Marc Louis "EckÅ" Milecofsky (born August 29, 1972) is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur, and artist. He is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Ecko Unlimited, a billion-dollar global fashion company. He also founded Complex magazine in 2002.
Early life
Marc Louis Milecofsky was born in New Jersey on August 29 1972. He was brought up with his twin Marci and an older sister, Shari, in suburban Lakewood, New Jersey, where his father was a pharmacist and his mother was a real estate broker. The siblings attended local public schools.
In his teenage years, Ecko turned his parents' garage into a design studio and showroom, creating and marketing t-shirts with his own designs, customizing hip-hop clothing, and airbrushing girls' fingernails.
Ecko entered Rutgers University's School of Pharmacy in New Brunswick, New Jersey after high school. During his time in college he painted graffiti and practiced drawing, taking "EckÅ" for his tag. In his third year, the school's dean encouraged Ecko to take a year off and pursue art.
Career
Ecko never returned to pharmacy school. In 1993, he started Ecko Unlimited as a T-shirt company, with small investments from his sister Marci and a friend, Seth Gerszberg. He traveled to Hong Kong to learn about the clothing industry. Early clients like Spike Lee and Chuck D. helped bring attention to his fledgling business, as did a Good Morning America segment that featured his T-shirt designs. The company expanded further into hip-hop and skater styles, and began to sport a rhinoceros logo. EckÅ Unltd. has since expanded into a billion-dollar company, with lines of urban clothes and accessories for young men, young women, children, and adults.
Since then, Ecko's businesses have expanded to include a magazine for young men, Complex, video and social gaming, and venture capital funds.
When Ecko was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA); he was the youngest designer ever to receive this honor. Since 2010, he has been a member of the Emeritus Board.
In 2008, he created the new jackets for the Iron Chefs on Iron Chef America.
Personal life
Ecko is Jewish. In 2000, Ecko married Allison Rojas. They have three children and live in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
Philanthropy
In 2004, Ecko founded a non-profit, Sweat Equity Education, to provide opportunities for real-world design and business interaction to urban, underserved students.
Ecko has also started Unlimited Justice, a social activism campaign which seeks to eliminate corporal punishment in U.S. schools.
Book
On October 1, 2013, Ecko released an autobiography entitled "Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out."
See also
- Marc EckÅ's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
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