Title
Media Kit
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Table of Contents
About the Brand...........................4 The Man Behind The Machine.....5 Spring 2012..................................6 Fall 2012.......................................7 2013.............................................8 What’s Next for the Brand............9 Events........................................10 Press Releases..........................11 A Letter To You..........................14
About the Brand
deb·o·nair adjective \ˌde-bə-ˈner\ = dressing and acting in an appealing and sophisticated
a variety of things; the urban community, sports,
way : fashionable, attractive, and confident.
and television. Debonair defines the Material.
Debonair Material takes inspiration from five key aspects; life experiences, music, art, fashion and culture. These aspects touch crucial parts in everyone’s life. Life experiences, such as love, heartbreak, and violence, are things we all go through on a daily basis. Music can be used as an escape or to help express an emotion. Art gives us a different way to look at life. Fashion is
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visual form of self expression. Culture includes
The Man Behind The Machine
The company was founded by, Long Island-
the idea of owning his own brand. As the years
born and Baltimore-raised, Donte’ Cotton. As
went on, he continued to be inspired to chase
an adolescent, he started to brand identify
his fashion-design dream. Within a few years,
and understand how to run a business. He
Debonair Material became a reality.
enjoyed the work and became more aware of his appearance. This lead to friendships in the streetwear scene and he became more indulged in the culture. In high school, his interest in fashion grew. Donte took a class in entrepreneurship where he had to create a mock company. His first idea was a clothing line. The idea stuck with him. He made his first designs by using online photoediting software. During his junior year, he took a marketing class where he had to once more, create a business. It was here that he was able to use his passion and became more inclined to
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Spring 2012
Debonair Material’s first collection, the Golden Era collection is late 80’s, early 90’s hip-hop inspired. Songs such as The Notorious B.I.G.’s Juicy, Slick Rick’s Children Story, and Common’s I Used to Love H.E.R are sources of inspiration.
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Fall 2012
Debonair Material released one piece in the fall of 2012. The Baseball tee was created to pay homage to the city in which its roots are founded in; featuring the brand’s name and establishment year in the Baltimore Orioles color way. The brand’s goal is to create more designs making connections with the cities it expands into and with its fans by having pieces that sport colors that mean something to you.
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2013
In 2013, the brand expanded into accessories and released its most products to date. Flat bill baseball caps, five-panel hats, and socks were introduced. With these additions, Debonair Material can outfit consumers head to toe.
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What’s Next for the Brand In 2014, Debonair Material is looking to do more to set itself apart from other brands.Fivepanels, apparel, and additional accessories, including backpacks and wristbands, are all to come. Debonair Material wants to become a more recognizable name. Since the brand is operating independently, it will retain a small, home-grown feel and continue to have limited edition releases. Debonair Material will also release staple pieces, such as logo tees and hoodies. As the brand enters the phase of distributing to retailers, it would like to do store-exclusive pieces alongside web exclusives. Creating that exclusivity brings value to the brand and the retailers that choose it. Debonair Material is also planning to expand its reach in social media. The brand wants to continue its reach and interact with the fans. The brand wants to become a part of the culture and times it’s in.
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Events
Debonair Material has also been a part of the trade show scene by participating in the
Sneakerheads are some of the most fashionable
inaugural Boston Indie Expo; formerly known as
people in the streetwear world and the event was
the Boson Tee Party. This was the brand’s first
a perfect fit for the brand.
public appearance and was great exposure in a new region. The brand has taken part in several events. One of its staple events has been the Morgan State University fashion show. In conjunction with the Fashion and Consumer Science department, Debonair Material has taken part in the three shows since its release. The brand also participated in the Baltimore Sneaker show, ranked by Complex Magazine as one of the Top 10 Sneaker events to attend, two years in a row. Donte’ introduce the brand to the
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culture that started him on the road to fashion.
Going forward, Debonair Material will continue to participate in public events and is working on pop-up shops for late 2014.
Press Releases Contact: Kelly Murphy
and presenting them in a new way. The five key
Phone: 781.366.0076
elements which I consider a part of everyone’s
E-Mail: kelly@indieminded.com
inspiration is Life (experiences), music, fashion,
Website: indieminded.com
Culture (the environment we’re raised in), and
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Interview: Getting To Know Donte’ Cotton
art. So for example, someone raised in an urban community (Their culture) can have someone
From Debonair Material
close to them die (a life experience) and turn it
It’s time for another great Boston Tee Party
inspire me to create a shirt about it (the fashion
interview! This morning we’re handing the microphone to Donte’ Cotton from Debonair
into music or another form of art and in turn can part). So they all intertwine some way or another.
Material!
My brand officially released it’s first collection,
Let’s get into it, sit back… relax…. and get to
collection is inspired by early 90′s hip-hop.
“The Golden Era Collection” in June 2012. The
know Debonair Material!
Which is considered the “golden era” or “golden
Tell us who you are and what brand you
of some of my elements of the brand being
age.” Hence the name…A good example
represent:
intertwined in this collection would be the “It was
My name is Donte’ Cotton and my brand name is
what I put out so far. It’s a clash of Music and the
all a Dream..” tee. That’s the most popular out of
Debonair Material.
sports Culture. Our 1992 “Dream Team” of USA
With a last name like Cotton, you have no
song “Juicy”. Two very identifiable things in their
basketball and Biggie’s lyrics from the classic
choice but to work with t-shirts, right?
own right becoming one.
Tell us a bit about your brand:
What prompted you to take part in the 1st
“Debonair” defines the material. I want my brand’s products to be polished, and urbane and even elegant at times; all synonyms for the word “debonair”. I take pride in trying to give the best quality I can to my consumers. The brand over all is about what inspires us all
Annual Boston Tee Party? I wanted to take part in the Boston Tee Party because I thought it was a great opportunity for the brand and to get the name out there very early. I know being an indie brand and having success is largely based on customer interaction
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and building brand loyalty through those interactions. So, what better way to introduce
What can we expect from your brand/
the brand to the people than here? Also, I check
company for the rest of 2012?
Tee Gazette and other sites like iamthetrend. com pretty frequently and after seeing the list
Well, by that time, we’ll be prepping for our Fall
of brands that are going to be in attendance I
release. I’m thinking of previewing some stuff
thought It’d be dope to meet the people behind
from that collection at the expo but I haven’t
the brands I see all the time as well.
worked out all of the details yet. So, we’ll see what happens.
What are you most looking forward to at this event?
Do you have any advice to up and coming t-shirt brands?
I’m looking forward to just meeting a lot of people with the same interest and passion as mine.
The best advice I can give is to get out there and
Hopefully, build some relationships and learn
do it! That’s what a lot of people have told me. As
a few things. I’m also excited to hear what the
a small indie brand, it’s hard to do a lot of what
speakers have to share with us. I’m always down
you want but take one step at a time. You’ll get
to hear things from people that have “been there
there. I had been designing and messing around
and done that.”
since my high school days but didn’t take myself serious about starting my own label until college.
Is there any one brand that you’re really
I spent about two years reading, researching,
looking forward to checking out?
and developing a good identity for my brand and what I wanted to do. I went through name
I’m excited to see them all to be honest. I’ve
changes, design changes,the whole nine. Also,
seen the most of and most familiar with Mindless
don’t be afraid to show people what you’ve
Tees work however.
been working on. That helped me out a lot. In developmental stages I tested out designs with
Will you be releasing anything exclusive to
friends, other designers, my personal blog,
this event?
asked magazine editors. You have to find a medium between what you like and who you’re
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I never thought about that…I can work
selling to likes. So you have to take criticism well
something out though. That’d be awesome for
when you do this, it’s only to help you. Especially
the fans down the line that come and buy a shirt.
when it comes from someone in the game. I
think I can sum all that up with the Magic school bus phrase that’s been stuck in my head all day for no apparent reason, “Take chances, make mistakes and get messy!” What is one thing you want the world to know about your company? The one thing I want them to know is that I’m genuine. I’m doing what I love and taking risks everyday to succeed. I think they’ll see that when they meet me and see my work as my brand and I grow. Where can we find you on the web?
Other Releases TTG Brand Spotlight: Debonair Material feature by Indie Minded indieminded.com/2012/07/ttg-brand-spotlightdebonair-material
Debonair Material feature by Underground Youth undergroundyouthla.blogspot.com/2013/09/ debonair-material.html Debonair Material’s “The Golden Era Collection” feature by Launch Hype
Right now we’re exclusively at debonairmaterial.
www.launchype.com/clothing/debonair-
com. You can go there and there’s link to the
materials-the-golden-era-collection-2/
facebook, twitter and blog. If you have any questions, just e-mail info@debonairmaterial.com and I’ll answer them personally as quickly as possible. Hopefully by the time of the expo or a result of the expo we’ll be in a couple boutiques or something. Big thanks to Donte’ for taking some time out to sit down with us! Looking forward to meeting you in Boston in August! Keep up to date on all that’s happening with the Boston Tee Party here!
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A Letter To You
First of all, I want to thank you for taking the time out to sit down and become aquainted with Debonair Material. I hope you’d consider doing business with the brand for 2014 and beyond. I’ve spent the past year and a half really growing the brand and making it into what it is today. I want my brand to become more prominent in the fashion world and partnering with you would help my brand grow. Whether you’re a blogger, retailer, or a potential partner, the brand looks to set a standard of excellence for itself as well as those that are associated with it. In short, I just want to do business with companies with integrity and willing to give oppurtunities to up and comers because that’s what I intend to do with my brand. So again, thank you for taking the time out to read this and I hope to do business in the near future. Sincerly,
Donte Cotton Owner
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Brand Contact information debonairmaterial.com facebook.com/debonairmaterial Twitter: @DebMaterial Instagram: @debonairmaterial Donte’ Cotton, Owner dontecotton@debonairmaterial.com 443.986.5121
Copyright Š Debonair Material 2014