Q&A w/ Chris Moon (UGLYUSA)

UGLYUSA is a brand operating out of Arizona with Chris Moon as one of the key figures. Their line of shirts for dudes and chicks is simplicity focused. The logo with its three color design pops without being obnoxious (as a lot of brands do). The newest polo, maroon with the aforementioned logo, really does justice to this brand. UGLYUSA is just another dope dude and dope brand doing dope things in AZ. Check out this Q&A with Chris Moon.

Who and what is Ugly USA?

UglyUsa is my line I created with the support from my closest friends, who are also my business partners. My creative director Lord Saul, I trust with my biggest decisions. Then you got my boy Dakota, my salesman deadass - best there is. My boy Kevin is too helping me out with the pop up shops. Then there’s my bro Connor, who’s been there since the jump. They all have. I could list a bunch of people but those just the ones that are a part of the process of making UGLYUSA come to life. I wouldn't wanna be surrounded by anyone else I'm truly blessed.

Ugly USA seems to be relatively new. When did you first go live with the product and how was the response?

I was like 18 and a month or two outta high school, working at coach lmao. I was blowin’ my money on random stuff and the equipment to make t-shirts came outta that. It was the day when awful records came to Arizona before Carti blew up that all my equipment came in the mail haha. I ended up making an ugly tee that same day and wore it to the show, that's when it all started. It’s hard to describe the response though because it varies I'll just list some of the emotions I've seen on people's faces: love, shock, confliction and offended.

Your marketing is dope. Is this your first brand you've started and where did you learn how to design/market?

Nah me and my bros had a clothing line called galaxy when we were sophomores so the idea was always in my mind going forward. I actually first learned how to design by just getting photoshop on my laptop and messing around with my homies. After that I actually took graphic design 1 in high school and got the basic fundamentals which is what I use today haha. When it comes to marketing I don't really have any formal training. I don't know I feel like in 2017 we're always marketing whether I'm just posting a picture of myself or a commercial I directed for UGLYUSA. It’s really about seeing the opportunity and doing something with it that's my advice to anyone that reads this

Sorry for calling you a brand last question because in a tweet once, you said Ugly is not a brand, it's movement. Who are you trying to move and what's the end goal for the movement?

I want my line to be a place where people come to find new music or just art to look at and buyin’ some clothes to. I want UGLYUSA to benefit both consumers and creators. I want UGLYUSA to be an amusement park, a tv channel too haha. I want people to love themselves in this age where all these screens in front of us just take advantage of our insecurities. If people are gonna be on the internet all the time anyway I want them to see my line and question it. You know like have an opinion. People have told me they wouldn't wear an ugly tee because there not ugly but that's literally the point and the problem I'm tryna fix. I want to replace the word beautiful with ugly. I want girls to stop wearing makeup. Ya know enjoy themselves cause these make up tutorials got them all lookin the same I want people to realize what the media does to our brains and how we see ourselves in the mirror and the only way to do that was to infiltrate the media itself...so now I'm here. This is way more than fashion. UGLYUSA is an invitation - an invitation to a world where flaws are encouraged.

Find UGLYUSA on Twitter @UGLYWORLDWIDE | Click pic below for website.