Interview: The Guys Behind Kallusive's Hip-Hop Line & Clothing Seen on MTV
Michael Sam & Alex-Contraviwat of Kallusive | Photo by Gail Sipin
Last year backstage at MTV's America's Best Dance Crew, LAist met Alex Cotraviwat, creator of the clothing line Kallusive. That night one crew, A.S.I.I.D. was competing in Kallusive shirts. Alex hoped that his graphic designs would help give them an edge on the competition.
In a short time, Kallusive has gone from the dream of two childhood friends, to a thriving business. They offer an exclusive series of t-shirts available at Metropark and from the shop on their own site. The company also has formed close ties with the hip-hop community including the amazing Kaba Modern. Kallusive has also formed their own dance crew and are one the sponsors of the annual VIBE hip-hop dance dance competition at the UCI Bren Center.
LAist met up with Alex Cotraviwat and Michael Sam of Kallusive in Little Tokyo. We toured the Japanese gardens on the roof of the Kyoto Grand Hotel and ate lunch together in a traditional room at the Thousand Cranes Restaurant. We asked Alex and Michael about starting the Kallusive clothing line, their connection to the dance community, and where to eat in Arcadia.
LAist: Where did the idea for Kalluisve come from?
Alex Cotraviwat: When I was growing up I always wanted to inspire the world and create positive messages. Being Asian American it was very difficult to do. So me and my best friend Michael wanted to start a clothing company. We have been best friends since we were thirteen. Kallusive means to inspire. As a company we try to stay true to what we do. We want to design to inspire. Our tag line is "To spark innovation" and "Leave your mark".
LAist: How did you start the business?
Alex: Before this we didn't know anything about fashion. We didn't know what a pantem color was. A pantem color is a way to describe a color. Instead of saying, hey I want a red on that shirt. There are different shades of red. So it would be like a 186C. That's the color of our red. It helps to let people know what color red we want to use for a piece.
Mike Song wears a Kallusive hoodie | Photo by Jacob Leveton
Alex: It started about 2 years ago. September 8, 2006. It's been an amazing journey. We've just been working and grinding it out.
LAist: You also said, "Smash the cookie cutter" is the new tag line for the company?
Alex: For us we jumped into this because we believe in what we are doing. That's what I have always wanted to do my whole life. A lot of people told us that it was not going to work out. They said, "You are not experienced. You didn't go to fashion school." I told them, "Hey, if you really believe in something and want to do something. Just do it because you don't want to regret it." At the end of the day you'll be doing something positive. For Michael and I, that's all that matters. Even if we don't succeed in making a huge amount of money, we are doing something that we love.
LAist: Do you each have specific responsibilities within the company?
Michael Sam: It has changed a clot form the beginning. We now also have someone heading up our design team, Damien Lawson. He comes up with the most amazing things.
LAist: Like your shirt?
Michael: (shows the design on his shirt) Alex will give him an idea. He is an amazing designer. He works with a design team. Alex will approve a design. There is a message behind every piece. Many of our concepts are messages, but hey are not so in your face. Like they are in your face because you can see it- the foil and the wording, but there are many levels and layers to the messages. It's not just out there like, hey be a good person. Life is tougher than that. Sometimes it's about the struggles we go through in life. We know it is tough. We have to never give up and always believe in yourself. I think we learn through experience too because the foundation of this company is hard work, determination, and believing in yourself. We had a lot of doubters in the beginning. Even some of our own friends. They are supportive now, but in the beginning they said, "You guys are crazy!" I don't blame them because we didn't really know anything. Alex and I believed in ourselves and in the company. We never gave up no matter how hard it got. Believe me there were some hard times.
LAist: What's the connection with UC Irvine?
Alex: Number one, my little brother graduated from UC Irvine. I met a group of people there through him. Also we sponsor a crew from America's Best Dance Crew Season One, Kaba Modern. Mike song is a big part of Kaba Modern and like a little brother to me. In our marketing campaign we wanted to sponsor all different kinds of people. So in addition to skaters and athletes, we reach out to the dance community. We found out that in Irvine there is a big dace competition every year called Vibe. We got to know the people there and built a relationship with them. It's been amazing. More than 3000 people come to this event. We are super proud to be part of it. We are blessed to be working with really great people.
LAist: So Mike from Kaba Modern is your spokeperson now?
Alex: Yeah pretty much. He has been doing wonderful things. We all support him. We also have our own dance crew which he is a apart of, The Kallusive Dance Crew. Right now two of the girls from our crew, Jia and Laura, just made the Britney Spears tour. Five hundred girl from around the United States tried out for the tour. They only picked four girls. And out of those four girls, two of them are from the Kallusive Dance Crew. We are all super proud of them. I know they are going to rip it on the tour. We are really happy and excited.
LAist: You said you grew up together. Where was that?
Michael: We grew up in Arcadia, California. After high school I went away to college. I started at UCSD. I was pre-med and bio. Then we ended up going to Cal Poly together and graduated around the same time. Shortly after that I was working a nine to five corporate job. I was doing it, but my heart wasn't really into it. One day Alex called me up and said, "Hey we are starting a company." I quit that day. One or two days later we started.
LAist: What were your favorite paces to hang out growing up in Arcadia?
Alex: Well, here is the thing. For us, a lot of people don't know this, we hung out on the tennis court quite a bit. We had always wanted to become professional tennis players. We would play every single day. For restaurants, we loved LA. We loved Melrose. If we left the tennis court, Melrose was the place to be. We love fashion, clothes and art. Everything about Melrose stood out to us so we would pretty much go around that area.
LAist: Where do you live now?
Michael: We still live in Arcadia.
LAist: What the best pace to eat there?
Michael: In Arcadia, people love the Din Tai Fung Dumpling House. I eat at Garden Cafe a lot. And Taco Lita, they have this great sauce.
Alex: One of my biggest dreams was I wanted to buy my parents house. When we graduated college, we had the opportunity to buy my parents house. That's why we live in Arcadia, but my favorite place to eat is Komasa in Little Tokyo. It is the best Japanese food, I promise you. In Koreatown, there is restaurant called the Corner Place for Korean BBQ. The cold noodle is amazing.
During our lunch at Thousand Cranes Restaurant, LAist videotaped some of our interview with Alex and Michael in this clip they talk about keeping the prices low for the fans of Kallusive.
VIBE XIV will be at the UCI Bren Center on January 25 from 5-11pm. LAist will be there with Mr. Kallusive to see the crews show off their moves.
Look for Kallusive this season on America's Best Dance Crew. ABDC Season 3 premieres on MTV tomorrow night at 10pm.