S.I.'s DJ Klutch wears a Cloud Kicker tee. Photo courtesy of Mike D.
VIRTUAL RUNWAY: Cloudkickers.com, MySpace.com/cloudkickers
Since Cloud Kicker got started about a year ago, creator Mike DiSilvestri has kept local music in mind. You'll see the company's limited edition silkscreen T-shirts and hoodies on the backs of DJ Emilio "Sparks" Medugno and rapper Crucial Tactics. One print of sneakers tied together and thrown over a power line even features Tactics' own logo.
"It definitely goes hand in hand," says DiSilvestri, 24, of Bulls Head, when asked about music and clothing. "I'm working in the circles of the music industry to try and get my gear out to any artists that I can, because it really helps me promote my brand."
DiSilvestri just got back from Arizona, where he passed on some goods to Juice, a West Coast protege of rapper The Game, but he says that CK, which employs three S.I.-based designers, is still small time.
"We haven't done anything corporate or big yet, and we're just getting into some small mom-and-pop stores," says the local CEO, who organizes the business of the brand and works with designers. "We're in Infinity Records on Hylan Boulevard, which sells music and clothing, and we're working on contracts with CD Skateshop and Richmond Hood Company. Our clothing sort of follows what's happening right now, this combination with the hip-hop and skater look."
DiSilvestri says the '80s babies who grew up with comics and bright-colored toys are following those same tastes now to buy colorful limited-edition fitted caps and Nike kicks to brighten up their young-adult life. You'll likely notice that the eyes in the company's logo -- a pop art cloud flashing a mischievous grin -- are actually sneakers, reflecting the young businessman's ideas about fashion. As a clothing maker, he's excited that people are responding to these tastes, and the increasing crossover between music and fashion, but as a longtime fan of hip-hop, he's a little cautious, too.
"You've got the four elements of hip-hop -- MCing, DJing, graffiti and break-dancing -- and within the past couple of years, there's been a questioning of whether fashion should be the fifth," DiSilvestri says. "But where before you had basic solid colors-- black, white, gray -- now you've got artists like Pharrell and The Cool Kids wearing lime green, teal, yellow, stuff like that. Now you've got hip-hop people working with electro bands, rock bands. That's really unusual and I think it brings people and different races together -- and that's a very good thing."
-TEKST
