I bet that at least 95% of our readership owned a piece of Ecko UNLTD at one point in their lives, or still do today. The other 5% are the 7 girls that visit our site, and people who are either under 18 or didn’t have money throughout the high school years. Let’s face it: between 1998 ’til about 2003-2004, if you was rocking EXCO, it was because you simply couldn’t afford the real deal. There was something about that boxed-in rhino logo that had people hooked. Classic concepts revamped and remodeled for the modern urban mook of the new millennium. Dope graphics and graffiti-inspired art covered our chests and jean pockets. Blood or Crip, everybody rocked that rhino-stamped hoodie, as a statement letting people know that you were a product of the streets.

Today, I can compare Ecko to the rap game. It was dope when it was fresh out of the inner city but as soon as it blew up and made its way to the suburbs, just like rap music, Ecko got watered down and was spoon-fed to every wigger from Nova Scotia all the way to Hawaii. One thing leads to another and Ecko teamed up with G-Unit Clothing. Next thing you know, you see Ecko on the discount rack at Walmart. Oh well. Since the explosion, no less than 69 000 new “streetwear” brands popped up like mushrooms on cow dung. Now every other asshole has a t-shirt line that might get him a blowjob and a free entrance to some shitty industry party. As far as rap goes, well, we already explained how shit went down after 8 Mile in the KOTD post. However, we must stay true and honest with one another. Although most of us moved on and will never rock Ecko again, we can’t deny the fact that it was once one of the illest brands of our generation. The same people who moved on to the latest trends in street fashion and find Ecko to be unwearable are the same motherfuckers that made it the corporate monster it is today. Pay attention.

Not everybody’s moved on. Some people don’t give a shit about the next hot color for the upcoming spring season. Some people could care less about the new Fly Wade Jordans or the Sergio Rossi “New Pechino” boots. Some people are comfortable with what they know and like already and are not looking to update. Those people are mooks. One of them is my good homie Master T. He’s stayed dipped in Ecko for as long as I could remember. It was never a big deal, really. Nobody ever thought of pointing it out until recently. If your wardrobe consists of 90% Ecko gear in 2011, you are either a 12 year old kid from Gatineau named Jean-Mathieu or you’re a neo-hipster who is well ahead of his time. T is a bit of both and none of that at the same time. All I know is that he loves Ecko, and has an impressive collection for a mentally sane 25 year-old.

T: There are two sides to each person and there are also two sides to my Ecko collection. I grew up in TMR, which is a quiet suburb surrounded by ghetto neighborhoods in the middle of the city. Ecko is the only brand I find that captures the essence of both of these worlds, which make me who I am. I have some pieces for when I feel ‘hood and others for when I feel ‘wood. That’s how I get down.

Pause. First we explored the ‘wood side because it seems that this is where Ecko is thriving the most these days, no homo. We went to T’s getaway shack, somewhere near the US border, for the weekend, where I got to ask him a few questions about his obsession with the brand.

T: First of all, it’s not an obsession; it’s a lifestyle. I like street art and rap music, and I also like orange and brown. Ecko embodies all of that. For a while they made lots of orange and brown pieces. Those where my favorite Ecko collections.

T: When I wake up and put on that thick Ecko hoodie for my morning cigarette, I always get the same feeling. You know, the one you got in high school when you just bought that super-cool shirt you wanted and rocked it to school for the first time. I get that every time.

T: I love the quality of the t-shirts. They are always made large, durable and comfy. This is exactly what I look for in clothing, nothing more.

Although most of us mooks don’t give a shit about what other men wear, sometimes girls do. Let’s find out how it affects him in his personal life.

T: My girl hates the fact that I rock Ecko. She wants me to be trendy and up to date, but it’s simply not who I am. She never gives me a headache about it, but she constantly buys me clothes that I end up returning or exchanging for more Ecko. Hell, I remember a time not long ago when you were the man if you had the new Ecko hoodie. Girls at school use to jock me. My last girlfriend left me and when she did, she posted a break up letter on the fridge. Most of it was about me being a mook but at the end I clearly remember that she wrote “FUCK YOU AND YOUR GAY-ASS ECKO GEAR YOU PIECE OF SHIT MOOK BASTARD”. So i guess it bothered her as well. Look at me now, bitch.

T: I love rocking my shit out here in the sticks because every other kid is dressed in Ecko, so I feel right at home. Ecko allows me to bring my city flavor to the boonies. I got the good pieces most of them never see. Often, when I walk around the mall, kids stop me to inquire about the location that holds my exclusive joints. Out here, I’m far from corny, I’m actually ahead of my time.

T: When they started making shoes I got really excited. I could finally be dipped in Ecko from head to toe and this made me really happy. I got tired of the same old Nike and Adidas everybody was wearing. I’m not in to the whole purposely created “limited edition” bullshit that these companies are pulling. I don’t fall for that. However, if you catch someone rocking these shoes and you manage to take a flick for proof, I will give you a five-piece and a beer. Not many people are into Ecko footwear, which makes them truly rare and exclusive. In your face, Nike.

Seeing my homie T in his element was a good sight, and I got to understand him more than ever before. He was happy and cheerful the whole time. He was excited about life and his future. It seems like Ecko is not only a lifestyle brand he enjoys, it’s something he can belong to and be a part of. To some extent, it’s almost like a form of therapy.

T and I went rhino hunting in the city before we went up to his chalet. With so many years of experience, he has developed a financially efficient method of purchasing whenever he needs to get his Ecko fix. Peep the science.

T: Winners is the Holy Grail for Ecko gear. I don’t like going to the Ecko stores that have in the malls. I get all of my shit here at Winners. They have better return policies and gems you won’t find anywhere else.

T: I love graffiti and street art. I tried decorating my own bags with tags and stuff but since I’m not that good, it always ends up looking like shit. Ecko gives an opportunity for people like me to have that look without having the skill. Not everybody can be a dope graffiti or street artist but at least I can have the look of one. However, if I was a street artist I would probably never wear one of these in order to stay stealthy. A bag like this will blow your cover.

T: The new Marc Ecko Cut And Sew line is horrible. I don’t know why he though it would be a good idea to make these metrosexual v-neck shirts. Some of these new kids might fall for that but I stick to the original.

T: This is more like it. The design is nice but it’s too clean.

T: This is what I’m talking about. The rhino, the tag style writing and the cracked wall effect are classic Ecko swag.

After not even 7 minutes at Winners, T has found what he was looking for and was ready to be out. This is where the true science came out.

T had the exact change for his t-shirt. I asked him if this was a coincidence, this is what he told me:

T: No way! I know how much they cost because I buy so many of them so often. It’s like when you go to the pizza spot right around your corner for that combo you always get. After a while you just know how much it is after tax and all. Time is money and I don’t have much of either so I come prepared.

T: In the city, times can be rough and the pressures of modern day society can sometimes get the best of you. This is just one of my ways of dealing with it. I get my shirt, I take a trip to the boonies and rock it for the weekend. Then, I come back to the city and exchange it for another one. I do that over and over until I eventually forget to bring it back after 10 days and end up keeping it. That’s how I ended up with most of my gear.

It ain’t no secret, fashion is constantly going though cycles and what was once hot always comes back a couple of decades later in one form or another. Just the other day, I was walking down the trendy part of St-Laurent when I spotted this hipster couple rocking a bad-ass Ecko bag. Are they trying to be ironic or are they on some next level shit? Who knows? I frankly don’t give a shit. My man T has been keeping it gully on these streets with his Ecko gear for over ten years and will keep doing so ten years from now, as long as the line exists.

T: This is the other side of me. I grew up running around tag-filled alleyways just like this one. I find that Ecko is quite accurate at reproducing this type of setting on their clothes. This is why I think it’s dope. Watch: In 10 years, Ecko will be cool again and I will be dipped in vintage pieces all day.

T: So much detail is put in to each hoodie, most of us tend to overlook. Just like graffiti, to most people it looks like a bunch of scribbles but to the trained eye, each tag is a well-crafted piece of art.

T: I Love these graffiti-inspired t-shirt lines they had a few years back. The detail on the designs is bugged out, as you can see. I look at some of the “hip” brands they got out right now and they don’t come close to the quality of work they have on some of the Ecko jumpoffs.

I can honestly say that I don’t give a shit about none of these new brands coming out lately. I was never much of a brand-orientated person. It’s all hype. It’s cool today and tomorrow another trend will come along and what you bought two weeks ago for a ridiculous price is no longer cool. I started buying Ecko because I genuinely liked their clothes and designs. I’m not going to buy something just because some dude on a blog said it’s the new hot thing. I buy it because it feels like me and nothing else.

T: I once sent a whole bunch of drawings, concepts and Ideas to the head office in hopes of maybe getting to work on some of the gear. They never got back to me, but I still have some hope. Maybe after they see this post they will holler back.

T: This is one of my power-pieces. I love NYC. I grew up on their music, culture and art. The fact that Ecko is from there is really fresh because they make a lot of NYC-based designs. A dude once tried robbing me for this piece in the parking lot of The Saints nightclub in Valleyfield. He broke a beer bottle on my head but then I sliced his face with one of the glass shards. The prick looked like a buck 50 victim on Rikers Island after I was done. This piece holds a special place in my heart.

On the real, I’m not going to front: this t-shirt is pretty crazy. Just look at the details and mint print job on it. Look at the face in the window, shit is bugged out. My man T copped it more than 4 years ago and it still looks crisp. Even though Marc Ecko laid down the blue print for all these streetwear companies, very little of them actually pulled though with such intricate designs and printing jobs.

T: This is my favorite shirt and my favorite movie. I also have the Getting Up video game, but I never got to play it once because I don’t own a Playstation.

T: I don’t know about you guys, but I rather rock a rhinoceros on my shirt more than any other animal. They are the strongest fuckers on this planet. These guys can plow though a Honda Civic as if it was made out of Papier-mâché. Crocodiles are cool, so are horses and eagles, but a rhino would stomp the shit out of all of them, one time.

T: This is my work-out jersey. Not many people can say they have one. They stopped making these back in 2003.

T: When I saw this shirt I had to get two of them right away. The hologram just blew my mind. I have one in size Large and the other in XL. Some days I feel more hood than others, so I rock each size accordingly.

T: I’ve been getting doubles for a long time. These shirts never come back. Once the season is over, the chances of getting the same shirt are very slim so if I like it a lot, I just buy two of them. No room for regrets in my life.

T: Big shout out to Killa-EF. He’s know for his extensive Wu-Wear collection but the man has a nice Ecko stash as well. Mook Recognize Mook.

Being a big sneaker fan, I can’t cosign the Ecko shoes. However, the fact that T has a few pairs for different occasions shows that he knows the importance of proper footwear and that’s good enough for me.

You just can’t fight the truth. Like it or not, the man speaks from his heart and stands for what he believes in. Everything else is a matter of taste. Mark Twain once said “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society”. Maybe this was true back in his time. Today, a nice pair of tits and a bubble butt is the base for almost all advertising campaigns. Robert A. Heinlein once stated “I don’t see how an article of clothing can be indecent. A person, yes” and this couldn’t be more true if you ask me.

At the end of the day, what really matters to you? Do you you rock gear because you love fashion or do you do it to please others? Do you buy clothes thinking “Will the hipster sluts like it?” or do you buy clothes thinking “Will these jeans prevent me from paying rent this month?”. Do you like looking good or do you like being comfortable? Maybe it’s a little bit of everything, or maybe its none of it at all. Maybe you are like my homie Graine, who is perfectly fine with rocking Champion sweatsuits 365, 24/7. Some of us only do it because society tells us to. I bet if you could still get good pussy in your busted Timbs and Fila jumpers, your style would never change. Some do it and manage to get the pussy regardless. Maybe this explains why a few of my friends look like they just jumped out of a 2001 Ruff Ryders video. Regardless of the reasons, it all boils down to who you are and not what you wear. I know people with tons of cash that look like bums, regardless of the brand they rock and how they pay for it. I know bums that look like someone you would see on the front page of Complex magazine. What does it change really? Homie T might not be the trendiest mook on the block, but he sure is real to himself and that’s the only thing that gets props around here.