Saturday, May 18, 2024

Five More Brands You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Murder Mitten

murdermitten

What’s the backstory on Murder Mitten?

It all started out of my dorm room about 4 years ago.  I got tired of people repping Detroit so hard when half of them have never been there and everyone who has knows its a pretty fucked up place.  Michigan is way more than just Detroit so I wanted to create something that embodied the state as a whole.  I liked the term “Murder Mitten” but all the clothing brands using it were off some Ed Hardy bullshit and it was nothing I would ever buy.  So I started messing around with Illustrator and came up with the Murder Mitten Logo.  I didn’t want to spend any money on stickers or t shirts, so I literally took a stencil of my logo and a sharpie and drew it on a tall t.  I wore it to a rail jam and kids literally shit themselves when they saw it.  So I decided to get some stickers made by some random dude I met on the internet.  I did that for a couple years but it wasn’t until last October that I really got my shit together.  I got a check in the mail for $1000 that I wasn’t expecting and was faced with the very difficult decision of spending it on booze or buying a vinyl plotter.  Eventually I decided to take the sober road and just like that Murder Mitten became an official business. I started out by making stickers and realized pretty quick that I could get a specialty vinyl that was heat transferrable to garments.  I bought a heat press and made a website and the rest is history.

What’s different about your brand?

I never really set out to be different.  I just make things that I think look cool and give them to my friends.  Lucky for me, other people think its cool too and want to buy it off me.

No really, why should people support you and not some other independent brand?

I’m all about supporting independent brands.  Honestly, Murder Mitten was a joke that got way out of control.  I’m happy with making enough money to make myself free hoodies and give stuff to my friends for free.  I don’t think I have any direct competitors and all the people I know with clothing brands in Michigan I make stickers for and talk to on a daily basis about new ideas.  Making clothing was never a dream of mine and it still isn’t.  I get stoked when I see dudes like Mike Harrington with Flanel Lifestyles being successful and actually creating a successful brand.  I try to help people who are attempting to start their own brands as much as possible too.  Theres a lot of work that goes  into running a business and its definitely difficult figuring it all out on your own.

Who are you and why do you think you’re qualified to run a business?

I’m the kid who just spent a month in Salt Lake blowing up tinder to find a place to sleep and hitching rides up Big Cottonwood to Brighton every day.  Murder Mitten is a little thing I do on the side that keeps me entertained.  When I started it I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and it took a lot of hard work to make my operation look as official as it does right now.  I don’t have any aspirations of Murder Mitten making me a million dollars and I definitely don’t think it will be able to support me.  However, the lessons I’ve learned from starting this business were way more valuable than any high school/ college class I’ve ever taken.  Thats for sure.

What will you do after you get rich off snowboarding?

Buy Yobeat off of you and burn it to the ground.

http://www.murder-mitten.com/

templetonHip Snowboarding Logoflossophymurdermittenoms

48 COMMENTS

  1. ” I wore it to a rail jam and kids literally shit themselves when they saw it. ” – murder mittens

    either it really was the best logo of all time, or you have never actually stopped to consider what the word “literally” actually means

      • hey, i understand that mis-using the hell out of the word “literally” is such an epidemic in our culture that it’s usually not worth getting worked up about, but c’mon, the kids “literally shit themselves”? are you fucking kidding me? so a bunch of little kids had to go home early and have their mommies buy them new pants because this kid drew a logo that was so dope that the children ACTUALLY spewed diarrhea all over themselves the moment they saw it?

  2. Murder Mitten is the dumbest name for something i have ever heard. In a state which contains cities like Flint and Detroit which have ridiculously high murder rates, why are you printing that shit on tshirts and hoodies for a bunch of white college kids to wear. A terrible way to represent Michigan in my opinion.

  3. I bought some stickers and a hoody of that fucking murder mitten website 2 months ago and that sent me a sticker with the letter I missing from it. And it took him 2 fucking months and 7 emails that he sent in all caps talking about being to hungover to get it. Fuck that kid what a loser

  4. This Al-Pal character running Murder Mitten is a terrible person to run a business. I ordered 3 stickers which took 3 months to get here. He mixed up the stickers, AND GAVE ME 2. He didn’t respond to 8 of my 10 emails and then proceeded to mess up the next order. Fuck Yourself.

  5. Murder mitten, the clothing for white private schools boys with daddy’s credit card. Never been to Detroit or Flint.

  6. I don’t understand all the hate here! I once met Al Pal at #Vail and he’s super rad and really professional. I ordered some of those sick die cuts from the website and they fit perfectly around my #Switch bindings.

  7. Flossophy really liked Ashbury’s (and 100 other) logo that much huh? And Hip has to be the worst brand name in a long time.

  8. The only thing cool about flossophu is that Emily Laplume is part of their marketing scheme. Stay in Tahoe kooks

  9. the hip fella seemed pretty level-headed to me, and seems to have a good business plan. not a huge fan of the name, despite its double meaning, though

      • You don’t even make pants ya damn fool. The tee with that guy thinking is tight tho, it would be cool if he was thinkin about tittiess or weed or some dankass food tho. That’s just my design sensibility coming through tho.

  10. Wait murder mitten doesn’t actually make gloves? Wait their brand is based around you arranging an outline of the lower half of your state to replace a letter in a phrase that means nothing in illustrator one day? And you want people to give you their hard-earned money in support of this?

  11. Damn yall wild fo all dis. yall all wild. nigga sittin here tryna find his comb n shit and den i see all these niggas hatin an shit yall willin out do fo real

  12. Didn’t you post an article a couple months back about buying our gear from local shops, and not online. Good luck supporting any of these companies without shopping online, unless you live in the city where they’re based.

  13. Why isn’t the real oven mitten co. on this? follow us on insta yo @therealovenmittenco, yo

  14. What the heal . snowboard motherfuckers theres only three more weeks fucktards…. bitch in august when your moms in heat

  15. man, it’s 2014, everyone just steals everyone else’s logos anyways. literally every company has a logo that looks like another logo.

    #neversnakeasnaker

  16. U should take a look to Emeneka, is a Chilean brand that make sick outerwear for snowboarders, clothing and accessories (hats, beanies, sunglasses), is a one guy company, he support skateboarders and snowboarders. He just sell trough his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mnklsc?fref=ts

    Regards from deep southamerica. Respect.

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