Interview with TITS Co-Owner Marek Grubel

I see him walking around the office all the time. Today he is decked out in a fedora, cargo shorts, lime green button up and matching Nikes. Seeing him you wouldn't immediately recognize him as the brains behind one of the most successful underground clothing brands in the game right now. Most of the time he's laid back, but occasionally I will hear him ripping a new asshole into some poor sap who threatens his business; because thats who Marek Grubel is, a businessman. So naturally I was nervous when I first asked him to do the interview with me, I mean come on now, he's a busy guy. Flying all around the country, having meetings, collaborating with famous names like Rosa Acosta, Estevan Oriol, and possibly even Gucci Mane in the near future, its no wonder Marek takes his business seriously. But thats the thing, when I talk to Marek he has more a "fuck it" attitude, not a suit and tie board member type. Yeah, what he does is a business but even speaking with him for a full 10 minutes I could tell its more than that. He genuinely has a passion for fashion and the urban lifestyle and he created his own path into an industry that is way overpopulated. I sat down with him for a quick Q&A to get an inside look at his past, future projects, and business ethics.

Lets start with a little about you. Where are you from and how does that effect your fashion sense?

I'm from Seattle. My whole family is from Newark, New Jersey. A stupid fact is that my high school, Franklin High School, was ranked number one in the state in fashion. So in high school everyone was up on fashion. Back when you would rock the red Yankees jersey with the red Yankees hat and red Polo shoes. Thats how it went down, you would just match head to toe. Franklin is where I got my fashion sense for sure.

What was your inspiration when you first started TITS? Were their any obstacles during the start up process of the brand?

At the time people were putting girls on shirts but not never really formed a brand around it. The biggest obstacles were, getting products on shelves. [Boutiques and retailers] had to sell out of it before they figured it out that it was a feasible brand that they could sell.

TITS is a Seattle based company but also has a strong national and even international following. How has TITS managed to keep relevent in a fast moving fashion world and not become too mainstream while still spreading to a national level?

Basically our concepts are at an extremely high level. We dont stay stagnant with 4 or 5 cool shirts, we have great concepts that come out every single season. So in regards to staying relevant our concepts stay relevant and become timeless classics as well. Like our "Wifey" line is classic, "Flawless" is classic.

TITS has done collabs with artist, photographers and even pornstars. Who would you like to collab with in the future and can you give any info to upcoming projects?

We are doing an upcoming project with super producer Don Cannon. And we are also in the works with Gucci Mane. I'm not sure if thats gonna happen but its definitely in the "feel good." Right now the balls in their court. We've already done it we are just waiting for the final word. As far as people that I wanna work with, I wanna do some stuff that you might not think about. Not neccesarily a music icon, or fashion brand. I wanna do something that outside the box. Maybe something with Hustler or something like that.

I'm a big fan of Estevan Oriol so naturally the TITS x Estevan Oriol collabs are some of my favorites. How did you link up with Estevan and what is he like to work with?

Well basically he has became a contributing photographer with the brand. I was a fan of a few of his shirts, and I don't even buy t-shirts, because I know what they cost to make, but I bought the "West Coast Booty" shirt and the "LA Fingers" shirt. One of our reps said that he was a big fan of what we were doing because we kinda pushed the limit, and we kinda linked up through that. He's very easy to work with. Just stay the fuck outta his way and give him a concept and he'll run with it.

Urban fashion is slowly jumping from just a product margin to a whole lifestyle including tattoos, hip-hop, and graffiti. Does TITS plan to venture into some of the other categories that make up the 'lifestyle'?

We have already touched on that by doing collaboration with Revok. TITS started off as a graffiti crew back in the day and there are a few of the members who still design for us. But as far as tattoos goes, I think its to each his own. You know I'm kinda sleeved up, I got my back done. I don't like to see tattoos taken lightly. You know like getting one just for the sake of getting one. As far as creating a lifestyle, we cater to anyone who wants to get pussy. Espicially men. We don't consider ourselves elitest, or try to stay limited because we dont make any money doing limited. If you make 100 of a certain and it sells out and then you have 200 people that leave your website or leave your store with a bad taste in their mouth because they you dont have that product any more its the worst thing you can do to your business.

TITS continues to release new products ever season and recently we have seen things like keychains, hats, ties, tank tops, and towels. Is there any new products you have lined up that you can let us know about?

We are going to do more hats, we now have board shorts. We are working on laptop sleeves. You probably will never see TITS jackets, or button ups, or jeans or anything, but we will definitely be expanding in accessories.

He looks down at an issue of "Urban Ink" with a picture of a heavily tattooed woman in a bikini I had sitting on my desk and comments "This girl right here, bottom line, you gotta photoshop that. I laugh...

Tell me about the creation of TMLS and how does it set itself apart from TITS.

TMLS was created more for our mainstream market. TITS the way it is hits mainstream, but it will never be able to be a huge mainstream brand. Timeless was created out of the neccessity of wanting to be in the mainstream and being a mainstream brand. And to me "Too Many Loose Strings" means get your shit together. The TMLS designs are crisp, their clean, there is no visual eye sore they are very concepts are very well thought out.

Sneakers have always been a big part of the urban lifestyle. What are some of your favorite sneakers to rock?

Huaraches, I'm a big fan of Huaraches. Recently I have been wearing alot of Creative's (Creative Recreation) and I have been a big fan of Supras but as I get older Supra is more of a younger hip-hop/skate lifestyle.

There is alot of behind the scenes decisions that need to be made that alot of consumers dont know about. What are some of the most fun and most difficult parts of running a successful clothing brand?

The best part is when I get a new email with a bunch of new pics from Lani, the photographer. The hard part is making decisions that could effect 15 employees. For example if I'm making 500 decisions a day 2 or 3 of them may affect peoples jobs.

Being on the cutting edge of urban fashion can get tricky at times with new cloting lines constanty popping up and trends that seem to change daily. How does TITS stay relevant and stay ahead of the "biters" in the industry?

Again we keep concepts fresh. Alot of the biters brands that come out that are putting girls on shirts, their ideas are ones we have done 2 to 3 years ago.

He looks down at the magazine again, this time at a brother with dreadlocks and a lion tattooed on his chest. "This is the dumbest tattoo I've ever seen... his nipple looks like a mole on the lions chin."

Last but not least any special shout outs?

Usually at the end of my interviews I always say Megan Fox if your reading this we wanna put you on a shirt!

As Marek gets up a TITS employee walks by and Marek asks, "Did we ever hear back from Amber Rose's people?" He doesn't get the answer he wants. Then he turns back at me and says "let me know when you get that up" as he leaves the room. I think I have used up enough time from his busy day. Its back to business as usual for Marek Grubel.