Although not Canadian, Zachary Levi is representing nerds the world over. Known for his leading roles in “Chuck,” “Tangled,” and “Less Than Perfect,” Zachary Levi is an up and coming actor on the Hollywood scene. Over the past year, Levi has uploaded content to the Internet featuring gaming, comic conventions, and more showing the world that he not only portrays a nerdy character on NBC’s “Chuck,” but is also pretty nerdy himself. Because of this, Zachary Levi has become one of the main representatives of nerd culture.
Described as a down-to-earth celebrity, Zachary Levi started his own company in 2010. Representing his own personality and the comradery of nerds in general, Levi’s company, The Nerd Machine, produces a geek-esque clothing line that features shirts with Transformer-style robots and simple text such as “Nerd.”
“At The Nerd Machine, we’re a little company, we launched last year--a year ago with just the one Nerd shirt and had the first Nerd Party. It was a lot of fun; we just danced the night away. We had a lot of good resonance with the one shirt, people would see me wearing it and we’d hand some out to fans—people really liked it. I was like, maybe we have a deal here, maybe something that could work,” said Zachary Levi to Business Review Canada.
Feeding off of nerd culture, The Nerd Machine has been fairly successful. Today the company offers men’s, women’s and kids apparel and has also ventured into accessories and “techcessories”— mix tape iPhone cases. Using Levi as the model with other nerdy celebrities, it’s easy to see why fans would be interested in what the company has to offer.
“My hope is that this site will become a hub for all things nerd. From gadgets and gizmos aplenty, to whozits and whatzits galore. Entertainment, news, hardware, software, and just all around kickassery. Every epic journey begins with a single step, and the first one we will take is into the tried and true field of apparel. Because who doesn’t love a witty t-shirt, right?” said Levi on the company’s website.
Venturing successfully into the world of fashion, Levi and his company’s skew toward a more geeky style really sets the company apart from competitors. Part of its success is directly related to the company’s target market of Levi’s fans and nerds in general. Levi’s putting his name behind the brand clearly has amplified the chance for success as fans flock toward purchases in support. Additionally, the way Levi gives back to fans at San Diego Comic Con with his and the company’s hosting of Nerd HQ creates great promoters of the brand.
