About

Born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, I've learned to be a jack of many trades. I was brought up in a household by a mother whose hobbies include illustration, glasswork, painting, and sculpting, and a father whose story is told through a camera lens. With this foundation, my exploration between abstraction and fine-lines is a never-ending journey.

Although I was interested in drawing and illustration through middle school, my interest didn't find graphic design until I reached high school. It was during that time that my mother introduced me to Adobe Illustrator. I explored the program, pen tool first, and learned the ins-and-outs on my own. Throughout high school, my main artistic expression was through t-shirt design. My t-shirts ranged from personal artwork to club and team tops. Always keeping those in need in mind, I also designed shirts for tsunami relief in Haiti (2010) and Japan (2011). The benefit shirts helped raise over $4200 for the cause. After three years of creating custom shirts, I sought to find artistic expression that broke boundaries.

It wasn't until my college education that I delved into custom sneaker design. Since a young age, I had always loved sneakers. Inspired by the vibrant colors of Miami, I created my first custom. From there, the orders started to come in. In the beginning it was for friends. Then it was for friends of friends. Then it was for customers across the United States. To this day, I have created over 75 customs ranging from running shoes to basketball sneakers to soccer cleats. My success with custom sneakers led to the idea of starting a streetwear project.

Always one to coordinate my outfit with my sneakers, I noticed that the coordination amongst the majority of sneaker consumers had gone over the top. Seeking to simplify everyday looks, I explored monochromatic design, thus MONOCLOTHING was born. Forget everything that you knew about streetwear, MONO was not that. MONO was unique. MONO was eco-friendly. MONO was premium product for a reasonable price.

It's hard to say what will be next for me. In the present, you will see me on campus and working retail. Perhaps you'll see me painting or on my trusty laptop. One thing is for certain, as long as there is quality design, I will always seek to improve it.

Thank you,

Charlie Kirihara