Marc Louis Ecko (né Milecofsky; August 29, 1972) is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur, and artist. He is the founder and

Chief Creative Officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated wit ...

of fashion company Ecko Unlimited. He also founded ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' magazine in 2002.

Early life and education

Milecofsky was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

on August 29, 1972. He was brought up with his twin Marci and an older sister, Shari, in suburban

Lakewood, New Jersey Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community as of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 135,158 representing an increase of 41,415 (+45.5% ...

, where his father was a pharmacist and his mother was a real estate broker. In 1996, Milecofsky legally changed his name to Ecko; he had intended to use "Echo", a name he was known by at home, but since he wanted to build a brand out of the name and the name "Echo" was already taken, he settled on the alternate spelling. Ecko entered

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

's School of Pharmacy in New Brunswick, New Jersey after high school. During his time in college he painted

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

and practiced drawing, taking "Ecko" for his name. In his third year, the school's dean encouraged Ecko to take a year off and pursue art.

Career

In 1993, Ecko started Ecko Unltd. as a T-shirt company, with small investments from his sister and a friend, Seth Gerszberg. He traveled to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

to learn about the clothing industry. Early clients

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

and Chuck D helped bring attention to his fledgling business, as did a '' Good Morning America'' segment that featured his T-shirt designs.Good Morning America segment featuring Ecko's t-shirt designs
The company expanded further into hip-hop and skater styles, and began to sport a rhinoceros logo. Ecko's businesses have expanded to include ''

'' magazine, video and social gaming, and

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

. Ecko was appointed to the Board of Directors of the

Council of Fashion Designers of America The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessory d ...

(CFDA); the youngest designer to do so. Since 2010, he has been a member of the Emeritus Board. In 2008, he created the new jackets for the Iron Chefs on '' Iron Chef America''.

Personal life

Ecko is

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish. In 2000, Ecko married Allison Rojas. They have three children and live in

Bernardsville, New Jersey Bernardsville () is a borough in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is nestled in the heart of the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,707,

. In 2011, Ecko started Unlimited Justice, a social activism campaign which opposed corporal punishment in U.S. schools.

Published work

On October 1, 2013, Ecko released an

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

business book, ''Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out''.Marc Eckō, ''Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out'',

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, New York, NY, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecko, Marc 1972 births Living people Artists from New Jersey American businesspeople in retailing American fashion businesspeople American fashion designers American investors Businesspeople from New Jersey Jewish American philanthropists Jewish fashion designers People from Bernardsville, New Jersey People from East Brunswick, New Jersey People from Lakewood Township, New Jersey People from Livingston, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Lakewood High School (New Jersey) alumni 21st-century American Jews

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Published work

See also

References