Meet Christopher Munks of Bad Hombre Streetwear in Mesa Arizona

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Munks.

Christopher, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I built Bad Hombre Streetwear to reflect my dark humor and my ability to build strength from struggle. If you ask my friends and family. I’m a pretty humble and nice guy now, but that wasn’t always the case. From a young age I was addicted to raising hell and causing trouble. With that came problems with drugs and quite a few run ins with the law. Since then a lot has changed in my life. I’m a proud family man, and a respectable business owner, but It took me quite some time before I learned to take that negative energy and turn it into a positive using artistic outlets like music, art, and now clothing design. I have been running my own promotion company and record label, “Mafiatic Music” since 2006. From a young age I have always been into fashion and design. Having my own clothing brand has always been a long time dream of mine. In February 2018 I finally took that dream and made it a reality. It was a large step taking it to the next level by researching the manufacturing and production process, followed by a large investment of my own money that I put into equipment and brand building. Almost all of my products are made by hand by me or one of my family. This is truly a family run business top to bottom. Everyone in my house has a part to play, from me pressing shirts, to my co-owner and girlfriend, Stephanie Combs that runs our website and takes care of our online sales. All the way down to our older kids folding shirts, and making pins on the button machine. We are trying to building a legacy and showing them entrepreneurship in the process. We eventually would like to grow the business to a point where we can move into the storefront we use for retail and own a warehouse for production and product. I learned a long time ago that you have to set your goals high if you want to come out on top. Making this a story where the bad guy wins.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Starting something new especially a new business is never a smooth process. Luckily I have a background in music marketing, throwing, and promoting successful events here in Arizona since 2006. So I took that knowledge of branding and marketing and applied it to my clothing line. I’m not a graphic designer myself so I get a lot of help from my graphics team consisting of Christopher McDaniel aka McNastee and Jonathan McGlothen aka Legion. Both are amazing artists that take all of my crazy ideas and make them come alive. But I will admit my biggest struggle was production at first. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to quality and detail. So there were quite a few shirts that never saw the light of day in the beginning. Now I feel we are on point with every run and can stand tall next to any other streetwear brand out there. It puts a smile on my face when people comment on how impressed they are with the quality of our products.

Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
Bad Hombre Streetwear is a clothing company based in Arizona making streetwear geared for the modern day outlaw. Our clothing line is aimed towards all the real bad hombre’s out there living life to the fullest and by their terms. We represent the hustlers on the streets, the tattoo artists in the shops, the grease monkey’s in the car clubs, the patch holders on their choppers, and even the normal 9 to 5 working man living for weekends, because there’s a little bad guy in all of us.

We specialize in graphic t-shirts, custom tactical gear, an endless amount of hats and cool accessories. Bad Hombre is a bold name so we have some bold designs that are always mixed with a little bit of my dark humor. We keep everything fresh and original, but we’ve been compared to other brands like Lurking Class, Black Craft, and Streetwise. I’m not mad at the comparisons because those are all great clothing companies and I’m honored to be in that class of clothing brands.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I would have to start by giving credit to my co-owner and girlfriend, Stephanie Combs and our 5 kids Carlos, Raegan, Evey, Lucas and Isaiah. After family it comes to my amazing team Christopher McDaniel and Jonathan McGlothen for doing all logos and graphics, our photography department Christopher Jimenez and Alana Jimenez of NM92art. I also have to give a big shout out to my good friend, Justus S. Olbert of Respect The Underground for always having my back and influencing me to be a better businessman.

But most important on this list is the customers that wear and buy all of our products. Every day I’m blown away by our reach. We are not just local, we are sending packages all over the United States to cities like Seattle Washington, Denver Colorado, and all over California. Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to grow. We thank all of you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BadHombreStreetwear.com
• Email: BadHombreStreetwear@gmail.com
• Instagram: @bad.hombre.streetwear
• Facebook: @BadHombreStreetwear
• Twitter: @BadHombreStreet

Image Credit:
Christopher Jimenez at NM92art

Suggest a story: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.