he flagship Glamour Kills clothing store sits at the end of Beacon, New York’s Main Street. It stands out from the row of minimalist art galleries, antique stores and restaurants with its logo of a flying pig emblazoned in neon on the window. Bright green mannequins are draped with slogans like “Rock and Roll Ruined My Life,” and “Dance, Shuffle, Shimmy.” A duo of young high-school girls comes through the door begging for a job. “We’ll fold clothes, anything! You don’t even have to pay us,” they squeak.
Glamour Kills is a budding clothing line that is attracting attention throughout the emo-rock scene, and beyond. Despite being criticized for over-the-top asymmetrical haircuts, tighter-than-tight pants, and overly dramatic lyrics, its fan base is growing. The man behind Glamour Kills may have taken a risk, but his support of the music and aesthetic of the scene has proven to be a success.
“I always made shirts for my friends in bands,” says Mark Capicotto the 21-year-old CEO of Glamour Kills, “I just never asked them to pay me,” he laughs. Throughout high school he spent his time supporting local bands by attending shows while designing their shirts and flyers. It wasn’t until he graduated in 2004 that he decided to turn his hobby into something more lucrative.
“Then, I had just eight designs, we pressed 100 of each,” Capicotto said. He added that when they sold out, he knew this was something he wanted to do. “I was still in community college, just taking classes,” said Capicotto, adding “I didn’t really know what I was going to do, but designing was always my side project.” After the first batch of shirts sold (one of them plastered with the image of Marilyn Monroe and a butcher knife) Capicotto got together with some friends to see if bands would be interested in wearing his line. “We sent emails out to 60 bands who we thought might like our stuff. We heard back from three.” Despite the initial lack of band support, word got out.
Connections with newer bands helped the company greatly; Glamour Kills would often set a merchandise table up along with the bands when they went on tour. “The tours just started to get bigger,” said Capicotto. Eventually, he set up shop at multi-band festivals like Warped Tour and Bamboozle. His shirts began selling like hotcakes. Sales went from one to five shirts a day to significantly more. “Yea, we’re doing really well,” said Capicotto, he revealed the numbers but politely asked if it wasn’t published. Although he seems proud of his success, revealing exact numbers seemed to go against his otherwise humble attitude.
Because of the support structure between the music and Glamour Kills, Capicotto wants to expand his already successful web store into a one-stop shop for attire and albums. “There will be over 1,000 albums up; we just want to keep helping the bands out and keep us associated with the music industry.” Now, Capicotto uses online store service Big Cartel, but he says that the new site, which will launch in about a month, will be fashioned more like big-name brand sites like the Gap or Macy’s. “We’ll even have gift wrapping!” he adds as if it’s the icing on the cake.
Aside from booming Internet sales and a newly opened store, Glamour Kills has even made its way onto the shelves of national retailers; Zumiez stores nationwide carry the brand. Right now, the sale of Glamour Kills is in a trial period at the store. “We started in only 20 stores; I think we’re in 50, now. I heard good things, and I know [Zumiez] had to re-order [stock],” said Capicotto.
The best thing Capicotto said about being in a nation-wide retailer is seeing his designs. “I see people wearing my shirts and I’m like ‘Hey! I did that.’” What is even more surreal, however, is when fans ask for his autograph. “That’s the most flattering thing in the world. I just make shirts!” Capicotto said.
The success of Glamour Kills can be drawn to the widespread use of MySpace and publications like the punk magazine Alternative Press. Capicotto says that marketing would have been much harder without MySpace, but there’s a downside. “Now, there’s a bunch of other companies that look exactly like ours.” He thinks that he débuted the company at a good time, in 2004, and beat the surge of others trying to do what Glamour Kills has done. Alternative Press began publishing Capicotto’s advertisements from the beginning. “I drew the first ad by hand, a bunch of little cartoon shirts.”
Aside from sponsoring bands, Capicotto is looking towards the extreme-sports crowd, as a new “crossover” avenue for the company. “The music scene is our bread and butter, but we’re in talks with a couple skateboarders, they’ll be announced when the new website launches,” said Capicotto. To accompany this new outlet, he will also be designing skateboards available for purchase, something he’s looking forward to.
Along with an expanded website, new sponsorships and tours, Glamour Kills will be adding jeans and sneakers to their line that currently only consists of brightly-colored hoodies and tees. “That was a little scary,” said Capicotto, who was always strictly a graphic designer. “Then, it was like common sense. I just thought of what I would want on jeans that I couldn’t find in stores. Then, it wasn’t so hard,” he added.
So, what’s the connection between fashion and music? Capicotto says it’s the way that fashion-savvy bands might take a piece from his line and coordinate it in a certain way.” Capicotto notes that a musician he’s standing with is wearing one of his hoodies, and looks, he says proudly, “pretty sexy.”
The future is good for Capicotto and Glamour Kills. “Around the fall of 2008 we’re going to start looking at locations for new stores. We will be definitely opening new ones up in New York and California,” said Capicotto.
With only a staff of thirteen people, most of them friends and family, Glamour Kills has a lot of room to grow, but Capicotto is handling success like a pro despite lack of training in the business field. “I didn’t know how to do anything but design T-shirts,” he says. “It’s crazy!”
