Here’s some food for thought when naming your next company.
There’s a history of apparel brands named after their founders. In high fashion, it’s completely commonplace. Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, and Armani are all named after real people.
A lot of surfboard shapers use their names. Famously, Shawn Stussy of Stüssy used his real name for his company.
We also have Hurley, which is named after Bob Hurley. I’ve actually met and surfed with Bob (and his family) on a few occasions. I worked at a Nike building located on the Hurley campus. He called me “Jason” for an entire year before I corrected him.
God bless him, I was happy he even recognized me. He’s a kind man.
Keith Hufnagel started a streetwear brand called HUF, which is his nickname. Sean Neff started the headwear brand, Neff.
The upside of naming a company after yourself is that when it becomes popular, so do you. It raises your profile, giving you access to new opportunities and brand deals.
In the age of connectivity and social media, you can find these founders pretty quickly. You get insights into their lives and sometimes, on Twitter, their thoughts.
The downside is when the brand becomes unpopular, it’s your name. In some cases, these founders have outright sold the company name and assets to someone else.
I have a pretty cool last name; Ariza. Most people call me by it, including my wife. I never considered using it, though. I thought people who knew me might not want to wear it. This is our worst-selling tee, and it has my name on it.
Would you want to wear your friend Greg’s name? Imagine "Marc by Marc Jacobs," but it’s "Greg by Greg Gregory."
I’ve kept a loose relationship with being the figurehead for Chomp. While I am the curator of the brand, I don’t want to be particularly famous. Some of you might not know what I look like—I’m what they call a short king, by the way.
I don’t want you to have to like me to like Chomp. It’s an extension of my interests. However, I believe it’s more owned by the customers and community.