A cute monkey on tee shirts, thats what most people think of when
they hear the name Paul Frank. More exists behind that name though,
there is Paul Frank style, Paul Frank Industries, but most of all
exists Paul Frank the man. Paul Frank the man is the lucky and
visionary designer behind the monkey.
Following his creative ambitions, this once news stand man, has been
propelled to the forefront of the fashion world. His initial motivation was just to
create clothes for himself and friends that were different. While
still in college he started creating wallets out of a unique material,
vinyl. His quirky and cute creations unexpectedly put him in demand as
other discovered his work. This increasing popularity led Paul
to the decision to start Paul Frank Industries in his mothers garage.
His eventual success is possible proof that creativity and dedication
to ones craft can actually pay the bills.
Paul is a man trying to maintain his artistic integrity. Despite the
onslaught of dollars that are thrown at him, Paul Frank Industries is
very selective in its partnerships and demands absolute control over
presentation. He is quick to point out that there is more to his
characters than most people know. The background and depth of these
character are what, he believes, set his clothing apart. As an example
Paul created the famous monkey, named Julius, for his girlfriend. He
constructed it out of vinyl and placed it on a purse and gave it too
here as a gift. The giraffe was a costume for the monkey to wear. The
pirate, Skurvy, is a depressed pirate ghost that is forever stuck on
the side of a bottle. All of these characters came as the result of
some artistic creation and weren’t merely a decision to “slap a monkey
on products to see if it sells” as a larger corporation might do.
Mr Franks corporate success has much to do with his connections.
Ryan Heuser, a former PR rep for Massimo, helped motivate Paul and
raised the money to start the company in Ryan s garage. The other
member of the team is, CEO John Oswald, who helped push PFI out of the
garage and into the world after several chance meetings.
Paul Frank Industries initial marketing success also follows this
pattern of random luck. Paul was a musician in California, this led him
to knowing other musicians in the area. There are many famous musicians
and bands in Southern California and through these channels Paul’s
clothes were noticed by some of them. Paul relates that most of his
marketing success in the music scene was due to his musical roots.
To sum it all up Paul is one interesting man, I wish he were my friend.
Citations:
Copecetinc Zine: Encounter with Paul Frank
Skratchmagazine.com:
Paul Frank Interview
Entrepreneur.com: Interview at Paul Frank Industries
Related Links:
All Paul Frank stuff
Paul Frank Keds