The artistic duo started KALM Clothing Co. with a plan to represent musicians and other artists under one brand.
Kreative Artist Loving Music is an up and coming hip-hop clothing company founded by former Santa Ana College students Marvin Flores and Ruben Garcia.
KALM started with their signature snapbacks priced at $20 each as an alternative to the $40 brand name options on the market.
“There’s plenty of other brands that may be better than us, but we try not to pay attention ‘cause what we’re trying to do is for artists and musicians,” Garcia said.
The entrepreneurs’ product line includes hats, beanies, stickers, shirts, lanyard key chains and bottle openers.
Within the last year, their brand has gained recognition in Santa Ana’s hip-hop community, with local rappers like Abstract and MC Flow sporting KALM threads at their performances.
The name KALM came from both creators being inspired by working with musicians and artists.
Though Flores and Garcia target artists and musicians, others are also buying the brand and supporters are demanding more variety. It has been a slow and steady process as both hold down full-time jobs supporting their families and are going to California State University Fullerton while trying to make their company grow.
“Whatever money we’ve got left we put it into KALM,” Garcia said.
The designing and tedious screen-printing processes are tasks that both Garcia and Flores have been working on together over the past year.
They plan to release a line of new shirts and beanies early this November.
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