Denver company tells story of product in Oscars nominee gift bags four years running
Mar 16, 2026
On the second floor of what used to be a Catholic high school in Denver, Stacy Flax has learned to reach for the stars."I think Im a perfect example of you can make big changes and now I cant believe this is what I get to do wit
h my life," Flax said.What she gets to do with her life is to create the worlds first graphic T-shirt you can wear under a dress shirt without it being visible. "What I discovered is if I turned the words vertical and I put it down the center, then it falls under that thick part of the fabric by the buttons which is four times as thick as the rest of the shirt," Flax said.Her company Bored Rebel is the medicine Flax needed after burnout in a corporate job."Bored Rebel has healed me," Flax said. "I get pretty emotional when I look back and think about where I was because it was a pretty dark place and I would not have imagined Id be brave enough to be able to put myself out there like this." Look around her Bored Rebel headquarters inside the old high school and on the surface, you'll see blackboards lining the walls. But youll quickly learn everything behind that is Flax's art, heart and soul.From the blackboards to the red carpet, this is the fourth year the Academy Awards have come calling for Bored Rebel to be a part of the Oscars gift bags."The first year I was blown away I cried, the fourth year feels particularly special," Flax said.Twenty-five Oscar nominees found Stacys shirts in their gift bags Sunday."'Champagne will fix it' one of our most popular ones, and we gave that to Kate Hudson and Emma Stone," Stacy said, "We just try to research as much as possible and figure out what their personality is and what theyll love. So 'Exhale' we gave to Elle Fanning because she's a big yoga fan... My dogs think Im awesomethats what we gave to Leonardo DiCaprio. Anytime we can find out one of the nominees loves dogs, thats the one we give."
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