As they say in the South, "football is not just a sport, it’s a religion.”
Amy Chenevert and Gretchen Gilich, who grew up in Alexandria, Louisiana and Ocean Springs, Mississippi, were both used to the fanaticism that surrounds college football in the South. As pledge sisters and roommates at LSU, the duo found themselves tailgating most weekends of their college careers… and for many years thereafter. After living in different cities for over a decade, the best friends decided to move to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
As Amy and Gretchen recall,
“Upon settling into the Crescent City, we found ourselves at every LSU and Saints game. We were always worrying about what to wear weekend after next. Shrunken pink jerseys and bedazzled halters would not do. We just wanted something cool to wear as we cheered on our team without compromising our "tru" style.
We realized there was a void in the women’s sports apparel marketplace. Tru Colors was created as the solution, by offering a line of clothing that is fashion forward and trend-right, fusing women’s contemporary fashion and game day apparel.
Tru Colors is a line of tops and dresses offered in teams’ easily identifiable color combinations – which are often hard to find. Our customer wants to show their spirit in a savvy way, without having it literally written on their sleeves like most traditional game day apparel. Tru Colors offers cool, stylish options that women WANT to wear, not what they are forced to buy. And, all styles are produced in knit fabrications which is perfect for those daylong tailgating extravaganzas!
Our first delivery was ready to ship in August 2008. Each item is named after a beloved sorority sister or girlfriend. Initially focusing on the South, today Tru Colors can be found in over 90 specialty boutiques from Texas to Georgia. The line currently offer tops and dresses in the team colors of LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Auburn, MSU, USM, Texas, Texas A&M , Texas State and SMU.
This season, we are expanding our collection for fans of Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Arkansas. If you can't find your team colors just let us know and we'll do our best to accommodate you!”
Amy Chenevert is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in Fashion Merchandising and a minor in Business. She has acquired and developed extensive skills and relationships while pursuing her career in fashion for the last 12 years in Dallas, Texas. Most recently, she has held a position for eight years as a Merchandiser and Field Stylist for Laundry by Shelli Segal.
Her responsibilities included sales at Dallas and NYC markets as well as, handling all majors in the South West and Mid West regions including Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Macy's, Nordstrom and Bloomingdales. She facilitated these accounts by hosting special events, conducting seminars, commentating fashion shows and collaborating with store buyers and account executives regarding product development and store assortment issues.
Previously held positions include sales for Polo Ralph Lauren, Elizabeth Showers jewelry, account executive for a women’s contemporary line A.B.S., and assistant public relations manager for Neiman Marcus.
Amy has worked within her community by serving on committees in various charitable organizations such as the Dallas Theatre Center, Greer Garson Foundation, Susan G. Komen Foundation, The Family Place and Gilda's Club, alongside her passion for fitness, wellness and nutrition. Most recently she completed her first marathon, Rock-n-Roll Phoenix, AZ 2007 as well as, the New Orleans Mardi Gras Half Marathon in 2008 and 2009.
Gretchen Gilich is a graduate of LSU with a degree is Business Administration and Minor in Marketing. She has been in both inside and outside sales for the past 12 years. She has previously owned a retail store front handling all other aspects of running the day to day operations of the business which includes sales/marketing, buying, merchandising and all accounting.
She has held a position in medical sales for 5 years establishing accounts with orthopedic groups from the Florida panhandle to Southeastern Louisiana. For the past two she has held a position as a sales consultant for a global ophthalmic manufacturing and distributing company.
