Spring is upon us and with the more encompassing direction the magazine is headed in, I think Gary is the perfection addition to our rooster. His story is a little more detailed in the aspect of him being a major key to the nightlife in Miami, he also diversifies as a model currently with "Adidas", in addition to designing his own high-end street wear brand "OGCollection". I've worked with some"Hollywood" people, but I want to keep the brand balanced with a kind of upscale urban flare hence the cover photo. As you will read during the interview Gary has had his pieces worn by some very well-known faces in the industry ranging from''The Game" to ''Bryson Tiller". With his dope entertainment brand to his swag Skxnny OG exemplifies the type of image that "UrbanInsider" is committed to displaying. The 24 year old socialite who made his brand known coast to coast is originally from
a small city called Aschaffenburg, Germany, his mother's hometown. OG credits his mom as a woman with style in which he draws his fashion-insight from.
Where did you get your start in the entertainment industry, and what made you say this is path for me....
Well i never had intentions on being apart or connected to the entertainment industry. Majority of people dont know i actually received several shcolarships to attend Florida A&M University for Nursing. Graduated in that program, something my mother always wanted me to do, so i completed that and the day i graduated i went right back to South Florida, i missed the culture, my friends and the women of course. Women at school were too goofy for me, i needed some inspo. Music, culture and women inspire everything i do and created. So once i finished school i was able to travel and i went straight to Los Angeles, shoutout to my friends over there; Lolo, Neena, Brandon, and all them! Soon as i touched LA i was hella inspired. everyone was fly and way smoother than me. I went back home and i wanted to bring LA to South Florida. So that trip started my whole creative era, i created Jerseys and all original custom pieces and i made them really for girls to buy and wear. For women to wear MY jerseys with stilettos was my dream. Nothing more, nothing less. Next thing you know everyone was really digging the pieces i made, even celebrities and it just blew up from there pretty much.
Who came up with the name Skxnny OG and why?
Well the homies use to call me G Dollaz, but i never had money like that back then haha, so I just came up with Skinny and took the G and put an O in front "Skinny OG".
Who all is involved with creating the coast to coast movement that is “2k”, and what all goes into producing the events you have....
The whole squad is apart of everything, every single member of 2K has put in work and continues to still put in work all 15 of us. A few run the business, marketing, content, etc and the rest just help by other means. They are still as important as any other position no one person is more important than the next, its a family thing.
Now I also know that you are a designer as well, so my first question is where do you find the time to do all that you do, the second would be, where does your passion for fashion come from....
I never sleep, Í'm up until like 3,4,5 in the morning all the time. If im not studying or perfecting myself, I'm reading material, articles, fashion blogs, marketing/ecommerce literature. These days everything is out there its up to you to go get it and apply it to yourself. Most people wouldn't work for it, very few would invest in themselves. My passion is my drive and inspiration ( music and women ).My personal life and experiences with people and more so with women help me create all my pieces for the most part. From creating hockey jerseys, to the whole " Bitches Aint Shit " and " Niggas Aint Shit " campaign, etc. It all stems from experiences I've been through or what I have witnessed in general, I'm not always involved, it can be a friend I'm close with or just something that happened around me.
How did your parents react when you decided to not use your nursing degree, but instead break into an Industry that’s not always easy to turn into something profitable....
That's funny because my mother would always push me to finish school and get this Bachelor's degree, I was worried she'd be disappointed in this whole new avenue I was interested in. Your parents always want whats best for you no matter what, so I really kept everything lowkey as best i could but it was inevitable. The youth took the jerseys I made to another level ,the kids in high school were buying it,and it spread like a virus. My little sister attends a popular high school and she caught on and my mom found out, of course I denied it, but I was waiting until the right moment which was when one of my favorite artists wore a piece I made him. Thanks to a good friend of mine, Naimi who is a very successful independent woman living in LA, she connected me with a woman named LoLo also living in LA. Come to find out she's close to" The Game "and everything just took off from there, I told my mom, she is a big hip hop fan she was more excited and proud than anything. Once I broke the news to her it wasn't that bad, not like how I expected honestly. I always strive for quality and originality. I always believed that as long as you can create something true, something thats genuine and 1 of a kind, that is of good quality it will pop eventually, and it did. I targeted college kids and the younger crowd between 19 and 24, keeping the retail price within that range of less than triple figures. I myself am a current college student so I know how funds can be and when you have bills to pay but want this dope shirt or pair of shoes, you will treat yourself. So people purchased my pieces, treating themselves with 1 of a kind pieces that nobody has ever made, EVER.
How did your involvement with “Adidas” come about....
Good question, I was in Miami at a friends house just relaxing and reading emails and I saw a subject titled " Adidas Rep ". The email basically described how they liked my style and believed that I was a fit for their brand ,they asked me to be apart of it and do this shoot in Miami. I was geeked but I scheduled a very important meeting and photoshoot in NYC and LA that weekend Adidas wanted me, so I was in a bind. I thought the email from Adidas was fake and everything, I was panicking. I hit up my good friend DJ, a very well respected fashion designer from Broward County, FL and I asked him if it was real and so forth. He has experience in company contracts and inquirings so I reached out to him to see if it was legit and he said yes so I dropped everything and accepted. The Adidas rep loved my social media presence and the pictures I took and posted, thats what really attracted their attention to me. I always knew I would grab someones attention with all these visuals I would drop and all these photoshoots I took, it was only a matter of time you know. Gods Plan really, haha.
Your pieces have been seen on some of the entertainment industries most notable figures, what would you say was the biggest moment out of all the celebrity endorsement.....
Thats a tough one because every artist or celebrity that has any of my pieces are people I really admire, listen to currently, or just respect as an individual after actually talking to them one on one. Every person has also showed me mad love; from gifting me things, to inviting me out to places and concerts, wearing the pieces at their shows, to even getting tagged or posted on major social media platforms. I don't have any specific moment, because every moment is special to me. From meeting "The Game" for the first time in Miami, which is the first person I actually ever gave a jersey to, to meeting Bryson Tiller and seeing his reaction to this very special Trapsoul/Louisville inspired piece I made him, his daughter and his whole team. He actually gave me a gold chain "Trapsoul" pendant, that was very special to me as well. There's just too many moments for me to pick one, you know.
If they weren’t already covered on your site, who all have you worked with in this industry, and who would you like to work with...
I don't work with anyone at all, I work best by myself. I don't want to rely or depend on anyone. I am my own motivation, my own business, my own boss. I want to only get upset and disappointed at myself, not anyone else. The only person I ever collaborated and currently collaborate with is a guy named DJ, very good friend of mine. This industry is not a pretty one, people will use you and abuse you quickly, just like with everything else in life.
Your personal style is admirable, how would you describe your personal, and who is your favorite designer of all time....
Three words, Jiggy Skinny N*gga. Thats it, I will never boast about my style or anything I do because I know where I came from and I know who I am. I wasn't born with style, nor is anyone else. Its something you find along the way and not everyone finds it. Too many people want to be like someone else or are worried about what others will think of them. The less you worry about others and what other people think, the more you will see yourself grow and flourish. I have several, of course everyone will say either Karl Lagerfeld, Coco Chanel, Miuccia Prada, Virgil, Raf Simons, Nicolas Ghesquiere, and so forth but im really into Karl Kani, Jerry Lorenzo, Amiri and a few of my friends that make some of the dopest pieces; DJeloveson and DerickG.
Name five things you can’t live without....
Name five things you can’t live without....
Curly headed women, dope boomerangs of fresh sets of pedicures with nail colors i pick, apple juice, vans, & my champion collection, which is the top 5 craziest collections hands down.
What has been your craziest experience while working in this industry.....
Niggas stole my whole design and was copying everything I was doing and creating.. it really had me unmotivated because I was doing all of this to help to push, inspire, and show the kids that you can do this, just have to work hard and always do what you like to do, to never follow anyone or any trend. Create your own wave and trend and people will follow whats true and genuine, always will. 
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