:: Attic Online ::

Name: Chris Ngo

Vendor/Company/Brand:
Imaginary Kingdom aka IM-KING

Staff Introduction: Polo= founder/production. Andy=Creative Director/founder. Brian=Designer, James=Designer. Chris=Sales. Brandon=Sales. Shipping Manager= Brian aka Monkey. Office Manager= Peter. Interns= Ricky and Josh. Muscle=Matagi

Years has been around? Over a year now.

Any interesting or humorous stories about
starting up?
First Magic we went to we printed the wrong colors from the catalog and the samples. So pretty much we had a catalog with one color but we were showing samples that were another color. Let's say that wasn't a good look.

Where is your company based from?
Orange County, CA. Our new warehouse is located in Santa Ana.

Brands that influenced your company?
Stussy, LRG, and Obey. Stussy has been around since we were little but yet they are still respected and kids till this day go nuts off their stuff. Obey has done a crazy job of propaganda marketing without going out there and forking out large amount of money on print ads. There really isn't much to say about LRG besides that they are a market genius that keeps on growing.

So that kids know, how much and what does it really take to start a clothing brand?
At least 150k because you need to produce 3 seasons in advance. You need to spend money on marketing and advertising. Your first few years you'd be lucky to make money. It's a lot more work then you would ever think.

What ladies at the clubs grabs the
IM King's attention?
The one's on the go-go cages that you can look at but you can't touch.

How much % of Magic Show and Agenda is business? I want details.
Putting a number on that would be hard to give you but we can say this, getting a buyer liquored up is always the best and easiest way to do business. Most of the people that go to Magic are just the crew anyways. Magic itself is a zoo because there is so much going on that you don't have time for everything.

How Did the Business Get Started:
Andy and Polo have always wanted to mess around with a clothing line since they were little kids wearing cross color and Air Jordans. Polo was a pretty talented basketball player but realized that he would never ever be in the NBA because not many 5 feet 6 Asian guys do and Andy couldn't make money off of pop and locking. So they worked really hard in the mortgage industry for a few years, saved some money and got a loan and did this.

Tell me the truth, about how many % of your designs were done in a sober state of mind?
Brian and James do all the designs and believe it or not they're mostly sober. Designers are already weird enough.

Are you guys heavy shoe collectors? What is your prized piece and how many you got?
Most of us when we were younger were heavy into shoes. We all did our time standing in front of Niketown, Footlocker, Blends, etc in the rain and cold hoping to cop those Air Jordans. That's why we relate with all of the younger kids because we were all once them. Just because we are older doesn't mean we don't get excited when something hot comes out. I personally almost wet my pants when the fire red 3's got released. Oh yeah thanks James for putting my pair on hold by the way.

Would you be bold enough to let MTV Cribs run an episode on your pad?
Sure if you like small one bedroom apartments. All I got in my fridge is soda and sriracha.

If you had 100 bucks to blow on something, what would it be?
Blow? I'm kidding. 100 bucks.....hmmm lottery tickets. Andy would probably buy some vnecks and cheap mondays.

Any plans for a women's line?
We're starting it slow but we're gonna release women tees first.

What brand is hot right now?
Orisue, Triumvir3, 3sixteen, Peg Leg, and my favorite Alife.

What do you think of the term "streetwear"? Is it a legitimate genre or a generic label?
It is what it is. So many brands out there want to call them self a Lifesyle brand but yet make stuff that you would call "street wear". I really don't have a strong opinion about the whole street wear term, I just categorize a company by their designs. If their stuff is good it's good, if it's bad it's bad. That's why I say it is what it is.

Do you see streetwear as the new urban with a rise and fall? How will it outlast mainstream exposure and saturation?
Real Talk. It's already saturated. Every Magic I go to there has been more and more new brands out there. I mean the popularity of street wear has grown so much in a over a year that it's overwhelming because now you see it all over the place. Turn on the tv, listen to the radio, go to the mall, go to a resturant and you'll either see someone rocking it or talking about it. How will street wear outlast mainstream exposure? Only time will tell.

What type of people would you fear rocking
your brand?
No type. We're not a cool guy label that discriminates anyone. If you're rocking our brand we'd like to say thank you for supporting us.

How did the name of the company come about?
Imaginary kingdom means great ideas. Everything we do is well thought out and we try our best to execute our ideas in our clothes.

Any brands you want to put on blast or talk shit on? Talk shit if you choose to LOL.
hmmm what you trying to do start bad blood James? Anyone out there saying shit about other people trying to making money in this industry is an idiot. It's clothes not a gang. We're all here to make money and feed ourself.

I see IM King as a brand that is keeping it real with your honest pricing and innovative styles. What else do you guys attribute to your successful season?
I think the staff itself has worked really hard putting in a lot of time to bring this label to where it is today. None of us are ballin' but we want to, so that's the goal.

Any inside information you can leak out
exclusively for us?
Don't eat at the roach coaches, they're not good for you. Milk is still good 2 days after expiration and the tooth fairy, santa claus and easter bunny aren't real.

What sets IM King apart from the other cats
of the industry?
Nothing. We all do the same thing everyone else in the industry does but we put a different twist on our style. We don't look down on anyone.

So when is the IM King x Attic collaboration
getting down?
When James can agree on making it to the warehouse and finally doing this damn thing.

Shout outs? I'd like to say thank you to...