COVER STORY
ON THE WRIGHT TRACK
Hinsdale Central seniors use fashion to stimulate entrepreneurial spirit, support women’s issues by Mike Ellis Photography by Marco Nunez
Reagan Wright of Hinsdale and Madeline Shownkeen of Oak Brook
24 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
hile many kids are just opening their first checking accounts or receiving their first credit cards in high school, two Hinsdale Central seniors have been building their own fashion business. Reagan Wright of Hinsdale and Madeline Shownkeen of Oak Brook met as freshmen in English class, and have been working together to develop their own fashion brand, Wright and Carter, ever since the end of that school-year. “I think we just bonded over similar interests—fashion,” Shownkeen said. “We always talked about starting something and having something that was completely our own.” The business name is derived from a combination of Wright’s last name and Shownkeen’s middle name (Carter). “We sell clothes online,” Wright said. “We design them ourselves, and work with a manufacturer in downtown Chicago to kind of bring it to life.” Shownkeen said the girls’ initial desire was to center their business on clothing, but they were unsure of how to execute that design, and settled on jewelry instead. In order to learn more about designing jewelry, she said they visited the Chicago jewelry district downtown, and conducted additional research online. In order to cover their start-up costs including the daunting incorporation fee, the girls dug into their personal savings and auctioned off items on eBay. Wright said instead of eyeing transient and superfluous goods for Christmas, they asked for money to put into their business. “I think we’re a bit ambitious people; we go big or go home,” Wright said. “This was something we really wanted to do and create ourselves.” Continued on page 26