Contributed by Jenn Walker

At age 19 and 20, Sacramento City College students Diana Byrd and Elena Gallegos are discovering the business world firsthand with the growth of their online business Meshugga Chic.

Meshugga Chic, casually referred to as just Meshugga (not to be confused with the Swedish death metal band Meshuggah), is the duo's online vintage clothing store, catering to men and women with a unique fashion sense around the world.

Their merchandise is an array of color, fun and the unusual. Items like high-waist purple parachute pants, a billowy bright pink and purple windbreaker or an acid wash jumper scream '80s. Anything funky goes.

The two launched their site around a year ago. With a lot of "trial and error," the business has continued to gain recognition, especially in recent months, they noted. Participation in local events such as Launch and Second and Third Saturdays have helped spread the word.

Sharing the desire to be self-employed as well as a zeal for fashion brought the two together to create their business. "We kinda just did the business thing as a whim. We always wanted to work for ourselves, so we said, 'Why don't we just do it?'" Byrd said.

The two chose to sell vintage because of their love for outrageous, one-of-a-kind pieces, and also because it is an eco-alternative to buying reproduced clothing. "[Vintage] is really hot right now," Byrd added.

To build Meshugga the girls worked from the bottom up. Rather than take out a loan, the two relied entirely on their own resources to start up the business. "We worked with everything we had," Gallegos said. "Any x-amount of money I made from my job, wherever [Diana] would get money, we'd put in the business and anything we'd get, we'd put back into the business."

Approving a legal name and bank account for the business requires filing paperwork, but with no business background, these girls were on their own.

Some of the local boutiques downtown, like Sugar Shack, were valuable resources for the girls in learning about the business world.

"Sometimes we talk to people we know about the business stuff but we kind of get lost in all of the big words," Gallegos said.

A few Google searches later, and the ladies found themselves at the county offices filing for permits and licenses.

They chose to specifically name the business "Meshugga" because it means "crazy" in Hebrew. Being an online store is an essential part of fulfilling their Meshugga vision, as it allows them to ship to an adventurously fashionable clientele extending beyond just Sacramento.

"I think online is better, because we can be available to everybody from around the world," Byrd said.

They've already noticed a following in the Bay. "They definitely love Meshugga [there]," Byrd said.

So far the duo has handled every aspect of their business — buying the clothing, creating the website, cataloging their merchandise and taking their own photos. "You don't realize how much goes into it until you actually do it," Gallegos said.

Friends since the seventh grade, the two work well together and do their best to divvy up business management tasks. Elena loves to write, so naturally she takes on any aspect of writing on the site. Diana is responsible for managing the site and editing pictures.

"I'm not very knowledgeable about HTML, but I literally did the whole website myself," Gallegos said.

Selecting merchandise, however, is something they have worked at equally.

The Meshugga collection started out as salvaged vintage pieces from both Byrd's and Gallegos' families, either grandmothers or aunts. "We're like treasure hunters," Gallegos said.

Byrd added foreign taste to the collection after her recent trip to Italy.

In addition to their own hunting, Gallegos and Byrd have recruited Jesus Medrano as their buyer. A local designer with a Meshugga eye, the two entrust Medrano with the task of buying rare finds in Berkeley, L.A. and the Bay Area. They soon hope to shop more vintage havens around New York and the East Coast.

Though the Meshugga ladies are looking to transcend the local design scene with their international ambitions, they also want to channel local designers like Medrano. "[Jesus Medrano] is going to do a collection for Meshugga and we're very excited about that," Byrd said.

Most recently, Gallegos and Byrd are looking into moving their collection from their homes into an office space at The Urban Hive on 20th and H Streets.

Rather than just a clothing line, the two like to think of Meshugga as a way of life. "It's almost like a personality type of thing," Gallegos said. "You're so confident about what you wear and you're not afraid to wear this crazy stuff."

The elements of adventure, uninhibited fun and playfulness in their clothing line reflect their attitudes in real life.

When they are out vending, they set up buckets of water balloons and encourage passers-by to be mischievous and have fun.

"That's our personal philosophy," Gallegos said.

"It's almost like we're kids again," Byrd said.

For more information, click the following links:
Meshugga Chic Website
Meshugga Chic Myspace