Interview with Madison Sinclair of BugGirl200
Two years ago, Madison Sinclair watched all five Twilight movies with her best friend for the first time. As a 20-year-old college student in Houston stuck at home during the first lockdown, it seemed like the perfect time to check-out the beloved over decade-old film series.
After soaking up all the ironic-goodness a young Krisen Stewart and brooding Robert Pattinson had to offer, Madison used an iPhone app to design two instant-print t-shirts, one for her and one for her best friend as a birthday gift. The design read, “Bite me, big boy,” encapsulating the ridiculous and simultaneously sincere fandom all Twilight fans know so well.
Fast forward two years, Madison now designs sincerely-ironic t-shirts as her full-time job. Operating out of a private studio with two employees, Madison owns and operates BugGirl200 Brand, playfully named after her TikTok account where her original design first garnered attention from eager Twilight fans.
All photos by Annelysse Lopez
After posting a casual video showing off her outfit in a grocery store, Madison said she received dozens of messages from TikTok users who wanted to buy her Twilight shirt.
“It’s just so crazy thinking back. If I hadn't posted this TikTok where would I be now?” Madison said.
After listing it on Depop, she received over 60 orders within the first day. From there, Madison said she worked backwards to learn the ins-and-outs of sublimation printing. She soon bought a website domain and created new Taylor Swift and Twilight-themed shirts that also blew up on TikTok.
“I definitely always wanted to have a career in something related to art, but I never really thought that was possible because my whole life people said that art can be a really risky career, so that discouraged me a lot,” Madison said. “I definitely owe literally all of my success to Mr. Robert Pattinson and the Twilight franchise.”
Through trial and error, Madison said she learned how to use Adobe design programs, bought new equipment and materials to support her new side-hustle, and with the help of friends, started consistently producing t-shirts from home. By the end of 2020, after leaving college and her job at Starbucks, Madison started designing and creating t-shirts full-time.
“It's been a long process of being like is this really happening?” Madison said. “I feel so lucky to be able to do something that I'm this passionate about.”
Madison has mastered designing shirts based on her favorite actors and musicians like Robert Pattinson, Michael Sarah, Danny DeVito and Taylor Swift. Pairing colorful illustrations and images with slogans that poke-fun at the ridiculous nature of celebrity-worship, Madison’s designs also capture the honest feelings we all have about the famous people we look up to or cherish with our whole hearts.
“I'm not a person who's obsessed with celebrities. It's on an ironic level at this point where it's funny to be obsessed with these celebrities,” Madison said. “But I fucking love Taylor Swift, and I love Robert Pattinson.”
Madison said starting a small business has been fun and rewarding, but she’s also struggled with the logistical and creative challenges of being her own boss.
“I remember a lot of people really scaring me about taxes and saying things like if you don't do this, they're going to come murder you in your sleep,” Madison said. “Honestly up until like six months ago I was pretty terrified, but it’s been fun at the same time. I just remember googling and googling and googling.”
Madison said after more people started following BugGirl200 and she devoted herself to making a living off of her art, she started struggling with more self-doubt and being overly critical of her work. She said the more attention her work got, the more difficult she found it to create new designs.
“I am my own worst enemy, and I feel like we’re all our own worst enemies because we're in our own heads all the time,” Madison said. ”I'm the type of person that if I'm not good at it, I'm not going to do it, but I've had to shift out of that because I wasn’t good at a lot of things in this business and I've had to figure it out.”
Madison said through it all, having the opportunity to start a small business creating niche, yet popular clothing alongside friends has changed her life.
“I know this is so fucking cliche, but don't give up just because you don't hit the jackpot your first month or year,” Madison said. “All of my past art failures and all of the stuff I felt shitty about, it still gave me the knowledge and the experience to help me move forward into this experience.”
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