To be original in today is somewhat of an oxymoron if you only analyze someone on the surface. If you dig deeper you find out what a person is truly made of. Ron and Pen founders of Leroy Jenkins Limited have been able to produce both original ideas and concepts as well as stay original and true and not go along with the trends. In the over saturated city that is the Big Apple, Ron and Pen have managed to find a piece that has not been bitten, and from their perspective it tastes really good. From hoodies to bandanas LJL has come fresh each time. Find out what makes them tick, what ticks them off and how they grind to keep finding space to be individuals in an often repetitive copycat industry.

Scheme: What were you and Pen doing before you started this clothing line?
Ron: We both worked for other clothing companies, much bigger companies. At the time when we first started Leroy Jenkins Limited Pen had just gone back to LA and I was just let go from THE urban giant! I went to Cali for a month and we made out first round of v-neck tees and hoodies.

Scheme: What inspired you to start one?
Pen: We had always talked about it. It was a natural progression from painting trucker hats and doing custom kicks. Having a fashion line is just another extension of fine art painting.

Ron: Just the fact all these big companies; Even the one we were working for didn’t have anything out on the market that we wanted to wear. They were too afraid to put anything new out on the market. They were too busy chasing last years trends.

Scheme: Did you have any fear going in and investing your life into this line?
Pen: Nah man , scared money don’t make none!

Ron: Nah, not really we both knew we wanted to do something creative and put it out on the market. Being that for the past 3 years we were collaborating in art gallery show, and we both worked in the fashion industry, it only seemed right to start this venture together.

Scheme: What influences you’re designs?
Pen: For us we get inspired by our every day lives,traveling,music,art and each other.

Ron: I know every one says this, but life it self. Living in and around NYC, our friends that are painters, have their own companies and traveling. I try to take as many trips to different places that I possibly can. In the last couple of months I’ve been to Paris and Belfast. I’m trying to head out to Barcelona and London for a couple of trade shows that are coming up, but also to see those two cities.

“There was no pressure, the vibes was right man. Dilla was and still is the inspiration for a lot of my fine art paintings. Opportunists?! Nah man, we had our look first. Dilla’s spirit and vibe carried everything else. If it wasn’t meant to happen, it wouldn’t.”

Scheme: When I first saw the hats I immediately though of Dilla, later to learn that that was the reason behind them did you ever feel pressure making a design like that, and what do you say to the critics who say Leroy Jenkins opportunists?
Ron: That’s a pen question… He crushed the Dilla design!

Pen: My connection to Dilla was direct through BBE and Ma Dukes. They wanted some thing that would brand Dilla’s image. We went through a lot of ideas but they wanted that L.J. feel, classic. So that’s what I did for them and the spirit of Dilla came through, because everything has worked out so well. There was no pressure, the vibes was right man. Dilla was and still is the inspiration for a lot of my fine art paintings. Opportunists?! Nah man, we had our look first. Dilla’s spirit and vibe carried everything else. If it wasn’t meant to happen, it wouldn’t.

Scheme: How does Mel D. Cole fit into the whole scheme of things?
Pen: Mel is our friend, partner, official photographer, party man, sales dude and all alround good homie. He is our number one supporter.

Ron: Mel has been around us since we started. He lived around the corner from me in Jersey City, and we always hung out. He was taking pictures and we needed a photographer so it pretty much went down like that. He helps us out a great deal. He wear’s Leroy when he’s working events-people always ask him about it and he always forwards them to us.

“…industry is made up of so many people that will straight bite off of everyone else or just follow what did well for them 1,2,3 years ago just to keep their jobs. I hate that people are so afraid to do something new.”

Scheme: Do you have a love hate relationship with the fashion industry? If so or not, why?
Pen: Nah can’t hate it. We’re just glad to be contributors and inspiration to the rest of the industry.

Ron: Kind of! I hate how fickle people are. How they wear something because of a celebrity, and how people over kill one product until no one wants to wear it. Which brings me to the industry itself. The industry is made up of so many people that will straight bite off of everyone else or just follow what did well for them 1,2,3 years ago just to keep their jobs. I hate that people are so afraid to do something new.

Scheme: Do you believe life imitates art or vice versa and how would you want it in a perfect world?
Pen: I don’t think life imitates art, but art is a big part of my life and im making a living from it.

Ron: I definitely believe that and vice versa. In a perfect world we would all do what we like without being ridiculed.

Scheme: When did you guys recieve your first break in the industry?
Pen: I don’t feel that we have gotten our break yet.

Ron: I would say about 3 years before we started Leroy Jenkins Limited when we were painting trucker hats. We were approached by the store Union NY to sell them out of there. When that ended that kept the door open when we start developing LJL. I would say as far as the hype; it happened after we showed up on the Hundreds clothing companies website. Pen took some hoodies over to the there studio and they put us up on their site. After that it was an emailing bonaza!

“As soon as we made our first samples everything I thought about the product came to the forefront. We pretty much knew that it was a hot idea and if no one liked it. Then no one had taste!”

Scheme: What inspired the flower pattern, I can see a lot of guys saying I’m not wearing anything with flowers all over it.
Pen: We started to pick fabric that we like because we could afford to get fabric printed. Plus the sh*t was just hot to us. Bold and eye catching was what we were going for.

Ron: I could just remember back when I was in high school floral shirts were the sh*t between me and my friends. It made you look like you were on vacation, like you were a jet setter. So when we were deciding to do our hoodies, whether we used florals or any other patterns really didn’t matter to me. In my head I knew it would look hot. As soon as we made our first samples everything I thought about the product came to the forefront. We pretty much knew that it was a hot idea and if no one liked it. Then no one had taste!

Scheme: Are you tired of the allover print design and what do you believe is next down the line and will you have any influence in that change?
Pen: I’m a little tired of it just because of all the knock off and copycat brands that humped the sh*t out of it. Not sure what the public is going to take to, but we all ready been on the next, that’s where we live.

Ron: I’m not tired of the all over print but I am tired of the same product everyone keeps putting on. As far as whats next, I’m not too sure, but I do think we’ll be right there influencing everyone else. It’s just dropping the right product at the right time. That’s what our hoodies were. The right product at the right time, and we have plenty of that.

Scheme: They say do what you love and you’ll feel like everyday is a vacation. Do you believe this is true?
Pen: Yes and no. To do what you love you still have to work. The reward at the end of the day is greater because you did it for yourself.

Ron: To some extent yes, but on the other hand. When you love what you do, you work much harder on that then you would for someone else.

Scheme: What is your ultimate scheme, do you ever think you’ll say you’ve accomplished everything you’ve set out to do?
Pen: Nah, I don’t think I’ll ever say that because I’m never satisfied with anything. But I’ve learned to except it as what it is.

Ron: Not sure what the ultimate scheme is but hopefully we’ll keep this ship moving along smoothly.

Scheme: If you guys were to compare yourselves to a music group who would it be and why and who would be which person from that group?
Ron: I have no idea what music group we would be compared too. That’s something you’d probably have to ask someone on the out side of us. I can tell you that I would say Pen would be Suge Knight. There’s this LA thing in him that comes out.

Scheme: What do people have to look for in the 2007 fall/winter collection?
Pen: Creative goodness, expansion, and presence.

Ron: We have a few collabo’s that we’re dropping in the fall. Our Leroy elastic shoe, our majestic satin baseball jacket just in time for the world series. A couple other projects that we have coming out with our brothers from Pegleg and Mighty Healthy.