on a name for her new embroidery business, Floyd and a friend decided on the name Dirty South Stitches.Ā 

ā€œIt kind of takes that swagger of Atlanta, the swagger of the south. Because I think when people think of embroidery, they think, cutesy little grandma flowers. I feel like people donā€™t think of it as this kind of cool thing,ā€ Floyd said. ā€œNo, itā€™s not your grandmaā€™s embroidery.ā€Ā 

Though Floyd bought her first embroidery machine in 2017, the early days of Dirty South Stitches are nothing compared to its current business operations. In the beginning, Floyd occasionally sold her apparel on DepopĀ and made sweatshirts for her friends, however, she did not rely on it for income until early 2020.

After designing a simple, UGA-themed sweatshirt, she sent it in a group chat of her all-girls music fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota, and found that several people were interested in buying one.Ā 

ā€œOne of Lauraā€™s biggest values for Dirty South is that itā€™s affordable for college students. She packs it, hand-delivers it. Sheā€™s really hands-on,ā€ said Liv Paniagua, third-year UGA student and intern of Dirty South Stitches.

When thinking about her customer base, Floyd credits UGAā€™s Redcoat Marching Band as a huge aid in promotion.

For Yara Manasrah, a second-year sousaphone player in the Redcoat Band, wearing Dirty South Stitches means more than just a sweatshirt. ā€œIā€™m a first-generation college student, Iā€™m a first-generation American. I love being able to represent the brand. I love being able to represent UGA,ā€ Manasrah said.

In late October of 2021, as the state of Georgia celebrated and anxiously watched the Atlanta Bravesā€™ World Series appearance against the Houston Astros, Floyd fired up her embroidery machine and began creating commemorative sweatshirts.Ā 

ā€œWith the Atlanta sweatshirt, I didnā€™t want to do something like, ā€˜Braves Win National Championship 2021,ā€™ I wanted something subtle that you could wear to Atlanta, another place, a Braves game where people go, ā€˜Oh, thatā€™s cool merch!ā€™ā€ said Floyd on the inspiration behind her World Series sweatshirt.

After 41 years, UGA clinched a National Championship title in the beginning of 2022, and along with celebrating UGAā€™s historic win over one of their most challenging rivals, the hunt for national championship merch and memorabilia began. Once again, Floyd found herself at her embroidery machine, making celebratory merch for her beloved alma mater.

ā€œI had something ready for when we won the National Championship,ā€ Floyd said.Ā 

Floydā€™s inspiration behind Dirty Southā€™s ā€œNattyā€ crew neck was a play on UGA quarterback Stetson Bennettā€™s ā€œThe Mailmanā€ nickname and her vintage-style approach to the national championship merch struck a chord with Dirty South customers.Ā 

When asked about the impact of UGAā€™s national championship win on Dirty Southā€™s brand, Floyd said, ā€œMy biggest sales week was ā€˜Nattyā€™ week by far. The night the ā€˜Nattyā€™ crew necks went on sale, they went up at midnight and I woke up to $1,500 in Natty merch sales.ā€

Dirty South has collaborated with several Athens bars and breweries to host pop-up shops where select merchandise is sold while customers are able to sip and shop.

In addition to Dirty South collaborations with local businesses, Floyd has taken her small business places outside of Athens. In February 2022, she traveled to Atlanta for the Atlanta Artisans Market, selling Dirty South sweatshirts and other apparel to customers outside of her typical Athens buyers.

For the future of Dirty South, Floyd wishes to expand her market and clientele by making merch for other schools besides UGA. ā€œI want to build Dirty South until itā€™s ready to fly,ā€ Floyd said.