/_blog/ARTSPROJEKT_BLOG/post/ARTSPROJEKT_STUDIO_5_-_Interview_with_Emortal/
Posted by Debbie Lefkowitz
Posted on Dec 17
This week, we got to hang with Rod Arriola aka RawdLikeSushi, founder of Emortal, and learned more about his background and his business.
1) What are the roots of Emortal? Where did it all start?
It was June of 1997 and I was working for a financial newspaper and in one of my work meetings, the owner gave a speech and told us that you will never be successful just working for somebody or even working in the company we were at. He said it’s the extracurricular activities like going to school or finding other things to supplement your income that will make you successful.
Growing up in L.A. I avoided the gangs by b-boying and involved myself with the local hop hop communities. I shopped at thrift shops because I wasn’t able to afford stuff at the malls and I didn’t want to be caught dead with what the mainstream was wearing. I was fond of action sports like skateboarding, BMX, surfing, and snowboarding. One day after work, I was riding my skateboard at Venice beach. I asked myself how I could create a business that would incorporate everything I love. While riding my skateboard on the way to Santa Monica I thought of Martin Luther King Jr. & Bruce Lee. I said to myself those guys were immortal. It was the things that they did in their lifetime that affects what we do today. MLK Jr. fought for our civil and human rights. Bruce Lee changed the face of martial arts with Jeet Kun Do. From there I coined the term Emortal. The “E” stands for Extraordinary or Extreme mortal. Thus the original concept for Emortal was that no one can live forever, but it’s what the individual does in his or her lifetime, that makes him or her immortal (Emortal).
2) Who makes up the Emortal brand/company/crew? How did you meet?
In the beginning I partnered with an old friend who just graduated with a graphic design degree. In the beginning we just did prototype tees and gave them away to friends, family, and kids in the LA and Venice area. Back in 1997 the term “Streetwear” wasn’t even used for our type of clothing. Emortal was a hybrid of action sports, hip-hop, and urban clothing. The local streetwear brands back then were BMBasement, Social Studies, Eyewitness, Stussy, Union and Staple and Milkcrate Athletics in NYC. retail outlets that would carry our stuff were very limited in the US and most of our store accounts were in Japan. We did the ASR, Agenda, and Magic show from 2001 to 2003.
In 2003 my -business partner and I parted ways and I continued Emortal by myself. I went back to work full time and continued Emortal by selling to a handful of accounts like Digital Gravel, Reed Space NY, and In4mation. I bought myself a screen-printing machine and I volunteered at a small clothing production company in downtown LA to improve my production skills. In 2006, a store in Arizona bought some woven button downs shirts from me. I did the production on the woven shirts, got the fabrics cut, screened printed the panels myself, got it sewn together, dyed them and finally helped put the buttons on. In turned out it was a bad account and I was forced to sell the woven button downs to an old account in Japan to pay for my production. Flip the Script a famous Japanese clothing brand decided to help me license and re-release Emortal again.
Emortal rellaunched at Magic in February of 2007. My Japan licensee helped me with the tradeshow and production work. But I still did everything myself as a one-man team. I decided in order to grow I needed to find a team to help with the work. I reviewed around 200 graphic design resumes and I almost gave up looking. Afriend from the industry told me about a designer named Bill Dennis who was working at Orisue at that time and freelanced for other streetwear companies. I saw his portfolio and was impressed. Aside from being a good designer he was also business savvy. A rare trait among designers. We got along well and he left Orisue to dedicate more time to Emortal as the new creative director. He believed in the brand philosophy and what we were all about. It was now time to finally brand Emortal. As a one-man team I only allocated 25% each to design, marketing, sales, and production. I could not fully brand and expand Emortal if the company was running at 25%. I needed someone who would dedicate 100% to the brand and design the look for Emortal.
With Bill on board, I can handle the sales, marketing, and production while Bill takes care of the brand and creative work. In 2009, we'll have interns to assist us in sales, design, and marketing. We're also planning to add sales reps next year. . Emortal was built from struggle. Being a one-man army back then helped me understand how each part of the business was run and forced me to learn new things. Now I am ready to run the Emortal army.
3) What collaborations are you working on right now or do you want to set up in the future?
In the past we did a hat collaboration with in4mation. We did jackets, denim, and tees with Flip the Script Japan. Our next project is with Brooklyn Projects for Spring 09. We like to keep future collabo projects on the DL until it is set in stone. Most definitely we are going to continue with ARTSPROJEKT.
4) What inspires you?
Brands: Bounty Hunter, Supreme, Stussy, In4mation, FiberOps, Creative Recreation, Neighborhood, Crooks&Castles to name a few. Music- Nas, Jay Z. Real hip hop.
5) Give us a snapshot of “a day in the life” for you
Here I am doing inventory for our new online shop TBA coming February 2009.
Check out Emortal's products on Artsprojekt!
Or see what other great stuff they've got going on.
This week, we got to hang with Rod Arriola aka RawdLikeSushi, founder of Emortal, and learned more about his background and his business.
1) What are the roots of Emortal? Where did it all start?
It was June of 1997 and I was working for a financial newspaper and in one of my work meetings, the owner gave a speech and told us that you will never be successful just working for somebody or even working in the company we were at. He said it’s the extracurricular activities like going to school or finding other things to supplement your income that will make you successful.
Growing up in L.A. I avoided the gangs by b-boying and involved myself with the local hop hop communities. I shopped at thrift shops because I wasn’t able to afford stuff at the malls and I didn’t want to be caught dead with what the mainstream was wearing. I was fond of action sports like skateboarding, BMX, surfing, and snowboarding. One day after work, I was riding my skateboard at Venice beach. I asked myself how I could create a business that would incorporate everything I love. While riding my skateboard on the way to Santa Monica I thought of Martin Luther King Jr. & Bruce Lee. I said to myself those guys were immortal. It was the things that they did in their lifetime that affects what we do today. MLK Jr. fought for our civil and human rights. Bruce Lee changed the face of martial arts with Jeet Kun Do. From there I coined the term Emortal. The “E” stands for Extraordinary or Extreme mortal. Thus the original concept for Emortal was that no one can live forever, but it’s what the individual does in his or her lifetime, that makes him or her immortal (Emortal).
2) Who makes up the Emortal brand/company/crew? How did you meet?
In the beginning I partnered with an old friend who just graduated with a graphic design degree. In the beginning we just did prototype tees and gave them away to friends, family, and kids in the LA and Venice area. Back in 1997 the term “Streetwear” wasn’t even used for our type of clothing. Emortal was a hybrid of action sports, hip-hop, and urban clothing. The local streetwear brands back then were BMBasement, Social Studies, Eyewitness, Stussy, Union and Staple and Milkcrate Athletics in NYC. retail outlets that would carry our stuff were very limited in the US and most of our store accounts were in Japan. We did the ASR, Agenda, and Magic show from 2001 to 2003.
In 2003 my -business partner and I parted ways and I continued Emortal by myself. I went back to work full time and continued Emortal by selling to a handful of accounts like Digital Gravel, Reed Space NY, and In4mation. I bought myself a screen-printing machine and I volunteered at a small clothing production company in downtown LA to improve my production skills. In 2006, a store in Arizona bought some woven button downs shirts from me. I did the production on the woven shirts, got the fabrics cut, screened printed the panels myself, got it sewn together, dyed them and finally helped put the buttons on. In turned out it was a bad account and I was forced to sell the woven button downs to an old account in Japan to pay for my production. Flip the Script a famous Japanese clothing brand decided to help me license and re-release Emortal again.
Emortal rellaunched at Magic in February of 2007. My Japan licensee helped me with the tradeshow and production work. But I still did everything myself as a one-man team. I decided in order to grow I needed to find a team to help with the work. I reviewed around 200 graphic design resumes and I almost gave up looking. Afriend from the industry told me about a designer named Bill Dennis who was working at Orisue at that time and freelanced for other streetwear companies. I saw his portfolio and was impressed. Aside from being a good designer he was also business savvy. A rare trait among designers. We got along well and he left Orisue to dedicate more time to Emortal as the new creative director. He believed in the brand philosophy and what we were all about. It was now time to finally brand Emortal. As a one-man team I only allocated 25% each to design, marketing, sales, and production. I could not fully brand and expand Emortal if the company was running at 25%. I needed someone who would dedicate 100% to the brand and design the look for Emortal.
With Bill on board, I can handle the sales, marketing, and production while Bill takes care of the brand and creative work. In 2009, we'll have interns to assist us in sales, design, and marketing. We're also planning to add sales reps next year. . Emortal was built from struggle. Being a one-man army back then helped me understand how each part of the business was run and forced me to learn new things. Now I am ready to run the Emortal army.
3) What collaborations are you working on right now or do you want to set up in the future?
In the past we did a hat collaboration with in4mation. We did jackets, denim, and tees with Flip the Script Japan. Our next project is with Brooklyn Projects for Spring 09. We like to keep future collabo projects on the DL until it is set in stone. Most definitely we are going to continue with ARTSPROJEKT.
4) What inspires you?
Brands: Bounty Hunter, Supreme, Stussy, In4mation, FiberOps, Creative Recreation, Neighborhood, Crooks&Castles to name a few. Music- Nas, Jay Z. Real hip hop.
5) Give us a snapshot of “a day in the life” for you
Here I am doing inventory for our new online shop TBA coming February 2009.
Check out Emortal's products on Artsprojekt!
Or see what other great stuff they've got going on.
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