Stellar Studio Looks to the Future

Amyah Millner balances growing her company, Stellar Studio, while being an involved full-time student

Story by Romie Avivi Stuhl

Stellar Studio is a clothing and accessory brand founded and owned by Amyah Millner. Millner is a University of Oregon journalism student. She taught herself to sew and crochet through various videos online and has built the brand from the ground up since 2021. Stellar Studio hosted several pop-up shops throughout the term and launched its Sweetheart collection this month.

Millner is very involved in the University of Oregon. She is involved in the National Association of Black Journalists and works at the advising desk within the school of journalism and communication. She has had to find a way to balance her school, extracurricular, and work responsibilities with her own company. This was challenging at times, especially because crocheting can be very time consuming. Millner focuses on finishing her school work early on in the week and crochets with any spare time left.

The struggles brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic such as online learning were challenging to many. However, they also gave Millner time to better her artistic skills. Through online classes she was able to sew while listening to lectures. “There was nothing to do, classes were online, I could turn myself off and I was sewing in class,” she said. Today, she still continues to crochet in class and work periodically.

In early September Millner decided to rebrand her company. Previously it was known as toteally stellar, a clever use of words highlighting the brand’s focus on tote bags. As Millner grew her brand into apparel and home decor she felt like the name did not represent the full spectrum of items she offered. For this reason she decided to drop the word toteally from the name.

Creative work takes a high amount of patience and time-management skills. Millner is surrounded by a supportive group of friends that help with behind the scenes aspects of the brand. The members are creative and innovative. They help with photoshoots, branding, modeling and pop-up shops. This helps Millner focus on the creation of products as she does all crochet work herself.

Kara Shannon, a senior studying sociology in one of Millner’s helpers. She enjoys working at Stellar Studio and seeing the brand grow and Millner’s vision come to life. Her favorite part is team-bonding activities hosted by Millner once or twice every term.

“[Millner] does a really good job making sure everybody feels included,” Shannon said, “[Millner] cooks amazing food for the people that are on the team and we do a lot of activities [together].”

Starting a business while being a full time college student is challenging. However, Millner thinks there is no better time to work on creating a brand for yourself. She sees college as a place to gain a large fan following and have time to build yourself up before you have to begin a career. She notes that people appreciate hand-made items and want to support people doing new and eye-catching things.

In the future Millner hopes to continue building her brand. She is currently working on a documentary about her company through skills she learned in her journalism classes. She may also create a magazine down the line.

“If I could just do this for the rest of my life I would love that but it all just starts with getting orders online,” Millner said.

For more information on upcoming pop-up shops and drops, you can go to Stellar Studio’s website. Stellar studio can also be found on Instagram @StellarStudios.