GinoGreenGlobal is the label with the 9s you’ve probably been wondering about because it’s been poppin’ on every dude in the hood and beyond. Most people regard it as a new label, but not according to the brand owners who say they’re 10 years strong in the fashion world and are nowhere near stopping. With their designs seen on everyone from Busta Rhymes to Papoose they are not lying about their global status. But don’t think that these guys are strictly Hip-Hop they want to clothe any one that can afford let’s say a $80 for a t-shirt. Anthony Mayhol, co-owner of the brand talked a little about the company and why he left the courtroom to hit the high stakes world of sewing, designing and customizing.

TEC: How did you get started with the label?

Anthony Mayhol: We got started because my brother has actually been doing artwork, graphics, t-shirts, logos and graffiti for about 20 something years. He’s kind of an artist by nature, drawing on everything since he was young, and kind of made the natural transition. We started with the actual t-shirt line in ‘95/’96. Ninety-three is when we first did t-shirts but ‘95/’96 is when we had our first t-shirt line. We did kind of well for the first couple of years and had to take a couple of years off for some other legal issues, and then started back with Gino Green in the 2000’s.

TEC: I read a statement that said if the “G’s don’t get you then the 9’s will” can you elaborate on that?

AM: That was one of the initial marketing concepts that we had come up with because we knew that people wouldn’t be sure whether it was a “G” or what most people indistinctly thought was a 9. Therefore, by saying that we’re basically saying with the g, the lowercase g doesn’t get your attention but the 9 will. One way or the other we’re going to use that to get your attention and get you to inquire about the line, and hopefully like and wear the line.

TEC: Since you said that you’ve been in the fashion game since like ‘93, would you say that you’re kind of a veteran compared to all the other t-shirt brands that are out?

AM: Like I said, we’re doing a lot of what we did when we first did our t-shirts. We did a lot of one and two color prints on a screen press; we did very basic cut and sew designs back then — maybe an embroidered patch — we did real basic stuff the first couple of years just to get our groove going. As things expanded, we had to take some time off to really study the game more and of learn a lot of new techniques, then picked it back up and started going again. We’re fortunate to definitely have a lot of experience. I don’t know if we’re necessarily any more veteran than anybody else but we definitely have some experience that’s really helpful to us.

TEC: Is it a t-shirt brand, is it a customized brand or is it both?

AM: Our vision was to have a whole line, a whole collection — that was the ultimate goal. We came out with t-shirts first, and the hoodies that were customized. That was, again, because we were operating on a small schedule and we were able to that and we really wanted to match up the color patterns of the shirts and the hoods to whatever the new sneaker was of the week. So, every time a new sneaker dropped each week, we found out about it [let’s say Tuesday it’ll be out Friday] and by Friday we had two or 300 shirts ready to take to all the different stores that would match perfectly with all the sneakers that were about to drop. Now, with the phase we are in, we both we have a lot of custom pieces that we do for celebrities or people who have a bigger wallet, and then we have garments that are massed manufactured and designed for people who want to enjoy the experience but don’t necessary have the opportunity pay $600 for a t-shirt.

TEC: Speaking of artists, I’ve seen your clothes on Papoose and Kay Slay. How did you first hook up with them?

AM: It was really just a basic approach. We had a mutual acquaintance. Kay Slay has been in the game for a minute and we had a lot of respect for what he’s done on the music side of things and the business side of things too. We approached him and said, “Listen, you know we got you some free product, would you be interested in wearing it and supporting.” He wore it a few times and people gave him a good response I think it solidified that this was something that was really about to catch fire. Most times, in the early stages we went to the artist or used a contact that we had to get to the artist and give them free product as they accepted the role, then a lot of artists and their managers or their stylists reached out to us.

TEC: Was it hard going to them at first since they didn’t know the product?

AM:Nah..I don’t think it was hard. Those are the type of dudes that are very busy, so the hardest thing is being able to catch up with them. We had a lot of support in the very beginning from Ed Lover, so a lot of it has to come down to meeting their schedules. They might call us at the last minute for a video shoot that’s Saturday morning at 9 AM and we’ll work all day Friday making them a shirt and then we’re driving in the middle of Queens or somewhere like that [to drop off the shirt] because they were so busy. We had such a small staff — we’re talking three people doing everything — making the designs, creating the designs, delivering the designs…that was the issue we faced in the early stages.

TEC: That was my next question. How many people are on the team? Who does what?

AM: Essentially, the true team is between five to ten people strong. Everybody has a different role within the organization I have family members that are with us that play certain roles and then I have outside people that join the team because they bring in an outside experience.

TEC: What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t in fashion?

AM: Well me personally I would still be doing law because I used to be a lawyer. I left law along to come to this so if I wasn’t doing this I would be back in the court room.

TEC: Why did you choose fashion instead of law? That’s a big transition.

AM: A number of reasons…the first is because I just wanted the opportunity help more of my family members with fashion, including the amount of money that can be made. Two: I just felt that in law, I was the kind of lawyer that couldn’t say no so every time somebody had a legal issue and they didn’t necessarily have the money to afford me, I would say yes to every case and at the end, realize I wasn’t helping myself advance and I certainly wasn’t helping them because I had so may cases that I couldn’t really devote the right amount of time to each person’s case.

TEC: Where do you see the line going in five years?

AM: I definitely see us getting to the point where Rocawear just got to, which is in a monumental global position and then able to openly bring in a huge backing to sell the line. I probably wouldn’t say five years, I would say more realistically, a 7 or 8 year deal but in five years, I just see us having a real nice slice of the global market having a full men’s collection, a full women’s collection, a children’s collection and an accessory collection; and being solidified as a lifestyle brand plus having the “G” and the “9″ recognized by people of all walks across the globe.

TEC: Every clothing line I interview says they’re a lifestyle brand. What does that mean to you?

AM: A lifestyle brand just represents that we live life a certain way. In other words, we attack our problems a certain way. We’re very aggressive in terms of a business standpoint; we want others to explore new opportunities; see things from a real global prospective for us. We’re not boxed in the way we think so if we think there’s a real opportunity for us to do something in Europe then we’re going to attack it and pursue it and make it happen. I don’t just want to be a New York t-shirt company. It’s just really about the way you go through each day. For us, it’s about seeing things from the global level and Hip-Hop is called the global music; the Internet is now linked to everybody globally; people are able to touch each other across seas like no time before. We want to have a global lifestyle brand that represents people who are hardworking, trendsetting, willing to take risks and also want to play on the planet — they don’t want to just stay local, they really want to be global making things happen.

TEC: So you want to make the 9’s appeal to everybody how do you plan on making your clothes for everybody?

AM: First, I want to make it recognized. For example, McDonald’s doesn’t necessarily appeal to everybody, but the whole world knows what that golden “M” means. It’s the same thing with a Mercedes Benz logo, everybody doesn’t drive or like Mercedes, but they know wherever they are what that Mercedes Benz logo looks like. So, first thing I want to do in the right time frame, is to have the three G’s known to most of the people on the planet, then in terms of making it appeal to the people, I just want to stay fashion forward and be one of the leaders when it comes to trends, when it comes to coloring, when it comes to fabric, when it comes to technique, when it comes to styles and that’s really trying to stay ahead of the game — being creative and having the right team around you and giving recognition to the fact that a lot of creativity comes from taking a chance doing something that people didn’t do for the last 5 or 6 years, busting out the gate with a new idea and going forward with it.

TEC: What goes into selecting the prices for the clothes? You know that the bootleg market is out there so how do you try and deter that?

AM: It’s like a double question. When we selected our prices, we did so in the standards that a lot of people would not listen to us. Some said that I want to sell my t-shirt at $80 and we were a no name company. People automatically just shut the door on us, but the reason we did that is because those who also know how the fashion game works know that you can’t really start low and go up so if I show to the world as a company that makes $21 t-shirts, I’m never going to get to $80. You’ll always be looked at with a certain eye. If I start really high and start expensive then people are going to have a different impression of my company. The way the fashion world works, I can then go down and do a $30 or $40 t-shirt and still be looked at a certain way. As far as bootlegging, anytime you have something that’s hot whether it’s music, whether it’s movies, or whether it’s fashion, there are people who are going to try and sell it to make a profit, that’s just the way the world works. We have attorneys that basically track people down and we shut down warehouses of people who make fake goods. Ultimately you let the lawyers handle that once you get the trademarks protected.

TEC: Do you see it kind of like a compliment like dang they want to bootleg my stuff?

AM:In that regard, not only is it a compliment but at least it gives you a load of confidence because nobody would bootleg us if we weren’t hot. There would be no market for the bootleggers; they couldn’t sell a shirt if people didn’t want it or didn’t know about. The only reason the bootleggers can even able to do that is because we are able to generate the demand and have the people take to our products. So yeah, it’s like saying “yo man your shit is hot” so it’s definitely a compliment. They’re taking money away from me ain’t too complimentary, but we understand that’s it ain’t personal it’s business.

TEC: Any last words?

AM: We like to say thanks to all the supporters. We have celebrity supporters who wear us in videos and award shows and all the public events, and then we just have the everyday people who work hard and just want some quality clothes that when they walk into a party, make them feel good, like a superstar, and those are the people that keep us going and motivated. At the end of the day, that’s all it’s about for us. We really respect and appreciate all the love we get and we just want to give it back in our clothes as much as we can. Thank you to everybody.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 7:19 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.