By Saira Toppin
We have all seen the insurmountable success of the Ed Hardy t-shirts. This line hit the worldwide market and made a killing. Remember seeing moms, dads, kids, celebs, and everyone else donning the tees? I do! Co- creator Steven Hoel and Miguel Garcia, former professional skateboarder & the brains behind Los Angeles-based counter-culture brand De La Barracuda, have launched another success, Rogue Monk, Open Source Fashion. Rogue Monk is pushing Open Source Fashion through a workshop program on their site by giving artists an opportunity to showcase their work, sell merchandise, and turn a profit. 
It is an exciting way to present clothing to the masses. “The global marketplace decides what T-shirt designs are the most commercially viable,” then those lucky designs are on their way to making the cut. Here, the consumer plays a large part in the decision making of the clothing they buy, by actually choosing what they like. Not only do consumers win, but new, emerging artists win also. This gives them a chance to present their work all over the world and have people wear it on their chests.
Read more for interview with Steven Hoel and code to get a FREE t-shirt from Rogue Monk!!
Women’s Mafia: The Ed Hardy brand t-shirts were undeniably a huge hit throughout the world. Did this inspire the launch of another t-shirt line??
Steven Hoel: Rogue Monk certainly evolved from the Ed Hardy project, although it was not our master plan, it organically grew out of it. Ed would refer artist friends to me who needed advice or help with licensing deals. And then I started receiving emails from artists who wanted our help monetizing their art archive as well, like we did with Ed. One thing lead to another…and the Rogue Monk was born.
WM: What makes this brand special??
SH: With our extremely talented pool of Rogue Monk artists we are able to sell the best fashion art available on the web to our customers. When people come across high quality, affordable products they want to tell their friends about it—that’s human nature. If people love our brand they will naturally want to tell their friends about it, so in turn we give them the opportunity to earn some serious cash, simply by building their Sales Tribe.
We give artists the opportunity to license their art through the proven Rogue Monk platform. This platform is unique
because artists get paid for EVERY single piece sold, rather than the old way of simply receiving a couple hundred dollars per design selected by a fashion company. We offer them good exposure through online marketing and an introduction to all of the major buyers worldwide.
WM: Have you considered going the eco-friendly route with this line??
SH: It’s funny you should ask that, because just this week, we decided to offer an option to the customer to have any design printed on an organic shirt for a small additional charge. This function will be available on the website in the upcoming weeks.
WM: Since this line requires the skill of varying artists, has selection been difficult??
SH: Yes and No. We accept art from anyone who submits designs on the Rogue Monk website. However, there are 3 phases to the selection process. The first phase takes place when the design is first submitted. Our team does minimal edits (scale, color, formatting, etc.) before it goes live on the site so the public can give their opinion. We want the community to choose what they like, rather than deciding what we think is best for them. Phase two is the evaluation phase and finally for phase three we chose! THIS is incredibly difficult! There are a lot of talented people sharing their artwork with us.
WM: What can the Women’s Mafia do for Rogue Monk?
SH: Help us put out the Call for Artists who want to do business, to women and men, alike. Come to our parties! And as a special “thank you” to your readers we are offering a promo code for a FREE Rogue Monk T-shirt and other great offers like a chance to win a free iPad, simply by telling your friends about Rogue Monk. If the WM readers are interested in earning some extra money through the power of the Internet, sign up for a Rogue Monk profile and start telling your friends! Everyone loves a good deal, right?
Click here , chose your shirt and enter Promo Code “WMafiaReader” and the first 15 readers get a FREE Tee today. Don’t forget to refer your friends!!