If you were at EHS in 2022, you might’ve seen students wearing hoodies or t-shirts that had a phrase with a sans serif font. The phrases ranged from “dress code” to “too cringe for New York too based for LA.”

That simplistic design is what made Nihilistic Cynic popular.

The clothing brand, started by senior Ammar Bahrainwala and junior Owen Anderson, was made in retaliation against the EHS dress code policies. It quickly became something more than just a shirt with words on it.

Now, one year after the creation, Nihilistic Cynic comes to an end. 

“We decided when I go off to college, we [would] be losing half of the creative team,” Bahrainwala said.

Anderson said he did not want to run Nihilistic Cynic without Bahrainwala, since they’ve been working on this since day one. 

“I started [the idea] by stealing a funny meme and putting on an obnoxiously neon yellow hoodie,” Anderson said. “Who would want to buy that?”

Fortunately, Nihilistic Cynic became quite popular with the student body.

“We got [about 50] orders within our first few months of starting the business,” Anderson said. “It was a total shock to both me and [Bahrainwala].”

What was once a joke turned into an EHS phenomenon, Nihilistic Cynic expanded beyond the “dress code” shirts. They used phrases like “I’m literally Batman,” “Honors Rocks Fan Club” and “#1 Angela Grimke Fan” and put those on t-shirts.

“The admins didn’t respond [to the “Dress Code” shirts],” Bahrainwala said. “Which sucks because we thought it was funny.”

Although Anderson and Bahrainwala are ending Nihilistic Cynic, they encouraged others to try their business method.

“All you need to start a clothing business is truly a lot of confidence and a good attitude,” Anderson said. “We really strived to connect with our customers and we wanted to create a community. You should also keep cheap prices; no one wants to pay over $20.”

Bahrainwala hopes to do something like Nihilistic Cynic in his future.

“I am truly grateful for not only our customers,” Bahrainwala said. “But to everyone who spread the word of Nihilistic Cynic.”