重口味SM

Founded by sibling team, U of T startup partners with university to sell apparel

Clothing brand MOTUS, co-founded by two U of T students and their younger sister, is collaborating with the university on a capsule collection
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Along with younger sister and creative partner Calille, left, Malik and Sydnie Pottinger worked with U of T's Trademark Licensing Office to create a capsule collection for their clothing brand MOTUS (photo by Varenya Danthurthy)

Startup co-founders and siblings Sydnie and Malik Pottinger are set to make history by becoming the first students to partner with the 重口味SM鈥檚 to create a capsule collection with their . 

Sydnie, a third-year student at St. Michael鈥檚 College, and Malik, a fifth-year student in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE), will see their MOTUS line of fashion wear, complete with the university鈥檚 iconic T-and-leaf logo, go on sale at the U of T Bookstore鈥檚 St. George campus location in March.

The collection includes a varsity jacket, sweatsuits, beanies, soccer jerseys and T-shirts.

Bringing this dream to fruition has been a family affair for the Pottingers, whose younger sister Calille is also involved in the company 鈥 and whose parents have been a constant source of encouragement.
 
The siblings, whose university years saw them turn out for the Varsity Blues 鈥 with Malik playing basketball and Sydnie, volleyball 鈥 began to consider creating a line of comfortable but stylish fashion pieces during the pandemic. They launched MOTUS in January 2023, taking on everything from designing clothing and creating a logo to arranging manufacturing and shipping orders.

Malik says the brand name MOTUS is derived from the Latin word for motion. 鈥淚t fits us because we are always pushing ourselves and each other to have one foot forward, and it signifies always progressing and elevating,鈥 says Malik.

The business began booming shortly after the e-commerce brand was launched, with Malik and Sydnie soon making regular trips from their small warehouse to the post office to mail orders. 

It wasn鈥檛 long before they met their first benchmark of success: seeing people on the street wearing their clothes. 

鈥淪uccess is your brand being recognized,鈥 Sydnie says. 

The siblings then began to think of how to create a brick-and-mortar presence and pondered whether they could reach an arrangement to sell their items in the U of T Bookstore.
 
鈥淲e brought up the idea to our parents. They encouraged us and said, 鈥楾he worst that can happen is that the bookstore says no,鈥 Sydnie recalls. 
 
Soon, they were in contact with U of T鈥檚 Trademark Licensing Office, where they were introduced to manager Ivan Canete, who previously managed the Under Armour portfolio for the Sport & Rec programs at KPE. Together, they discussed how U of T branding and logos could be integrated into a MOTUS x UofT collection.

In addition to the bookstore stocking their items, MOTUS also received support from Spaces & Experiences, which invested in initial inventory and connected the siblings with resources such as the .

鈥淲e haven鈥檛 done a lot of this before,鈥 Canete says of the collaboration, noting that only recently have big brands begun to create collaborative clothing collections with U of T. 

Canete says that since U of T Bookstore royalties are poured back into student experience, partnering with students is a great path. 鈥淯 of T is pioneering this kind of thinking and developing a model for other schools to follow,鈥 he says, describing the arrangement as part of the bookstore鈥檚 evolution.

鈥淚t's a great feeling to know that something that my sisters and I created in our parents鈥 living room is going to help other people,鈥 says Malik, who is set to graduate from KPE this year. 鈥淲e are the first students to collaborate with the university鈥檚 Trademark Licensing Program and it鈥檚 really nice to see MOTUS among big-name brands like OVO, Roots and Peace Collective.鈥  

Malik plans to spend at least a year following his graduation solely focused on building the business. Sydnie, who has two years of school remaining and also coaches volleyball, will also continue to make a full-time commitment.

Among MOTUS鈥檚 next steps is to produce leather goods, says Malik, who has been looking into suppliers in Portugal. 鈥淲e are already developing an assortment of items of this category for our brand. Our goal for MOTUS is to have an international footprint,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e are so grateful for U of T鈥檚 backing.鈥

Malik says he would advise students to not let their studies box them into a corner. 鈥淛ust take everything you learned from U of T and apply it in whatever direction you want to take in your life,鈥 he says.

鈥淢y first two years at KPE provided me with a great foundation and perspective to figure out what I like. That structure, combined with playing on the varsity basketball team in the first two years of my studies, provided me with discipline and routine that come in handy today.鈥

KPE