Streetwear Spotlight: Chilly-O

Article written by: SoJones Asmara
Posted on: August 18, 2009

SoJones.com chatted it up with Omar Mitchell, founder and CEO of Chilly-O Clothing to see what the streetwear brand is up to since its first formation in 2005.  Check out the interview and take peek at their latest stuff.

Introduce yourself and describe how your brand was started?

Hello fashion world and beyond, my name is Omar Mitchell founder and CEO of Chilly-O Clothing incorporated in 2005. The Chilly-O brand was conceptualized during a needed time for a solution while enduring a hardship. Chilly-O was birth by a team of motivated individuals who wanted to succeed not only in the urban realm, but also in the broader fashion market. We never wanted to classify ourselves as “this or that.” As result of the team’s humble origins, our success is predicated by everything we have learned in while in an urban setting.

We began with hand painted tees very popular in the early 2000’s. Paint served as a convenient building material due to a lack of resources and then we initially progressed into various processes and screen printers. Our disposition at that time was primarily from a graphic, expressionistic standpoint that had underlying messages of meaning and purpose. Our goal was to grow from the things that we could manage, master, and then begin to accept new challenges.

Today, we have implemented the variables and sensibilities to make our vision and silhouette clear for the buyers and consumers. We only build our brand with themes that we have a full understanding and experience in. We are officially almost 5 years strong with solid branding, consistency and good business.

Describe this season and next season’s looks.

These season’s looks are definitely determined by the vicarious nature and rapid grown of information dissemination of browsing the Internet. People scour the net to emphatically create identity with the globe as its observation room. However, there is fixation on a few eras that have preeminently sustained over the past few years. As a result of this shift it has caused fashion conglomerates, whether creatively or financially, to invest their attention to meet the demand of the consumer. Fixation in the 80’s is still present but forward thinking has created solid expression in the late 60’s, early 70’s and 90’s. Historically, these times all exude political turbulence of global war, civil liberties and social change. The idea of “price point shopping” has changed the viewpoint of the luxury stopper, to where people have adopted an “as long as it looks good mentality!” Also, acceptance to especially thrift and vintage shopping are at an all time high with the urban shopper. The brands that speak to social cause will explode more rapidly than other brands that create spin-offs or parodies of previous marketed ides. Urban identity is in disarray, it hasn’t identified with the urban designer until now. I was having a conversation with a local stylist named “Ms. Stylistik” and she made a good point. Her point was, “with the impact of a national African American leader, may the urban consumer will identify with and reinstate values that urban culture has forgotten.”

What celeb or well-known figure(s) exemplify the brand?

Big Boi from Outkast…why does he exemplify the brand? Well, basically from a symbolic stand point he has overcome many hurdles to define a sense of universalism and create the dopest duo in hip-hop history. He’s also introduced art, expression, non-conformity to the rap game and succeeded by creating a mortar. I never really viewed Big as being inside of a box and ultimately that is where we see the Chilly-O brand.

Any product placements on celebs, in movies or videos to keep an eye out for?

There are too many celebrities to name, at this point we just want to preserve the brand for the people and let it manifest from there.

Any expansion plans?

Of course in any business one of the variables is to expand. We ultimately will build our brand equity to the point to where we have a solid strong hold on lifestyle branding. We have not done many collabs because we are interested in muscling it out and creating our own name the old fashion way. The old fashion way means meeting people one at time to offer the customer a sense of authenticity. We met Sojones.com this way, remember? However, mastering fast fashion is our immediate goal!

Looking ahead over the next year or two, what themes/looks/styles do you see your brand gravitating to?

Well, we are definitely going to keep it staple in terms of outerwear, knit tops, denim, etc. We will continue to offer a little more flavors for accessories and graphic tees. We are still searching for a solid maverick to define style in the arena of action sports that speaks to diversity. There has to be a plan to address and absorb diversity…that’s where Chilly-O fits in. However, are not just limited too actions sports, out brand dwells in other mores of culture.

What themes/looks/styles do you see your brand moving away from?

Unorthodox color stories and palettes, size scaling will be addressed from a global size, American contemporary pseudo Ralph Lauren we will not participate in.

What has been a surprise fashion hit over the last year?

Ironically, the transition from Californian rocker to action sports amongst the urban buyer. We all know that street/urban culture drives style and creativity from movies to sports and fashion. I’m excited to see this trend explode, my only concern is that I hope the urban platform actually learns the skill set of skate, bmx, snowboard, motocross etc. Regardless of the financial constraints that generally come along with those sports, if you can buy a pair of 200-dollar sneaks you can afford a skateboard and learn.

Here are a couple of SoJones-approved Chilly-O tees.  Get ‘em while they’re hot.  Check out the rest of their collection on their website at www.chillyo.com