From the makers that brought
you Hattoos and basically revolutionized the head gear, now brings you a new
style of customized sneakers. There are others out there that have about the
same idea, but these two are taking it to a whole different level. The creators
and founders of Mark Em’ Customs have brought you customized caps and shirts,
now they’re adding to the rest of the gear with personally designed sneakers by
your request, make an order and see your favorite cartoon, sports teams, or
logo come alive as you rock the shoes to match the rest of your gear. These two
really define the true meaning of hard work and dedication, the amount of
effortless time they put into these creations takes a lot of patience and
devotion. This is why when you order a pair of customized sneakers always
understand that it will take some time before you can receive a completed
product knowingly that the product itself will be worth their time and your
time.
I was recently invited back
to their studio, whereby I was finally able to secure a long overdue interview
with the head designers themselves, let me formally introduce you to Mike and
Rookie, these two comprise Mark Em’ Up Customs all the way. This is an
exclusive interview that will only see here on 24hourhiphop.com
time we talked?
Mike: Everything is going
good, seems like we reaching out to more people and its getting a little
bigger, we got a bigger buzz now.
Rookie: It’s been crazy, the
company going through changes; it’s just a whole bunch of problems everywhere,
but we rectified the situations and we looking to go forward with everything.
24: Every company starts with an idea, can you give us
a brief history of Mark Em’ Customs from the beginning?
Rookie: Well, Mike and I got
together and we just two creative minds together to see how we could
revolutionize the fashion industry and do our own thang. Everything I do pretty
much just deals with art.
Mike: I agree with that, I
mean, we got together and tried to figure out something new and no one pretty
much touched on. Nobody was really doing anything on caps, I mean that’s where
it really started and from going into the caps it grew into sneakers and with
the caps it also went on to shirts.
24: Between both Mike and Rookie, how long have you
been interested in art?
Mike: I mean I’ve always been
interested in art, since I was a kid. I really never concentrated on it until I
got into my late teens, early twenties, that’s when I started getting serious
with it.
Rookie: My whole life, I’ve
been drawing as long as I can remember. I stopped after middle school, like
Mike said; I never really seemed to take it seriously until I reached my early
twenties and I use to think that drawing wasn’t going to make me any money.
When I was in school I dabbled a little bit in drawing on sneakers, but never took
it to the extent, but since I got with Mike everything just been like a
snowball effect, trying to get these ideas out, trying to reach everybody.
24: Can you name drop any satisfied clients that are
household names, past, present, and future?
Rookie: We don’t really like
to put our clientele out there, but we’ve done stuff for Santana Moss, Sinorice
Moss, Bryan Simms, Flo Rida, Brisco, that’s just to name a few, I mean, there’s
also Rick Ross, Udonis Haslem and also Big Chuck, Ryan, and Zenn from
24hourhiphop.com. Our products speak for itself.
24: Besides Caps, Shoes, and Shirts, is there any
other material you plan to work on?
Rookie: We already do
painting, basically everything we’ve covered, we branching out to golds, we
doing grills now, so anyone want their custom grills done, we doing that, too.
We got car audio, anyone who needs their car system set up, we doing that, too.
Mike: That pretty much sums
it up, but mostly we’ve been focused on Men’s clothes, we’d like to get into
the women’s line also.
Rookie: Yeah, so any female
artist who got talent, if you reading this article, we looking for a female
artist, come check us out.
24: Now let’s into the design process of your Customized
Hats, T-Shirts, and Sneakers, let’s say a client hires you for a product, what
do you mainly look for, what do you start with?
Rookie: Well everything is
with the client, if you feel you want to get something, we can work together.
We want everybody.
Mike: Well, basically, it
depends on the client, if a client comes at you with an idea; they already have
a basic idea of what they are looking for. You tell us that idea and we just go
from there. We’re basically here to satisfy the client and create what they are
looking for in a product, no matter what it might be; we put it on a cap, a
shirt, a sneaker, or whatever it might be.
24: Exactly, how long does the process usually take to
complete a customized product?
Rookie: It all depends on
what the whole idea is actually, it’s really what the client wants. Don’t get
me wrong, it’s not just Mike and I, we have other artists, like Sean. We get
ideas from almost everyone and when the ideas come in they flow. In reality,
it’s not just a one person thing; it’s really a whole team. I might not work on
something by myself, I might start on one thing and let Mike finish or vice
versa. Everyone is entitled to add their own ideas into one product while in
the process.
24: Since all your items are done custom with time and
precision, what exactly is the going price for one?
Rookie: The prices are still
the same as before: $100.00 for Custom Caps, $150 for Custom Sneakers, and the
clothes vary depending on what you’re requesting.
24: When do you think we will final see them in the
major commercial market?
Mike: I mean right now, we’re
still trying to get out products out there and have people see it. We’re still
in the process of trying to put a new fashion idea out there for them to
experience. Maybe a year, maybe more, you really never know, as long as it
takes our clients to pick up and for people to hear. So as long as our clients are
satisfied with what we are doing now, then it doesn’t even matter, we got
patience.
24: Where do you see this new innovative fashion trend
in the next 2 years?
Rookie: Any business you get
into, you have to stay ahead of the times, change with the times or accept
challenges. We are trying to stay ahead of the time, so in two years we will be
setting the trends, we will be ahead of everything.
24: Besides going directly to the source, is there any
other way that they can purchase these customized items and let’s say they
didn’t live in Miami?
Rookie: Well, actually, we
are trying to work something out right now. But for now, you can hit us up on
our myspace at myspace.com/southernrookie305 or you hit us up
myspace.com/millerboy305 or on my personal cell at 786-877-0730.
24: Describe your future plans?
Mike: I mean, basically, I’m
trying to take this as far as I can take it, like Rookie said; it changes all
the time. One thing can be cool and not be cool in the future. We’re just going
with the flow. If we keep on making new things, then this could definitely go
on for a long time.
24: Thank you for providing 24hourhiphop.com with this
exclusive fashion interview and trendsetter, would you like to express anything
to your future potential clients?
Rookie: We’re always
available, just hit us up; I mean we’re always here. We appreciate everyone
including the haters. Comment on the article, because we do read these
comments. The only way we get better is by your criticism.
Mike: Our designs get better
and better, so get to know us. We’re here.
Check out more of their products in
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