Mark McNairy

Born :

March 8, 1961

When I was a kid I was very particular. I was actually beyond particular. I would iron my money and spray it with Polo cologne.

polo iron kids

I don't consider what you're wearing when I design a shoe. I don't have a particular look in mind or make a shoe thinking, "This would look great with a blue pinstripe suit." I just let you dress yourself. I'm looking at the shoe itself, not as a component of an outfit.

shoes blue thinking

When I lace my shoes I can't stand when they are twisted and dirty. It just looks sloppy. Even if it's a new pair of Chuck Taylors and the laces are all twisted it looks like you don't care.

shoes looks dirty

As a child there was no place for adventure or experimentation. I guess that kind of freedom started in high school with punk rock. That's what enlightened me to not being afraid to express myself.

adventure children school

My agent came to me with a deal from another publisher and I signed a deal and got the advance with no idea of what I was going to do. I probably procrastinated for almost a year, but we had meetings and I was basically going to spoof "Take Ivy," but then it kind of turned into something else. I wanted it to be a book of all the things that made me who I am, like Brooks Brothers, Hot Wheels, "The Andy Griffith Show" and G.I. Joes. I couldn't sit still and do it, so my agent had to come to my house and force me to do it.

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I really never even seriously considered a book but a few years ago someone approached me out of the blue and I said I would think about it.

blue book thinking

I've been working with Five Four. The partnership started as one monthly collaboration, but now I'm the creative design director. There are still going to be collaborations for monthly drops, but we are launching e-commerce.

design creative directors

Basically for everything that comes out of Five Four, I've come up with the idea or changed it in some way. I'm also working with Putnam Accessory Group, a private label hat manufacturer. I'm in the process of re-branding a line they have called Chuck. It was mostly hats and bags, but I'm adding apparel and eyewear and whatever I feel like adding to turn it more into a brand. I'm supposed to be working with Pharrell on Billionaire Boys Club, but that's on hold.

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I thought the Made in America men's wear push was a big revolution in terms of smaller companies taking charge, but it seems like it's gotten out of control.

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There are too many brands. You can start your own brand from your bedroom. It's a good thing and a bad thing.

bedroom brands good-things

Bigger brands like Shinola are capitalizing on what all of us small companies did. Shinola is just totally fake. It's a corporate entity that's taking advantage of what everybody else has done. They say it's all about made in U.S., but one Wal-Mart hires more employees than their whole company.

advantage fake done