User:Suzsanna/Mouthman

Mouthman is a unique clothing brand founded by Journey bass player Ross Valory in 2005. a unique type of interactive clothing never before seen in the apparel or toy markets. Ross had dreamed up the concept of "animated sleeves" in the 8o’s. while he was on break between Journey tours and visiting some friends in Arizona. Inspired by the friend's young child playing pretend- running with fervor and  “chomping “ her elbows while making fierce "rrawwrr"-ing  sounds,, Ross thought to himself : "what if we could make a shirt with sleeves that come together and form a mouth when you wrap your arms around yourself? -- the mouth of the creature you are pretending to be? " Prairie was consulted and soon after he created the first prototypes- 4 initial  airbrushed designs on long sleeved  cotton pullover hooded tee shirts. The bold and colorful graphics depicting a green Allogator(Gator), Tiger, Shark and a yet unreleased Eagle) . The concept was implemented perfectly. When the wearer wraps their arms around themselves, (hugs themselves) a mouth, or mouthlike image appears on the sleeves, forming a new image, or “animation” The next few years were devoted to forming the LLC,  developing special printing templates, design and creation of logos  and other branding images, (The newly formed Mouthman LLC acquired a utility patent for the concept- rare in the apparel category- (US Patent Pub# US8181274 B1 and US20120204312)  and soon after trademarked the name MOUTHMAN®, the signature chrome fanged "M" and the Oval logo containing the slogan- “The Original in Animated Apparel”. Mouthman Hoodie Sport Shirts are all currently manufactured in the USA, either at the factory headquarters/sales showroom in Benicia, California, or at a USA based manufacturing partner. Printed using earth and skin friendly water based/ton toxic inks on eco-responsible Sport Jersey fabric made from recycled PET plastic bottles, Mouthman products are available to purchase on the company's e-commerce website, the Benicia factory showroom,  and various resellers worldwide.

Outsourcing a manufacturer proved to be difficult and expensive for this unique type of printing and assembling the Mouthman shirts, and many of the first samples did not meet the company’s high standards for quality, clarity and color saturation, as well as comfort and affordability. The fabrics available at the time for dye sublimation were also limited in quality, and overall comfort- thus MouthMans initial venture into the apparel industry was expensive, time consuming and rapt with trial and error- much like any entrepreneurial effort. Success would soon prevail, with a substantial opportunity to showcase the Mouthman concept through a deal with SVSE Merchandising, the company that managed the San Jose Sharks NHL Fan store (the Shark Tank) and a few thousand shirts were ordered and delivered for sale through the store. In the meantime, the line of kids designs was evolving under the hand of new Creative Director, digital graphic artist David Williams (aka Wavid) and by the end of 2008 would grow to include a Raptor, Cobra snake, Orca Whale, Red Eyed Tree Frog , and Skeleton. It was then that the company decided to take on the printing of their hoodie shirts themselves, and outsourcing the assembly  to a local cut and sew operation. A Heat press and a Printer were purchased- a small manufacturing facility was set up,  and the first products fro general sale were produced and sold  on the newly launched  e-commerce website in 2009. The original line of lightweight hooded shirts are printed on eco friendly sport jersey fabric made from recycled PET plastic bottles using non toxic water based inks. MOUTHMAN ’s factory and headquarters are located at 4271 Park Road, Benicia CA 94510.

By 2010, MOUTHMAN was starting to become a fierce presence in the kids specialty apparel industry- Pixar’s Corporate Headquarters was carrying a CARS Lightening McQueen® Shirt in their campus store. The e-commerce site was enjoying brisk sales as media attention was coming from many different channels- Bt 2013, MOUTHMAN@ Original Animated Hoodie shirts were being sold on Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet Store website- well as a line of exclusively designed shirts to commemorate various polar Discovery Channel shows.: Discovery SHARK WEEK,  “Mythbuster’s  “Buster” the Crash Test Dummy”,  “Billy the Exterminator “ ,  “Deadliest Catch”  and  “Sons of Anarchy”  all were created with the patented Mouthman chomping sleeve., though no formal licensing agreement was ever signed between Discovery and MOUTHMAN and much of MOUTHMANS Brand building strategy was diluted through Discovery store branding. Company Store, Skymall  Magazine, Wireless catalog,  ThinkGeek.com, Smithsonian catalog,  Signals, various specialty gift shops, aquariums, zoos and other places where people appreciate a good chomp with their shirt. E-commerce sales were brisk as well, and Social Networking efforts created a solid base of devoted “fans” called MouthManiacs. MOUTHMAN was featured on several news spots, including XXXXXXXX By 2014, MouthMan products have become the darling of Mommy blogs and product reviewers,