Creating an original clothing line is one of the most competitive fields in terms of businesses, but two local college students have managed to gain a following for their minimalistic looks, cheap prices and passion.

Matt Caruccio and Lukas Narkevicius of Danvers, Mass. have been developing their “clean but a little weird” brand SadFish since last year. Take a standard sweatshirt, hat or t-shirt and picture a fish skeleton with its head still on and a frowning face – that is the signature SadFish style.

The pair have been inseparable since early childhood. After running around their hometown for years, they had to part ways this summer as college arrived. Narkevicius chose Salem State University while Caruccio chose UMass Lowell. Although they were separated, they promised to never neglect their business SadFish.

“At SadFish we really care about making steezy [style with ease] clothes and not charging a fortune,” said Narkevicius. “We understand what it’s like to be broke because we are broke, too, so why try to rob people?” he said.

That is only part of what makes them different. Their hands-on attitude is what really separates their work.

“Sadfish is different because it’s not like a typical clothing brand,” says Jon Walsh, 18, a good friend of Caruccio and Narkevicius for the past seven years. “All of the clothes are handmade by Lukas and Matt, from designing the logos and prints, to picking colors for the background of the clothing, to actually printing the clothes and sending them out,” he says.

There is a lot that goes into making the clothes. With no manufacturing help, they do everything themselves. “We order blank clothes, and we have vinyl, a heat press and a vinyl cutter. So we make designs on the computer, put it into the vinyl cutter that cuts out designs for us and then we press all of them individually ourselves,” says Caruccio.

Living apart for the first time while they have been in business together, each have had to focus on specific aspects of the business. “Ever since they have been separated for college, Lukas works more on producing the product end, while Matt works on advertising,” said Gwen Gallagher, a long-time friend of the SadFish duo.

Caruccio and Narkevicius are not in this for the money – this is what they love to do.

Narkevicius is the team’s designer. “It comes naturally to me and I love it,” he says. “I also run the production of the merchandise. I literally see the designs coming to life.”

Although he is currently a health sciences major, Narkevicius has interest in being a graphic designer. “Starting SadFish has changed our lives,” he said.

“Whenever Lukas is in class he just draws,” says Caruccio. While Narkevicius handles the designs, Caruccio is the one that decides how the branding will be laid out. “We together handle the business as a whole in terms of promotions and marketing and other things that need to be taken care of,” he said.

Caruccio’s marketing style is simple but effective. “We really like to do weird marketing things like take chalk, go out at four in the morning and write SadFish everywhere,” he says. “I had people texting me saying that random people were putting it in their snapchat stories wondering what it was. It is just a way to get some publicity and make people wonder what it is.”

In just over a year these life-long friends have built something that have changed their lives, but they are not forgetting about the importance in having fun and not letting the business interfere with their friendship.

“I wouldn’t be doing it if weren’t for him,” said Caruccio. “This is something we can only do if we do it together and it is very important that he is a part of this,” he said. “SadFish isn’t him, it isn’t me; it’s us.”

Narkevicius echoes this sentiment. “He’s not just my best friend. He’s like my brother,” he said. “I consider his family to be my second family.”

The two have been friends since birth and inseparable since middle school. “They do everything together,” says Walsh. “Matt, despite being Italian by birth, has even attended a Lithuanian cultural camp with Lukas for the past five or six years,” he said.

They work at the camp with Gallagher, and she said she knows just how close they are. “Matt and Lukas have such a strong and goofy friendship that they act like brothers, she says. “They are so similar yet so different that they can always bounce off of each other for ideas,” Gallagher said. And with the brand still in its infancy, the boys a SadFish have some ideas for what is coming next.

“We’ve been working on a winter line which features some really nice embroidered hoodies and beanies,” said Caruccio. “We want to have a lot more regular drops for clothing and try to get our clothing into stores. Having pop-up-shops where we can directly sell our clothes to people would be huge to meet our clientele.”

What started off as something to do for fun is quickly becoming a dream for them – a dream they did not even realize existed until they started.

“It kind of came out of nowhere,” Caruccio said. “Lukas started making clothes before any of this happened, and then we started SadFish and it started to get bigger and bigger,” he says.

Narkevicius was once told “chase your dreams and you’ll be a happy person,” and he is doing just that.

“I have high expectation for SadFish,” he said. “It’s a dream of ours to see SadFish blow up. I want SadFish to be more popular than fedoras, and that is saying a lot.”