A Sakrid Touch

Morning DJ Jodi Oehlke is making her imprint in the fashion world.

Sakrid Clothing started off as a batch of 20 T-shirts that seemed destined to become Christmas presents for friends and family. But Jodi Oehlke’s spur-of-the-moment clothing line with wing-and-cross trademarks has grown from its inception eight months ago. It grew much faster than many people, even Oehlke, thought possible. Her operation is still run out of a bedroom at her house, but for a fledgling company, Sakrid is doing all right. Orders are going off in $900 batches, she’s extended her product to children’s wear and accessories and has many more ideas in the pipeline. In August, the KADI 99.5 Hit FM morning show DJ ventured to the Dallas market to present her line to buyers. By the final day, reps from major companies such as Billabong were sporting her T-shirts. At $58 to $78 a pop, her shirts are being placed in high-end stores. “With women, the first compliment she receives removes all pain of having spent that much money,” Oehlke says. “[These shirts] get a response.” She has an exclusivity agreement with Springfield boutique Panache (1308 E. Republic Rd., 417-887-5448), so you won’t find her brand anywhere else in the Springfield area. Well more than 100 shirts have sold from Panache since May. In addition to stores in Texas, her product is also sold in Oregon, Ohio, Oklahoma, Louisiana and California. She’s even in talks with Nordstrom about her men’s line.

People often ask if Sakrid is a Christian brand, and Oehlke explains that she is not making a profit from a religious theme but is giving 20 percent of her revenue to religion. Of the 15 stores that carry her brand, none are Christian-specific. The T-shirts are made of a poly-cotton blend called “burnout” in which an acidic solution is applied to the shirt that gives it both a faded, worn appearance and a soft feel. It’s also a fabric that’s big on the fashion scene right now.

Oehlke, now 28, headed to Los Angeles to work for a ministry right after her graduation from Nixa High School. She picked up some merchandising experience working as a sales associate for Nordstrom but doesn’t have any formal business or design training. She just follows her instincts. In 2005, she moved from Reno, Nevada (where she was a nanny) to Ozark, so she could be closer to her family. In L.A. she hosted a Christian music video program and leaned on that experience when she fell into the DJ gig in 417-land. She gained a lot of connections while she was in Los Angeles, and when Britney and K-Fed called it quits in November, Oehlke was on the phone that week with Spears’ publicist, finding out where to send her “Back on the Market” screen-printed T. She also took a T-shirt to President Bush when he came to Springfield just before the midterm election. It read, “My Wife is Hot.”

“It was perfect because he talked about how it was Laura’s birthday, and she was embarrassed to be turning 60,” Oehlke says. “His assistant said he’d love it and came back and asked for a bunch of my cards and contact information, so we’ll see.” Oehlke is a frequent volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, a certified foster parent (though she has no immediate plans to house a child) and is a licensed realtor. She hasn’t been trying to sell any houses lately. Sakrid has kept her pretty busy. Starting a clothing line has not been Oehlke’s life-long dream, but she’s pleased with the favor Sakrid has found. Oehlke didn’t take out any loans, and says she isn’t going to dive in so deep that she goes into debt over this. She trusts if she bites off what she can chew, it will pay for itself. As Sakrid finds its way into national markets, it is still a locally rooted company. Oehlke uses 417-land screen printers, she had a member from a local band design her website, sakridclothing.com (the photoshoot for the site was in her kitchen), and she keeps her inventory right here. She has been considering moving the business into a larger space. For at least a little while, though, with the help of friends and family, she’ll keep setting trends from her spare bedroom.

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