These brothers are doing big business with some of the industry’s biggest and brightest. New Black Kids On The Block: PMK Customs Last year, PMK’s (Perfectly Made Kicks) work on the “Brooklyn Zoo” Jordan 1′s that Jay-Z wore at the Nets season opener at Barclay’s Center had sneakerheads losing their collective isht. The Cleveland, Ohio duo’s momentum grew even more when the internet fashionista’s laid their eyes on Beyonce’s “King Bey” custom Isabel Marant sneakers . Jay-Z snapping pics of his PMK custom Jordan 1′s In a recent interview with XXL the two up-and-coming designers spoke on how they linked up: Andre Scott: I started PMK Customs and had it rolling since 2011. As you mentioned, Kelton and me are from the same city and been there all of our lives but it’s funny because we never crossed paths until we linked up [for this]. Kelton has always been the who’s who, the prince of the city, the king of the city, the man of the city—all of that. [Laughs] You know, like everybody has always said he has a promotional company called 881 and they throw the hottest parties in Cleveland. So he has a great network and it’s like I had some people come to the office that were like, “Yo, you need to talk to Kelton Crenshaw.” I was like, Why do I need to talk to Kelton Crenshaw? I sent this man a couple of things on LinkedIn and he don’t’ reply to me so, why do I need to talk to this guy. [Laughs] Like I don’t even know no 881. So finally we got Kelton in the PMK office, this was last year. So, he came with a couple of other people and we sat down and talked and I kind of gave him a run down of what PMK was about because he started seeing these hip-hop emails come through [Laughs]. You know what I’m saying? He wasn’t really paying attention; he was in law school and had his own stuff going on. I really take pride in locking in with people so after he stepped into the office, I saw what everybody was talking about. How he’s a leader, great thinker and a great businessman. So I was like I’m not letting this guy go anywhere. I kept forcing him to team up; I would be like, “We’re going to do some collabs, Kelton Crenshaw line or something.” I was like you can’t go nowhere. And he was like, “No I’m laid back, I’m corny.” I was like, No, we’re going to do a line. So next time he came I had a whole sheet for the rest of the year, drops here and there and everything. [In the end] I kind of forced him to take part, so he couldn’t be like, “I can’t do this, screw this guy.” We got draped into a project off in Dallas and that was the first time we actually took a business trip together. During the trip, we got time to get to know each other on a personal level as friends and also more detail in what PMK had going on. Ever since then, since we signed up together we’ve just been taking it over from there. Kelton Crenshaw: It was really crazy because, I got a bar back home and the DJ at the bar would be like, “Yo, my mans got these shoes and clothes,” and I’m just like, Okay man, cool. Everybody got a clothing line or something and I just don’t really get off into that type of stuff. So he’s like, “I want you to meet him, he’s a good guy. It’s real, they need your help.” So I went and met Dre, I heard him out and we just got cool. I just like helping out on some cool shit, that’s the type of guy I am. And if I like somebody, I’m not going to be coming in there with like equity agreements. Like if it’s input and you need X,Y,Z— I was just helping out on some cool shit and we just got real. Like he said, he brought up some opportunities for me on some parties side cause I promoted for a long time since 881. We do all the LeBron [James] events, we’re actually friends and have been doing events for the last seven years. I’m like a real quiet dude and just kind of in the cut on the business side. I’ve been around for a while and just got to wait for an opportunity like this honestly. Hit the following page to read how Kelton and Andre hooked up with Emory. Continue reading →
