DC Locals Take On Clothing Line

Photo from ClockwiseClothing.com.

By Broadside Staff Writer Carlos Perez

Area clothing line Clockwise Clothing began and remains a relatively local label, but if current trends are any indicator, that may change soon enough.

Started by three area men in their twenties—Collin O’Brien, Nick Cronin and Ugo Eze—Clockwise gained quick and early popularity with their take on the classic “Run DMC” tee, “Run DMV.” DMV, which stands for D.C., Maryland and Virginia, is a recently coined term that describes a larger metropolitan area hip-hop movement, a market Clockwise has a large stake in.

“We grew up in the area and have lived here ever since childhood,” said O’Brien. “In recent years, we felt that this whole DMV area has been on the rise as far as music goes. We wanted to represent the area on a national scale by means of fashion and clothing the same way that artists were repping the area with their music. We also saw an untapped market in D.C. for urban/streetwear.”

However quick their Run DMV tees may have flown off their virtual shelves, the idea behind Clockwise had not been conceived within a moment’s reaction.

“C.O. [O’Brien] and [I] had been doing other businesses, like running websites and he was hustling at [James Madison University], and he came to me with the idea about a clothing line,” said Eze, a senior information technology major. “We created the name and we’ve never looked back since.”

While their designs do represent their target demographic of “18-to-25-year- old cool kids, hipsters, hype-beasts, hip-chics, skaters, shoe-collectors, and creative, self expressive people,” a large part of their success is due to their online presence and integration of social networking in to their business model.

“We are kind of new-school-next-gen, in the sense that our line lives and breathes on the world wide web, and is somewhat interactive through social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, our blog and Twitter,” said O’Brien.

Maintaining a strong online presence early on, especially on blog sites, has proved to be a smart move on the part of the trio. The rise in popularity and influence of music blogs, especially in hip-hop, is beginning to show dividends in the music industry with the success of new artists such as Wale, Drake, Kid Cudi and Asher Roth, all of whom owe much of their success to online buzz early in their careers.

“Going to shows and concerts is the fun part of this industry,” said Cronin. “We have made great connects doing so.”

“Some affiliates and artists that we have supported include Kid Cudi, Wale, The Clipse, Ryan Leslie, Katy Perry and Drake.”

Attaching themselves to these blogs and artists early in their careers is proving to be a brilliant networking move, essentially allowing each other’s growing popularity to add to the other’s.

Presently, Clockwise Clothing is only available through their website. clockwiseclothing.com, at which they have graciously given all Mason students a discount (enter GMUFRESH at checkout). Asked if they are planning on moving in to stores, Eze said, "We have our eyes on a few boutiques, but we are very selective." He added that they have plans on reaching over 15 stores and boutiques by 2010. through their website, clockwiseclothing.com, a which They have given all Mason students a discount (enter GMUFRESH at checkout). But as for the immediate future, be on the lookout for CW New Era caps and accessories, as well as a collaboration with electronic and hip-hop fusion artist Mike Posner, making it clear that beyond conquering the D.C., Maryland and Virginia market, Clockwise has their eyes set on bigger plans.