I thought the Made in America men's wear push was a big revolution in terms of smaller companies taking charge, but it seems like it's gotten out of control.

I thought the Made in America men's wear push was a big revolution in terms of smaller companies taking charge, but it seems like it's gotten out of control.

I've been working with Five Four. The partnership started as one monthly collaboration, but now I'm the creative design director. There are still going to be collaborations for monthly drops, but we are launching e-commerce.

My agent came to me with a deal from another publisher and I signed a deal and got the advance with no idea of what I was going to do. I probably procrastinated for almost a year, but we had meetings and I was basically going to spoof "Take Ivy," but then it kind of turned into something else. I wanted it to be a book of all the things that made me who I am, like Brooks Brothers, Hot Wheels, "The Andy Griffith Show" and G.I. Joes. I couldn't sit still and do it, so my agent had to come to my house and force me to do it.

Basically for everything that comes out of Five Four, I've come up with the idea or changed it in some way. I'm also working with Putnam Accessory Group, a private label hat manufacturer. I'm in the process of re-branding a line they have called Chuck. It was mostly hats and bags, but I'm adding apparel and eyewear and whatever I feel like adding to turn it more into a brand. I'm supposed to be working with Pharrell on Billionaire Boys Club, but that's on hold.

I really never even seriously considered a book but a few years ago someone approached me out of the blue and I said I would think about it.

Bigger brands like Shinola are capitalizing on what all of us small companies did. Shinola is just totally fake. It's a corporate entity that's taking advantage of what everybody else has done. They say it's all about made in U.S., but one Wal-Mart hires more employees than their whole company.