Alife x Married to the Mob

[oh so modern]

this is when i hope there is a god so st peter can turn these broads around at the gate.

**yes i realize i am assuming chrisitianity

one love.

[Nutonce]

these bitches are corny though.

what does having alife on your shirt make you?

answer me new yorkers.

[The Hipster]

[E-DubleSkilZ]

MOB = Money Over Bitches - Ask Suge Knight

[InfamousOne]

this isthe dumbest shit i have ever seen...

[The Hipster]

http://www.inquiringmind.ca

 

Married to the Mob

W: http://WWW.MARRIEDTOTHEMOBNYC.COM

words: f.o.r.e. / photo: mttm

 

All ready two seasons deep and the third being one of the most anticipated fall/winter collections by most street savvy women, IQMND managed to catch up with these busy business ladies to ask them about what life is like being the Most Official Bitches. Sure there has been plenty of coverage over these past few months, but you'll find that this interview isn't part of that norm. F.O.R.E. gets deeper and got Leah and Sharon to cough up how MTTM gets down. Now, this is for them BITCHES, you know them Supreme BITCHES!

 

"The M.O.B. comes equipped with warfare, beware of my crime family who got nuff shots to share for all of those who wanna profile and pose rock you in your face, stab your brain wit' your nosebone."

 

IQMND: Getting started - How did you ladies put MTTM together? Were there any major issues MTTM had to overcome before you could put the line out? If yes, how did you deal with it?

 

MTTM: We were just chillin last summer, neither one of us had a job, so we just decided to start a t-shirt line. We had nothing else to do. Not really, we had good ideas and the connections to get the product made so we did it. Nah, luckily we didn't have to deal with any real issues. We don't really get stressed out about shit anyway, it's not worth it.

 

IQMND: Inspirations/influences - What inspires MTTM? As women in general what influences you do keep moving on a daily basis? How has MTTM affected you personal life and vice versa?

 

MTTM: Living in New York it is really easy to find inspiration, all you have to do is take a walk down the block no matter where in the city you live, there will always be some crazy shit going on. We get inspired by a variation of many different things,bums and junkies, Chanel, Goyard, expensive shit, haters, lovers, purple rabbits, white trash, God, 1996, our friends, just to name a few. Well in terms of our personal life, it's funny because there are websites where people we don't even know talk about us. Plus it has changed our relationship, sometimes we fight and we have to learn to separate business from friendship and not take anything personal.

 

IQMND: Other designers - Who are you feeling right now? Who's wack in your opinion right now? Feel free to answer freely because from what I've seen and read you ladies ain't fucking shy.

 

MTTM: Roberto Cavalli has some ill, over the top shit,some high-end guidette shit. So does Versace. As always, we love Balenciaga, Hanes and YSL. Marc Jacobs sucks.

 

IQMND: Do you have a good story to tell? Something you'd like to share with the readers, like a day in your shoes. What's it like just being you?

 

MTTM: We were talking to possible investors. They decided to take us to PM (a club in the meatpacking district) after dinner. Up 'til that point, they loved us! We had a booth----some little drunk bitch decided to run up on our table & start dancing. It was ridiculous! So I pushed her off the table. She fell on the floor and hit her head off the edge of the table. It was ugly. Her friend tried to get loud then and Leah threw a drink in her face. The investors were stunned but their girlfriends were happier than shit. They thought the skanks were trying to steal their men, or at least their men's black cards. Being us is pretty fun.

 

IQMND: If you don't mind me asking, describe the perfect man. How would you like to be approached by a man? What's the worse pick up line you've ever been given?

 

L: My man is the absolutely most perfect guy for me. Smart, creative, successful and yet modest. I hate show off-y guys, that's so faggy to me. And most importantly he is in love me as much as I'm in love with him. We are going to live happily ever after. What more does any girl want? I like to be the one who approaches, the aggressor. The last thing I want is my guy to be aggressive. Worst pick up line would have to be "Hey mami" I guess that doesn't sound so bad, but it was coming from an amputee in a wheelchair outside the AIDS clinic on Rivington.

 

S: The perfect man makes me laugh, has his shit together, got style, and is my biggest fan. I hate when men approach me. I just assume they approach everyone. I keep walking when I hear pick up lines. But the worst shit that happened recently---some little bastard paid me a compliment when I passed him on the street, I kept walking, and because I ignored him, he threatened "to kick me in the chest".

 

IQMND: Being really random, pick between these options and tell us why. Diamonds or Furs?

 

L: Diamonds especially canary

 

IQMND: Gucci or Louis Vuitton?

 

L: Clothes- Gucci Bags-LV classic

 

IQMND: Jay Z or Nas?

 

L: Nas.

 

IQMND: Pharrell or Kanye West?

 

L: Pharrell. Fuck the Roc.

 

IQMND: Shower or Bath?

 

L: Bath

 

IQMND: The Beach or the Spa?

 

L: Beach (Amagansett)

 

IQMND: Dinner and a movie or pre-drinking then the club?

 

L: Depends, dinner and a movie with my man then pre-drinking and clubbing with the MOB Crew

 

IQMND: Diamonds or Furs?

 

S:: Diamonds---they have a better resale value.

 

IQMND: Gucci or Louis Vuitton?

 

S: Neither---goyard.

 

IQMND: Jay Z or Nas?

 

S: I love them both. But I have to go with J.

 

IQMND: Pharrell or Kanye West?

 

S: Kanye.

 

IQMND: Shower or Bath?

 

S: Bath.

 

IQMND: The Beach or the Spa?

 

S: The Beach.

 

IQMND: Dinner and a movie or pre-drinking then the club?

 

S: Fuck the movies. Dinner & drinks, then more drinks at da club.

 

IQMND: A good night in N.Y. is accomplished how?

 

MTTM: By hanging with us.

 

IQMND:If you could do a collaboration with anybody who would it be?

 

MTTM: Kaws

 

IQMND: Say there was no MTTM right now, what would you be doing?

 

L: Having Babies.

 

S: Collecting Welfare.

 

IQMND: Any Last Words or Shout Outs?

 

MTTM: Check Yourself.

 

Look out for MTTM's third season, filled with the regular hot tees and sweats, plus jewelry made by Evan Yurman, collaboration with Timberland and naughty sex toys? Can't say more.

[WhiteOx]

Is your 12 oz duty to post everything regarding trendy shit from NY?.. hipster

[The Hipster]

 

full website.

 

http://www.marriedtothemobnyc.com

[The Hipster]

It’s a spin off the retail mafia name. God, I feel like I’ve answered this a million times.

Can’t you people think of some half way interesting questions. Ok just kidding.

That was rude, sorry. So yeah, spin off of the retail mafia…and of course MOB,

Most Official Bitches which is the crew. Since we started though, MOB had become a

way of life. I even hear people describing things as MOB. Isn’t that crazy?

Iike it’s a new word in the dictionary. I love that.

Whilst of course married to the mob is still a relatively new brand

and yet i would say you create more gossip than any other brand out there?

why’s this?

 

OK yes! An interesting question. I would say probably because I speak and act

without thinking first. Only very boring people do that. Also because MOB are a

group of females and happen to be attractive as well. Also, not only do I put my

clothes out there, but myself as well. I say, do and make things that people react to.

It is not a thought out thing, it’s natural. I have been this way since I could speak.

I read recently on a board that I was a stuck up cunt and should be turned away at

the gates of heaven, that was the greatest thing I have ever heard. Fucking hysterical!

All the people gossiping are a bunch of nerdy dudes who are such losers that they

would stand on line to get a shirt or the newest dunk/Jordan etc. Fucking lame.

They also probably have tiny dicks and can’t get fucked. People say women are

gossipers but in this case it is the exact opposite. I have gotten nothing but love from

females. They like what I do and want to be MOB.

 

Talk good, talk bad…just keep talking. A proverb from my homie Marlin.

Why? Why clothing brand Leah?

I love clothes. And I felt left out, all the guys had shirts to wear but when it came to

girl tees and shit, nobody was doing it right. I didn’t want to rep anybody except high

end shit. But how many high end labels make hot tees? None really. And I’m not

wearing a shirt with a big triple five soul logo on it. No offense to them, I give that chik

mad respect for becoming a very rich lady. But I just wouldn’t wear it. Also, it was

the best way to start building a name that could be branched out to so many more things.

So, I hear the only reason MTTM has made it this far is your Relationship

with Alife? That’s pretty cool, what you gonna get into next? Politics? I hear

Bill Clinton’s pretty keen? (of course we can edit this hahaha)

 

Whoever belives that the fact that my man is a co-owner of alife is the reason to my

business growing is really ignorant. I wish it was that easy. I would be a lot less

stressed out. Did it help get my stuff out there to the right people, yes of course. I

would hope that the man that claims he loves me would want to help in anyway he

could. But beyond introducing me to a couple people, it was all me and Sharon. It was

our money, our ideas and our drive and ambition that got us to where we are, and it

isn’t anywhere close to where I want to be. Besides, where would anyone be without

having relationships with other people. That’s a big part of business. Oh yeah, I think

Bill Clinton is kinda hot in that sleazy old man kinda way.

But I’m definitely not going to intern with him.

Seriously though, mttm is in a number of high profile stores and the new

site is up, whats next?

 

Hmm..well there is a bikini coming out in the spring. I wanted to release it for

Holiday/Resort but I decided to sit on it. I have had a lot of business meetings this

week, but who knows what will work out and what won’t. I am just focusing on getting

my holiday stuff out and designing for spring/summer. And for whatever else comes

my way. Also my girl Lori Lo is working on a line under the MOB label. Should be

dope, don’t know when exactly it’s coming out though.

 

I hear there have been some recent changes in the day to day running

of mttm? Wheres Sharon?

 

Yes there has been a major change, Sharon left the company. But who can blame her.

She is on a 200 foot yacht with an older wealthy gentleman that she fell in love with.

I think she is in St. Barts right now. Sharon, if you have internet service and you

read this, call me!!! And tell dude to fly me out there.

 

slamxhype.com

[gren1 bnc]

gay shizzle...agreed?

[gren1 bnc]

gay shizzle...agreed?

[jo king]

n Interview with JEST

co-founder of ALIFE

 

http://freshnessmag.com/content/features/f...alife/index.php

[Tyler Durden]

I really hope someone finds a way to crash a plane into these girls.

Shit is pure garbage.

 

 

I'd like to see some real hard hitting mafia dudes run a train on these whores and make them cry.

Thatd be kind of funny...

[PREPPY GANGSTA]

give Leah a break

she's trying!

[The Hipster]

 

Alife, is an institution, but with the influx of new people to the culture and the opening of the new store, there are probably many people out there who, whilst, they know the name, might not know what it means… Tell us about alife, when, where, what and who?

 

What’s up Slam! Whilst there might be people out there that don’t know everything about us, this is what it’s all about. We would never expect everybody to know everything about us. The people that watched us from inception have the total picture, and that’s not such a big group. When people that don’t know about Alife enter our shops, they have no clue what is going on. They don’t know why our brand has a certain hype around it nor why these products are valuable to our culture. Our shop is not for them. I view our shop more as a showcase of goods that we have produced. Once shit is sold out, it’s gone forever, until the next round comes in.

 

 

There are many aspects of alife, production, rtft amongst them, on a day to day basis.. how do all these areas run?

These are some of the arms that Alife has. These are the products that are available to the public wherever we distribute our goods. These “soft goods� are managed from design to production to distribution. This has proven to be a harder task than we imagined, but I feel that we are just now getting to where we are the most comfortable than we have ever previously been. We also get involved in lots of behind the scene type of projects that the average consumer would never know about. In most instances, these are the projects that fund our operations. We will work for hire, for other brands, as long as we believe that what these outside brands are representing is relevant to our lifestyle.

 

 

For me, Alife stands out above most other labels out there today, simply due to the fact, from day one and through all aspects of the business, everything is done ‘properly’ cut and sew that stands out, retail that is outstanding, but inparticular the co-labs that Alife participates in are huge, I mean Adidas, Medicom and Levis! It doesn’t get much bigger than that? Is this something you plan to continue? Can you get any bigger?

 

 

Thanks for the compliments above. As far as the collaborations go, we are definitely continuing on this path. This has been our M.O. since we began. The collabs are only going to get better and bigger. We are in the talking stages with some of the largest brands in the world, and I’m not speaking of brands that are the obvious choices. We are collaborating with the top tier brands that are important to the life that we are living currently. We like to be random with the brands that we get down with as to keep everyone on their toes.

 

 

The new NYC retail space is simply an amazing space.. how, who and when did the theme of the store and the design develop?

 

 

The new shops are designed based around our products. We wanted the retail spaces to be simple in design, a mixture of materials that were everything from linoleum to walnut wood. A mixture of expensive materials and cheap materials. We wanted the clothing and products to be the major focus of the shops. The shops are pretty monotone in terms of color, most of the color comes from the clothing that is on display. The soundtrack that is played in the NYC shop is exclusively for us from the Wu-Tang clan. The soundtrack that is played in the diorama area is made exclusively for us by a producer named, “The Beats�. This soundtrack was made to go hand in hand with the installation that you are looking at while listening to it. So, overall it is a total package that we are trying to get across, it’s the sound, the product, the shop quality, and last but not least, it’s the service.

 

 

And why Vancouver? Will this store be any different to that of the NYC store? Can we expect a sneaker store similar to Rivington Club outside NYC also?

 

Vancouver was a step for us to explore life outside of the USA. I think it is an unassuming area, we have specific parts of our business happening in Vancouver, so this was a big reason why we are up there. The product offering is almost the same except for a few exceptions such as HUF. You can expect more outside of the USA in the future.

 

 

The stores, of course, don’t just sell Alife, other brands like MTTM, and Irak are well represented also, the culture must have changed immensely over the last few years since alife started, with all the hype, all the new brands, all the internet games.. what are your thoughts on these changes?

[The Hipster]

 

I think shit has to constantly evolve. With evolution comes new ideas. The biggest problem that I see happening at the moment is the unwillingness to gamble with new ideas. I feel that most people are just taking ideas that are proven to work and putting their names on it, in other words biting.

That’s all good, but while that is going on, we are going to be exploring new territories.

 

 

Whats next for Alife? Now that the latest retail projects are complete can we expect further development of the brand?

Currently we are exploring various distribution tactics. We are tightening up our brand in all aspects, distribution, manufacturing, retail, etc. We are looking to expand to other parts of the world as well. All of these things are currently happening and we are looking forward to what the future has to offer.

 

 

Alife isn’t just a store or a brand! Its, it’s own culture, a strong player in the infamous NYC retail mafia also.. Was this a plan from the start? Whats the mafia all about?

[The Hipster]

 

The Retail Mafia was the idea of one Dirt Don the Ron of aNYthing. We are all in contact with each other, we party together, we are involved in the clothing business, overall we respect what each other do. Our brands as a collective are pretty powerful in this genre that we belong to. This wasn’t the plan from the start but we are coming up on the 2 year anniversary since the Retail Mafia came about.

 

 

Jest, of course you came from an art or writing background, but how did you end up in this game? Were you a kid, similar to me, who rocked the latest kicks and threads from day one? Why Alife for you?

 

I rocked B-Boy gear growing up. Army and Navy store to get the Lee pinstripe jeans and jean jackets, LeTigre’s, Adidas shell toes, Pony’s, leather bomber with fur hood, sheepskins, etc… Why Alife for me? It’s born from our the life that we grew up in. It’s shit that we enjoy making and love to see the random people that rep it.

 

 

As far as your own art.. Can we expect much more from you over the next year or so?

 

As far as my own art, you can view it on the clothing, store designs and installations. This shit takes up soo much of my time that my personal art comes into play when it can take the form of a product for sale in one of our shops

 

 

Whats next for Alife and whats next for Jest?

The World is Yours.

 

Is there anything else you want to say. To anyone about anything?

Thank you for your support.

Peace,

JESTISM©1970

 

stolen from:

http://www.slamxhype.com/

[SKOTREL]

I'll admit I like some of the stuff that comes out of alife.

 

I think that putting out limited product is a dope thing as well.

 

But that Married to the mob shit is stupid and Im not hating I love to see people get their hussle on, but they took what potentialy could have been a really genius idea and are running it w/ shitty designs and half ass attention to what they put out.dont get me wrong some of their Ideas are hot like the timbo collab and the necklaces but over all their stuff seems to be not very well thought out and I think they are getting alot of love because of who they hang out w/.Another case of yo ima put their shit on cause they my girls..that shit is week.i'll put my boy over in the BKs line 1soul against their shit any day....

[THANKYOU]

alife and mttm-

 

both inspiring... shits ill.

[leftover crack]

Originally posted by Herbivore@Nov 24 2004, 12:51 PM

watch out... they're from Chelsea and "the mean streets of Yonker, NY"...... that's hilarious..... so is this:

 

In4mant: Who do you roll with?

 

MTTM : We roll with a select, privileged few?generally ill girls who hold it down?bitches who do their own thing?but mostly, you'll find us chillin with the boys of the Retail Mafia.

 

that one girl has some nice funbags though.

Quoted post

 

yonkers really has MEAN STREETS...

 

chealsea too..

dont jump the gun. these girls are getting their hustle on.

[Jack McCoy]

This married to the mob shit is most definitely laughable, but the thing about Yonkers... Yo I don't know if you're from New York or not, but parts of Y.O. are GRIMEYYYYY as it gets. She probably aint from that part though.