'We are really classic': Milwaukee-born brand efforts to make street wear more than a trend

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Tajma Hall meets Marie Carter, owner of The Classic Shoppe inside Milwaukee's Sherman Phoenix business hub. 

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop. In its history, the music genre has inspired a movement of creativity, style, and pride, including many streetwear brands.

Here in Milwaukee, one woman has grown her brand into a lifestyle. "Classic is a brand that really celebrates the culture and the fact that we are not trends even though a lot of pieces of it can be picked up and put down as a trend...we are really classic," said Marie Carter, Owner of The Classic Shoppe.

Carter says her brand is more than just a streetwear line. "My background is in education, and I used to teach about culture and sometimes I think kids really had a problem with identifying what really was their culture and what was mainstream," she said.

Carter says she wanted to change that perspective. "I wanted them to know that a lot of our culture is mainstream. That's what makes it so hot," she said. Her desire to spread that message is how "Classic" was born. Carter says she's happy to be building the spirit of entrepreneurship right in her hometown.

"I am from Milwaukee. I went to school in the suburbs, then I did go to college in the south at TSU but I wanted to come back home and really make a difference in my city," she said. Carter sells her merchandise inside Milwaukee's Sherman Phoenix. She was also recently chosen to be part of an artist collective inside Trusted Kicks on Water Street.

Rico Jones is the owner of Trusted Kicks, which has been in business for nearly 10 years. Jones says it's important to support local entrepreneurs.

"Milwaukee has so much culture. Brands I feel like are not properly displayed because of where we're at. I think also with the upcoming resurgence of the city, I think all those brands will grow just like the city is growing and I think the world is taking notice," he said.

Jones says brands like The Classic Shoppe represent what he's all about. "Classic had to be the number one brand in the collective because they're in all the other collectives and it kind of leads the forefront of having good merch," he said.

Carter says everything she does with her brand is about community building. "I do classes where I help kids to build a pride about their culture and other community building activities with parties and stuff so that's what keeps me going," she said.