Writer’s Block with Freemont
Jackson
Chicago-native Martez Malone has created his own
company, Yekim Custom Designs. Martez has made
exclusive one off pieces for entertainment heavy weights
such as: Drake, Future, DJ Khaled, Movado and Rocko.
Malone went from hood to high fashion; proof that
Chicago is more than just handguns and violence.
Father, son, businessman. A
cool young man, standing 6
feet plus, medium cut Caesar,
fresh white and gold Maison
Margielas… and the flyest
velour short set designed
by himself. Accessories
include: a matching bracelet
and watch, glistening full of
diamonds, and gold sets in his
teeth.
What is the meaning
behind the name Yekim?
My cousin Michael died five
years ago; we called him
Mikey. I wanted to keep my
cousin’s name alive, any way
that I could. I was thinking,
“I should spell it backwards
(yekim).” It sounded like a
European brand of clothing,
no different from Gucci. I
thought, “Yeah, that’s perfect
for me.”
With the passing of your
cousin Mikey, how were
you able to turn a positive
out of a negative?
Being from Chicago, it’s a
lot of experiences that you
go through. I’ve always
been around older cats who
basically ran the streets. I
always wanted to get away
from all of that. So they put
me up on what I needed to
know. The negative part of
it is being a product of your
environment. You get caught
up in doing things because
you have no choice. So I
relocated to Los Angeles. In
L.A. I can come outside and
work every day. You have
manufacturers; you might run
into a celebrity. What people
don’t understand is celebrities
are just like us.
Now you work closely with
DJ Khaled who said you
reminded him of fashion
l Y