Prince is Gino Green Global’s chief designer, executive decision-maker and visionary. Prince, a 30-year-old man, resembles his clothing with a sparkle in his eye and swagger in his step, two characteristics that produce a larger than BET presence (rappers flock to Prince demanding and hoping Prince can tailor their image, much like a producer crafts their sound – “I tried to define their style, color combination and [rappers] appreciated it,” says Prince, adding, in the first two years Gino Green Global was in operation, 90 per cent of the products were made with his hands).

Vision is plastering over two dozen, unique Gino Green Global logos (“I wrapped a bus with a bunch of our logos on it, drove from New York City to Vegas,” says Prince, acknowledging his campaign for his people – everyone) on a Motor Coach touring bus that is 11 feet in height and 40 feet long – Spike Lee could not miss this bus – and bringing to ten cities, their youth and hip-hop culture.

In February, Prince and his Gino Green Global family (Prince’s brother, Chris, manages Gino Green Global’s daily operations) towered in their two-story booth at MAGIC Trade Show in Las Vegas, turning heads and establishing their presence as large as heavyweights in the fashion ring.

“If you don’t have enough money for marketing and have it screamed out on the radio or talked about on a TV show, you have to find a way to have people stop on the streets that say, ‘What is that?’ That is your marketing. I developed a logo.”

Format: Please explain your experience in Las Vegas at the MAGIC Trade Show.
Prince: It was incredible! Coming from where I came from, I basically had a shoebox last year and for me to have a two-story building, and a taxed one at that, throughout the whole time of us being at MAGIC, it was very consuming, exciting and a dream come true. I achieved a lot of the things I was trying to do. It was incredible. To see where I came from and see where I’m going, it was a really incredible feeling.

Format: Please explain what you learned at MAGIC.
Prince: At this present time, MAGIC is always a great experience for me, because I watch what everybody is doing in the sense that I always want to see what my competition is doing so I don’t do what they do. I always look for up and coming brands, I try to see what to stay away from and see what’s good or not good. There are a lot of great things. I like competition, because I think it keeps you on your toes. I was comparing myself to other peoples’ booths that have been in the industry and I would think to myself, these are people that have been in the industry for 30 years and I felt that our booth was somewhat better or better looking. I felt like they were either giving up on their selves or not putting enough energy into their projects, because they had the same thing for such a long time, or they overlooked a lot of things. At the end of the day MAGIC is a great experience for anyone that loves fashion and that I do – I love fashion. I could look at the littlest thing, from a thread to a button, to a dye, to a cut. I try to pay attention to everything.

Format: Please explain your rise in the fashion industry.
Prince: Basically, my whole life I’ve been an artist. I grew up in a day and age when graffiti was big in the streets of New York City. I followed and pursued that and wrote on walls and then I started writing on clothes, from designer markets to acrylics and eventually grown to a state where I printed my own T-shirts. After I started printing my own T-shirts, I got such a great impact from the people. People said things like, ‘That’s a nice shirt, I want more.’ I kept developing a different style, started grooming it better, paid attention to fashion more, kept my eye on things, started selling shirts on the street, developed store counts – little by little I kept it up. I tried different names, because Gino Green was not my only name, I had other lines that were failures. I watched the industry until I knew what it took and I felt that the industry was missing another logo line. I used to watch Gucci, Louis Vuitton they were long lasting lines, they had a great impression on the people, besides the name their logo stood out. I tried to follow their footsteps and bring back a logo, a powerful logo that would catch people’s eyes and have them say, ‘What is that?’ If you don’t have enough money for marketing and have it screamed out on the radio or talked about on a TV show, you have to find a way to have people stop on the streets that say, ‘What is that?’ That is your marketing. I developed a logo. I did and it’s a lowercase G that looks like a nine. We have one of the only clothing lines that is known to be global or called global, because I didn’t want to name it apparel or clothing, I wanted to do something different and I did. We are Gino Green Global, an international clothing line with a powerful, strong logo.

“Rappers like to be flashy, they like custom stuff and I do a lot of custom pieces. About 90 per cent of my time – up until today – was done by my own hands.”

Format: Do you subscribe to the label street-wear fashion?
Prince: There is nothing wrong with street-wear, urban I find it funny to identify myself as urban, but street-wear, I originated my style from a street-wear formula. Where I am going and what I’m grooming myself to be is a well respected clothing line that is absolutely for everyone with different shapes, cuts and styles. I want to be known as one of the first global lines that has a little bit of something for everyone.

Format: Rappers are embracing your brand, what steps have you taken to gain their support?
Prince: It is a mixture of things. I grew up on the streets of New York City and I know a lot of people. The New York City rappers either have relationships with friends of mine or me, personally, from being in the industry. As I was grooming myself into this line, I used to do logos for people in the industry, rappers and so forth. I did some of my marketing on DVDs, Smack DVD and Real Talk DVD. These are DVDs that reached the masses by dressing underground artists that were rapping on the DVDs or speaking on them. I reached out to T Rex and Papoose, and started developing relationships with people on the DVDs to wear my clothing. Other people were seen on the DVDs, too, that just purchased my lines. Rappers like to be flashy, they like custom stuff and I do a lot of custom pieces. About 90 per cent of my time – up until today – was done by my own hands. That was the greatest thing about my line, me personally touching them and each piece was custom. These rappers thought I was catering to them and I was. I tried to define their style, color combination and [rappers] appreciated it, because whatever sneakers [rappers] came out with I could match the color combination to.

Format: What designers or clothing lines influenced you?
Prince: Everything, I look at the Tommy Hilfiger, Sean Jean, everybody. Ralph Lauren, he’s a great inspiration. I think people that have long lasting lines, Gucci, Louis Vuitton. I am inspired by people that have been in the industry for a long time and have stuck around through everything. People like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren their logos will last forever and never go away. Their color combinations, the polo look, quality, ad campaigns – they will last a life time.

Format: What are your current projects?
Prince: Right now I’m in Texas and we’re always developing. I drove to MAGIC, I was on a fashion tour, I went to ten cities. I wrapped a bus with a bunch of our logos on it, drove from New York City to Vegas and went to places like Atlanta, Tennessee, North Carolina. You name it, I’ve been there. I’ve done in-store signings with the rappers, then I’d do radio and I’d do a party that night, too. I would talk to the kids, bring Slim Thug out, Young Buck, Tigger and once Vegas ended, I drove from Vegas–because I don’t fly–to Texas and I’m working in Texas, building and creating with our brand. It was lovely, too. The experience of it was meeting and greeting the people. I had to take time off from working, because for the last two years 90 per cent of my pieces have been custom. Everything you saw on BET was made with my own hands. I needed a break so I went on a fashion tour. This gave me the exposure, the momentum to meet the people and see what the people liked about the line. I showed people that you can come from where you come from and follow your dreams, because this is a true dream come true. It was never about money, it was about me being able to bring my line to the next level, beyond T-shirts. Now I have a warehouse, two showrooms in Manhattan, I have a fashion tour bus, I have a two-story booth at MAGIC – we’re getting ready to do a cologne deal. A children’s line is going to be next, we’re working on a women’s line in Texas. I could have never of done this until I created a strong team. The reason I was not successful before, is because I did not have a strong team. I used to try to do everything myself. Now, me, my brother and my marketing team stuck to our guns and went full force with this.

More Info: http://www.ginogreenglobal.com/