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

chief creative officer The title Chief Creative Officer (CCO) typically describes the highest-ranking position of a creative team within a media company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, ...

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

Milecofsky was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

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 United States census, the township's population was 135,158, its highest decennial count ever and ...

, where his father was a pharmacist and his mother was a real estate broker. After high school, Milecofsky entered

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

's College of Pharmacy in Piscataway, New Jersey. During this time he painted

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

and practiced drawing, using the name "Echo". In his third year, the school's dean, John L. Colaizzi, Sr., encouraged Milecofsky to follow his passion and take a year off to pursue art. In 1996, Milecofsky legally changed his name to Ecko; he had intended to use "Echo", the name he was now known by, but since he wanted to build a brand with the name, and "Echo" was already taken, he settled on the alternate spelling.

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)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

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, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

and

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

helped bring attention to his fledgling business, as did a ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' 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 Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

and social gaming, and

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

. 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 accessor ...

(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 ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

''.

Personal life

Ecko is

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish. In 2000, Ecko married Allison Rojas. They have three children and live in Bernardsville, New Jersey. In 2011, Ecko started Unlimited Justice, a social activism campaign which opposed corporal punishment in U.S. schools. He has supported a number of charities and organisations, including raising money for the Tikva Children's Home in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

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, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

business book, ''Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out,'' which offers advice on entrepreneurship and personal branding.Marc Eckō, ''Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out'',

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, New York, NY, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecko, Marc 1972 births Living people Artists from Essex County, New Jersey Artists from Middlesex County, New Jersey Artists from Ocean County, New Jersey Artists from New Jersey American businesspeople in retailing American businesspeople in fashion American fashion designers American investors 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 Businesspeople from New Jersey

Early life

Career

Personal life

Published work

See also

References