Bound by Collaboration: From Peer Connection to Product Launch

What happens when a campus apparel brand and a materials startup cross paths at Tsai CITY? In this case, a beautifully crafted notebook made of banana leather, recycled paper, and a bold design. 

At Tsai CITY, students don’t just learn about innovation—they experience it. Through hands-on workshops, immersive fellowships, and one-on-one guidance during open office hours, they explore ideas, test prototypes, and build real-world collaborations that help turn concepts into action. 

“The biggest asset we can provide [students] is this peer group that they can move forward with," says Kassie Tucker, Interim Executive Director. "These like-minded folks who are in it together, who can, when things get hard, lean on each other, and when things get great, celebrate with each other.”

Tsai CITY programs are intentionally designed to foster what Kassie calls “intentional serendipity.” A student founder facing a challenge might find themselves in conversation with someone who has navigated a similar path and a simple exchange of ideas can spark something entirely new. That’s exactly what happened when two ventures—Crew Dog and Banofi Leather—found common ground and turned a shared idea into something tangible.

From Parallel Paths to Shared Product

Jinali Mody (YSE '23) first joined Tsai CITY as a student employee and quickly found herself inspired by the student founders around her. “I was looking for something at the intersection of chemistry, environment, and business,”she says. That search led her to launch Banofi Leather, a company that makes plant-based leather using the fibers from banana waste.

Around the same time, Coby Wagonfeld (YC ’26) and Constantine Polychronopoulos (YC ’25) were building Crew Dog, a student-run company that creates modern collegiate apparel featuring school mascots and is now producing officially licensed clothing for more than 80 colleges. “It's a more laid back, less in-your-face way to show your group affinity,” says Coby.

When Jinali and her business partner, Maggie Boreham (SOM '24), expressed interest in incorporating Yale branding into their product line, Matt Gira, Tsai CITY’s Director of Entrepreneurship, made the introduction. He suggested they connect with the Crew Dog team, who had deep experience with licensing and visual branding.  

Although both companies evolved at Tsai CITY, as participants in separate Summer Fellowships, the founders had never met. Once they connected, the conversation led to an idea: What if we collaborate on a sustainable notebook?  

“Maggie from Banofi and I thought it would be a really exciting collaboration to bring together two Yale-founded brands working on physical products.” Constantine shares.

A Closer Look at the Process  

For both ventures, this was new territory. “It was the first time we had put our design on something other than apparel,” says Coby. For Banofi, the challenge was even more technical.“We went through four to five rounds of prototyping to figure out how the printing would work,” recalls Jinali, “And it’s been a great journey, because now, when we get that request from other brands or clients, it’s super helpful.”

Throughout the design and production process, each team benefited from each other’s knowledge and experience. Crew Dog contributed design expertise, and Banofi brought knowledge of materials and manufacturing. “There's so much to learn from them and for them to learn from us,” Jinali says. “Their sales were better, but we were better in terms of R&D and manufacturing, so there was a lot of shared excitement and questions for [each other].”

For the notebook, the collaborators chose the most sustainable materials available, including mineral-dyed banana leather, recycled paper, and cotton thread—and the resulting product is as beautiful as it is functional.

Tsai CITY as a Catalyst

Tsai CITY was an early customer of the collaboration, using the notebooks as gifts for mentors, guest speakers, and VIPs. It was a small gesture that sent a big message: Tsai CITY doesn’t just support student ventures, it invests in their ideas. 

“We are incredibly proud of our founders,” Kassie says. “And whenever we can, we like to celebrate them, support them, and, quite frankly, amplify them.” 

A Place to Start Something New 

The Crew Dog x Banofi Leather notebook is more than a product; it’s a symbol of what’s possible when Tsai CITY students meet at the intersection of disciplines and are encouraged to build something new together.