OUR
STORY
Smooth Gear is a lifestyle clothing line that has its origin in Allentown, PA. Since our humble beginning, we have always strived to create classic apparel with influences from hip hop, sports, sneaker and streetwear cultures. We were inspired to create a brand that stood out by not fitting into any one category.
Smooth Gear began as a high school print shop project for Nick Beers. He created a graffiti-like version of the word Smooth (his nickname) to silk screen onto t-shirts. He made a total of six shirts with the original design in class. Along with the help of his cousin, Chad Holschwander, the Smooth Gear brand was conceptualized later that same year.
Early on, Chad and Nick would create designs for new shirts and iron-on the logos. They had some limited success with the brand in Allentown and Northampton. Next, they went to college at Drexel University and continued selling Smooth Gear t-shirts in the Philadelphia area with growing success.
Smooth Gear then relocated to Mechanicsburg, PA and operations were conducted out of Nick’s basement. With the addition of silk screening equipment, Smooth Gear then began to design and produce all of their apparel creations in house (quite literally). While in Mechanicsburg, Smooth Gear, LLC was officially opened in 2014. We began to promote our brand at sneaker conventions throughout the Northeast US and also started offering our screen printing and design services to others. Kate also started to help out at around this time and assisted us at these shows and also was very instrumental in growing the Smooth Gear screen printing business.
The Smooth Gear brand has sold apparel to customers both nationally and internationally. Smooth Gear is now poised to expand its brand name and push sales to a new level through their clothing line and screen printing services. Look for more designs from the Smooth Gear team available on this site. Also, be on the lookout for the brand to pop up in local apparel and boutique shops and other online retailers in the near future.
In the summer of 2019, Smooth Gear returned to its roots in the Lehigh Valley when Nick and Kate purchased a house that Chad had remodeled the previous year. On the property is a large commercial warehouse which now houses the Smooth Gear Creative Lab. This allows us to print all of our own garments and have complete creative control over all of our designs. It has 3 floors of space for screen printing, heat presses and sewing/embroidery operations. The space also contains a full size photo studio, a personal gym, lounge area with future podcast studio and one car garage space. With a vast amount of room to expand and grow in this location, the Smooth Gear team is excited for the next chapter in our story.