About
THE BRAND
ESPERANZA is an Atlanta-based project that consists of a lifestyle brand and creative services company. It is our mission to show the world that the South has more to offer than football and soda pop (even though we love those things too) through our unique products and Southern Fried aesthetic. We are fiercely independent, fueled by the blood, sweat and tears of our founders and we have never accepted outsider help or investor money.
THE STORY
ESPERANZA Atlanta was formed in 2005 as nothing more than a creative outlet for founders DANIEL BARBALHO and BART SASSO. The two bought a table top screen printer online and began printing hand-drawn, Atlanta-centric art on t-shirts after work in a friend’s garage for fun.
It was only when those shirts began to garner an inordinate amount attention whenever worn that the guys realized that they were not only making something people wanted, but were willing to pay for.
DIYers by heart, the two friends pooled their own money into printing a run of t-shirts and hit the streets of Atlanta with the newly printed clothing folded neatly in backpacks. The response from stores around the city was immediate and overwhelming. A website was created shortly after the first deliveries were made and online traffic began pouring in to check out the new brand being talked about around town.
ERIC KELLY joined the fold adding a much-needed pair of hands and unique perspective to the already dynamic partnership. The three totally immersed themselves into creating a unique Atlanta-inspired line of shirts, made with the highest quality materials, and printed in limited batches so as to give their customers a truly collectible product.
Social media was still in its infancy when ESPERANZA created its first line of shirts, but the guys immediately recognized it's potential for free advertisement and began unique online marketing campaigns.
It wasn’t long after that the press took note and raced to profile this upstart label: Fortune Magazine, CNN Money, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Creative Loafing, Atlanta Magazine, Fox 5, USA TODAY, Thrillist, 790 the ZONE, MetroMix, and Comcast are just a handful of the media outlets that have featured Esperanza.
What began as a hobby and unexpectedly became a successful clothing line continued to evolve as entities around the South, enamored with the brand's art and founders' bootstrapping ethos, suddenly began requesting creative services.
Seeing the potential for a new revenue stream and an opportunity to hone their craft, the company expanded vertically and offered design work, production expertise, and promotional savvy to an ever-expanding client base. ESPERANZA's creative services branch, dubbed ESPERANZA DE$IGNHOUSE, has worked with a wide variety of notable companies around Atlanta and the South: PABST, ZOO ATLANTA, CREATIVE LOAFING, ATLANTA SPIRIT, SPANX by SARAH BLAKELY, A3C HIP HOP FESTIVAL, HOLEMAN AND FINCH, INTERRA INTERNATIONAL, WHYNATTE, QUIKTRIP, WELL BEING HYGEINE, SMKA PRODUCTIONS, and more.
ESPERANZA also prides itself in giving back to the city that has provided them with so much by continued work with numerous charities around town. Over the years ESPERANZA has raised considerable sums for: CAMP TWIN LAKES, SUSAN G. KOMAN FOR THE CURE, THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY, RONALD McDONALD HOUSE, BREAST EVENT EVER, ATLANTA FOOD BANK, and more.
With the launch of this new website, ESPERANZA begins another exciting chapter. The lifestyle brand is more robust than ever with increasingly creative projects and a more diverse apparel line on the way, our creative services are being sought after by some of the most elite accounts in the city, and our team is expanding.
We thank the thousands of devoted ESPERANZA supporters and have so much more in in store for you...
Spread the word: SOUTHERN FRIED FOR LIFE
