Today we’d like to introduce you to Malik McIntyre.
Hi Malik, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a 24-year-old Fashion Designer who also serves in the navy active duty. I am the founder and creative director of Kash Kouture. I started the brand about five years ago, but last year is when my brand started to get a lot of attention. I was born in Chicago, IL as an only child and I moved A LOT. I went to four different high schools, which naturally turned me into an introvert. Instead of sports or going out with friends, I spent most of my time creating. I used to write books, draw, and create songs. I always wanted to create my own clothes, but I didn’t have the money to do it until I joined the Navy.
After being in the navy for a year or so I finally started Kash Kouture. I started off small, with just t-shirts and hoodies, and then I started customizing jackets. My jackets grew to be very popular in Chicago, especially after I designed for a bunch of the city’s gems. (Lil Mouse, Dreezy, Queen Key, Nia Kay, Lucci Vee, etc.) While I was in the navy doing missions, my business partner Essence Brown ran the show. She customized the jackets and fulfilled orders and made sure to keep the social media pages up to date. When she graduated high school and pursued college, we had to quit doing custom jackets because it was too much of a hassle. Her personal life got more hectic, and my navy life wasn’t let up, so we put that part of the business to rest. For a couple of months, I was lost, I didn’t know what direction I wanted to point my brand into. I took some off to really focus and think about what I wanted my brand to represent. After about a year out of the game, I released my Chaos collection and the rest is history.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
So my journey was extremely challenging, especially balancing military life and running the business. I would have to take a lot of breaks when I was deployable. It was nearly impossible to maintain a buzz with my clothing line when I would disappear for six months to go deploy. After my very last deployment, I had lost nearly 2,000 followers and people had seemed to forget about who I was and what I did. Quitting wasn’t an option, so I told myself that I would design something that was so out of the ordinary, people would have no choice but to tune in. That’s when I released my first reversible chaos jacket. It’s was a beautiful piece of art. A shiny black nylon puffer on one side and the other side was full of abstract graffiti designs with a rainbow assortment of colors. As soon as I uploaded the pictures to the internet, they went viral. And just like that, I was back in the game.
As you know, we’re big fans of Kash Kouture. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Luxury Streetwear; Jackets, Hoodies, tees, etc. Everything on my website is carefully thought out and most importantly, it’s unique. You won’t be able to find anything like what I produce anywhere else. I’m most proud of my reversible jackets.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m currently working on releasing my SS21 collection (4.10.21). I think the collection will be huge. After the release of this collection, I will also be rebranding. I’m known as MR KASH, but I am going to be changing it to my real name. As I got more in tune with the fashion world, I noticed that all the big designers go by their actual names, and I think it’s important that people know mine.
Pricing:
- 200-250 For reversible jackets
Contact Info:
- Email: officialkashk@gmail.com
- Website: kashkoutureofficial.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/flykloset/
Image Credits
Jaren Holden
