"I just did a custom jacket for the champ, Mickey Bey, in honor of the general, Floyd Mayweather of The Money Team. It's a real nice jacket and I will be making all kinds of custom made leathers now. I really think the Floyd Mayweather jacket is going to be a hit because you will truly be getting a piece of history. This guy is the highest paid athlete on the planet and one of the greatest fighters of all time, so I think they will do well. And wait until you see the outfit that Mickey Bey will be wearing in his next fight. It's going to be made of leather," stated clothing designer Fredrick Lamar, who gave us an update on the work he's done for undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather and many other athletes. Check out what he had to say!
PC: You have a lot going on with the Fredrick Lamar custom clothing line. Brief us on what all you have in store for the near future.
FL: Ah man Percy, everything is good. I got quite a few things going on. I'm in the process of doing a collaboration with a business partner of mine, Rashad McCants. We are doing "Boss Life by Fredrick Lamar". It's a Fredrick Lamar suit line, like I said, called "Boss Life", and I also have the Fredrick Lamar leather collection coming up. I just did a custom jacket for the champ, Mickey Bey, in honor of the general, Floyd Mayweather of The Money Team. It's a real nice jacket and I will be making all kinds of custom made leathers now. I really think the Floyd Mayweather jacket is going to be a hit because you will truly be getting a piece of history. This guy is the highest paid athlete on the planet and one of the greatest fighters of all time, so I think they will do well. And wait until you see the outfit that Mickey Bey will be wearing in his next fight. It's going to be made of leather.
PC: Do ideas come to you from different people or is it something you research to see what's hot and go from there?
FL: I watch other people and just get ideas watching TV and on the internet and come up with different stuff and play around with it and see what sticks and throw a lot of ideas around. I make a few examples and see what kind of reaction I get and go from there.
PC: You just mentioned being in business with Rashad McCants, who truly is one of my favorite North Carolina Tarheels of all time. He is a great talent. How did this partnership come about with Rashad?
FL: I met Rashad years ago. I was actually making his clothes and then we lost contact with each other, so we hadn't talked in like 3 or 4 years. I happened to be out in LA with Mickey and I ran into him and it was just meant to be. We had a lot of the same ideas and going in the same direction business-wise of what we were trying to do. It's going to take over the world. We actually got an app, for anybody that has an Android phone, on Google. Its called biral go and it's a pretty cool app. It takes you all over the place and different places, but it's still only scratching the surface of what that app gonna do once we are finished with it. The things that we are gonna do collectively is gonna change the world. You are not gonna believe it.
PC: The blue and white shirt that Floyd Mayweather wore for his interview that he did during The Final Four was actually a Fredrick Lamar piece. That was a hot shirt, man. How did that play out?
FL: I make custom clothes and back when Mickey signed with Floyd in November, I made him a shirt. Prior to that, he told me he liked shirts with French cuffs so he could wear these diamond cufflinks that he had, so I kept that in mind and I went to the lab and put together one of my French Lamar originals and gave it to him, but I had no idea he was going to wear it to The Final Four. So just to be watching The Final Four and out of all of the clothes Money Mayweather has in his closet, he picked a Fredrick Lamar shirt to wear for millions of people to see. I couldn't believe it. It was like I made it. It was almost like my championship fight when I saw him in that shirt.
PC: It had to be special seeing Floyd Mayweather wearing your shirt, and being that you are a Michigan native, having them in The Final Four.
FL: Ah man, it was crazy to watch The Final Four seeing Michigan because I'm a diehard go blue Michigan fan, and then for Floyd to be from Michigan, that makes me a big fan of Floyd's, and then for him to wear my design as I'm trying to get my line going was crazy. I truly feel blessed.
PC: So you had no idea that he was even gonna wear that shirt?
FL: I had no clue; none at all. We sitting here watching it and I walk aside and Mickey is like, "Yo Fred, ain't this one of your shirts that Floyd got on?" I came in and saw it and I was like, "Wow!"
PC: The one Floyd wore on The Final Four interview was probably my favorite Fredrick Lamar piece that I have seen to date. Do you have a favorite piece that you have made, and if so, what makes it your favorite?
FL: I would actually have to agree with you and say the piece that Floyd wore, man, because it's one of the most recognizable faces in the world; not only in sports, but in the world. He has a major influence on pop culture, so for him to wear my shirt and my design is one of the highlights for me as far as being a designer and seeing my product on TV on him. It was real special.
PC: What's the labor on a shirt like that? How long did it take you to make that particular shirt? Floyd is a little bitty dude, so I'm sure it didn't take much material (laughing)!
FL: (Laughing) Most of the time in the work is making the pattern because it's a custom made shirt, so most of the time comes in the pattern. I actually made that shirt without taking his measurements. I just guestimated from the tale of the tape of his height and weight and other fighters his size that I make clothes for. Once I made his pattern, it was just a matter of picking out the fabric and the combination of what I wanted to mix. Once I got everything together and the cut working straight, it was probably about 24 to 48 hours.
PC: Mickey should be announcing something huge soon. I know you can't give a lot, but I'm sure you are looking forward to it.
FL: Ah man, people can expect more of the same; a lot of boxing, a lot of skills, a lot of power, and just good, throwback fighting. When Floyd walks away from boxing and steps away from this game, he's got one in the chamber with Mickey Bey. Floyd is going to bring Mickey along and I can see him being a lock on Floyd's cards as the co-main event for sure.
PC: You have to be happy that the ordeal of the positive test is behind you guys and you can move forward now.
FL: It was such a relief to get that ordeal over with because me being around Mickey all of the time and knowing the person Mickey is, for that negative press to come out on Mickey like that, someone that won't even take cold medicine, and for him to go to a doctor and that happen, the truth has got to come out because this is a good kid and he's already been put through enough in his career. So for something like this to stand in his way, we couldn't delay it any longer and I'm glad it's all cleared up. Now that it's over with, the sky's the limit and he will have a title by the year's end, guaranteed.
PC: You did some fashion shows earlier this year. What was that experience like and exactly what was the event you attended and what can we expect from your line moving forward?
FL: Back in March, I premiered my women's line, which won't be available until fall of 2014, but I just wanted to preview it and just kind of get a response from the crowd and that was at the LA Fashion Week back in March. I will be previewing my leather collection in July in Las Vegas. We are gonna have a show. That will be available this fall and winter at www.fredricklamar.com; all of the leather pieces I will be coming up with. And for the summer, I will be coming up with some leather bathing suits for the women, both 2 pieces and 1 pieces.
PC: You have been on the leather thing hard lately.
FL: I have always been a fan of leather and I was finally able to connect with the right people to do the kind of leather I want to do as far as custom with a lot of detail. You know, that's what I want to offer; something different.
PC: Again, your work is amazing, I look forward to all of the great pieces you have coming from your Fredrick Lamar Clothing Line and we may even have a surprise for our readers, so stay tuned for that. Is there anything else you want to say in closing?
FL: I just want to thank you, Percy, and FightHype for all of the support and the continued support from all of the FightHype fans out there. Stay tuned and look out for Fredrick Lamar, Boss Life, Mickey Bey, The Money Team because 2013 and beyond is going to be unbelievable. I can be reached at Fredrick@fredricklamar.com, you can follow me on Instagram @FredrickLamar and also like my fan page on Facebook @FredrickLamar and follow me on Twitter @FredrickLamar1. And before I go, there is a site called www.itsmyurls.com/fredricklamar1 and if you go on there, it links to my website, my Twitter, and my Instagram. It is a hot site and again its www.itsmyurls.com and you gotta check it out!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]