Passion in the Paint: A Look at Miskeen Originals

Miskeen was born from the passion and determination of artists from the streets of West Philadelphia. The community fell in love with the hand painted creations and soon caught the attention of a well-known retailer, Dr. Denim; and from there the rest is, as they say, history. The demand proved to be so intense and demanding that the artists soon needed to multiply. Together they created a unique team of talented individuals that blended urban lifestyle, fashion and art. Nearly eight years later, 38 artists richer, and the ever-growing demand from the urban music community, Miskeen shows no signs of slowing down! Currently, Miskeen releases 10 collections a year, all sophisticated and original with no two items alike!

“Everyday we have 38 artists come in. The shirts are lined up and all they do the whole day is paint shirts. We can produce quite a lot because we have a lot of artists. We train the artists ourselves. MISKEEN ORIGINALS is done by hand. Every shirt is different. We have all the hand painted shirts, the hand painted tees, the hand painted leather jackets. Then we have MISKEEN the collection. And they are done the way other companies do their collections. They are designed with a combination of illustrators, fashion designers, and graphic designers who come up with the collection,” says Jasmijn, Marketing Director for Miskeen Originals.

Miskeen is truly an underground brand that has gained its popularity through word of mouth and has remained true to the formula that has gotten it to this stage in the game. Says Jasmijn: “We don’t believe in traditional advertising. We try to let the demand grow just by making good products. That is how Miskeen started and that is how we still do it. Miskeen was started by an artist just making shirts and all the shirts he made were just so popular that the word started spreading. So we try to stick to what we’ve always done. We plan to just keep building a great collection…continue to work with the music industry, and [continue to] make custom shirts for video clips and music artists.”

By expressing emotions through paint, Miskeen has branded itself as a collection that lives the urban hip-hop lifestyle. “That is the essence of the brand; we always stay true to what we are,” says Jasmijn.

Jasmijn was asked how does Miskeen Originals position itself amongst top urban powerhouses and she replied: “We are all very well connected with the hip hop industry. In that way we are similar and are often in the same stores. That being said, we are totally different. For us, all the products are different. It’s all based on artwork. We don’t put the name real big on the shirt like other brands do. Just a blank shirt with the big name. We try to have the art as the core of the company not the brand name.”

Look for Miskeen Originals for women this coming fall - - it promises to be the hottest ladies’ line and it will feature shoes and accessories.

Words of wisdom from Miskeen Originals Marketing Director Jasmijn:

“First of all, a lot of people think ‘Hey I have the talent. I can do what Miskeen is doing. I can paint shirts.’ And what they start doing is copying our shirts and logos. They don’t realize that if they copy us, they’re doing the opposite of what Miskeen is doing because Miskeen is about being different and being unique. So my best advice is be yourself and be your own unique identity. That’s the most important thing. You have to find something unique that has never been done before.”

For more information:
www.miskeenoriginals.com
www.myspace.com/miskeenoriginals