Mallo the Great Sells Amerikon Clothing From a Shopping Cart on the Streets of Deep Ellum

You’ve probably seen his face around town, and if you haven’t, you’ve definitely seen the notable faces and slogans of his clothing line, Amerikon Clothing. The last time the Dallas Observer spoke with Mallo the Great, he was selling CDs of his music on the streets of Deep Ellum. Now, he’s become a known fashion figure in Dallas who sells wearable art on the streets. He’s gifted custom pieces for Erykah Badu, Kyrie Irving, That Mexican OT, Curren$y, Riff Raff, Gorilla Zoe, Dorrough Music and more, many of whom posed with him and/or his custom designs on Instagram.

Known for his IG presence and a notable, grassroots sales method, Mallo sells his Amerikon brand from a clothing rack stacked on top a shopping cart in Deep Ellum throughout the week. 

“There’s a little field that I keep my shopping cart stashed. When it’s time to go, load up my stuff, grab the shopping cart, put a coat rack in it, hop on the train, come to Deep Ellum,” Mallo says. “I treat it like a job. So I’m going out 4–5 times a week, minimum, sometimes every day of the week.”

His edgy, decorated pieces consist of vintage, thrift store-bought items decorated with signature phrases and faces, which he paints on the clothing articles each day and uses a hair dryer to dry before going out to sell at night.

“There’s something about the pace I go at,” he says. “The pieces are often, I don’t want to say rushed, but a lot of the times I got to go out at night by like 9 p.m., so I’ll have a few hours of work time or whatever trying to get multiple pieces done, so I’m just goin’ in. There’s something about the pace of just doing it. With that, it provides a certain aspect to the art, I feel like you can feel it. I think it’s a good thing, it’s not sloppy.”

In a recent collaboration with Only Dallas, the two did a fashion show featuring all Only Dallas brand clothing that Mallo turned Amerikon. He took 25 Only Dallas clothing items, mostly athletic wear, and made them his own. All cuts, crops, paint, dye and designs were done by hand in just four days then presented by models on May 9. He has since begun holding regular fashion shows with other Dallas creatives.

All refurbished, thrifted clothing, his line includes a range of items that vary by the day’s catch — band T-shirts, blue collar button-ups, bucket hats, trucker hats, colored jeans, flannels, jerseys, rare somethings, anything cool. Then he rips them up and paints on top of them his signature Amerikon logo along with phrases and artistic figures. Some of his clothing includes removable canvases that can be Velcroed to the top or bottom.

"I wanted to see how people took to art images, and people were still rockin’ with it. It’s fun and it’s also a challenge.” – Mallo

tweet this

“I thrift my ass off,” he says. “I really try to find the dopest, cheapest stuff. There’s dollar stores that sell old vintage hats they’ve just had stocked up for years. I got a knack for finding stuff. I brainstorm in the thrift store as I’m looking. I pull a shirt out like, what can I do with this? I try to add creativity. Every piece is a one-of-one, so I try to do something different every time. If it is similar, it’s going to be better than the last one.”

Each item is a piece of artwork, marked usually by a bold, alternative tagline and freely rendered drawings of people, tribal faces, religious figures, maybe a skyline, a plane flying overhead, some splatters of paint to balance it all out. He often uses incorrect or phonically correct spelling, indicative of the Zef-style, anti-cultural art. Some recognizable lettering includes his notable “Ame-ri-Kon” stacked logo and phrases like “Where was you when I was thuggin’?” “Skreet Dept.” and “Pray for these witches,” as well as emblematic taglines like “This is a one of one” and “No replicas,” which are descriptive of the art. His artwork itself has sharpened over time, filling up more material space and transitioning from mostly lettering to more representative figures.

“The transition was probably just confidence,” says the artist. “I got to a point I was like, man, I’m going to level it up. People been rockin’ with this, the logos, the graffiti tags and what-not, phrases. But I wanted to see how people took to art images, and people were still rockin’ with it. It’s fun and it’s also a challenge.”

After dealing with homelessness and situations such as his clothes and other materials being stolen, Mallo’s art began to take on more religious imagery.
“I was vending at Jack’s House like I do every Friday and Saturday and somehow ended up in a stranger’s car who offered a ride home,” he says. “I asked him to make a stop at 7-Eleven, and when I came out he was gone. I had two bags containing 16 original Amerikon pieces … my clothing rack, my lights, whole vending set. I’ve been using it as motivation to create an even better collection.

“The ‘GZUS’ [Jesus] design is a part of the Prayer Works Capsule, inspired by another strange chain of events involving an ex-intern for the brand," he says. "Things got really negative pretty quick and slanderous and even spiritual. I had to call on the Lord Jesus Christ for guidance and strength. Everything worked out.”

The artist believes God and protection have had a part in his line all the way back to the beginning when he created his name after an initial wrongdoing during a time of immense struggle during the pandemic. He had his money stolen from a popular designer at the time and decided to make his own clothing line to compete.

“I was just down and out, broke, like, these people got $120 of mine, and I don’t even have nothing to eat right now,” he says. “That’s how it started. Their name was Foreign so I made my name the opposite of theirs and put a ‘Kon’ on the end, ‘cause they conned me. The day I debuted the brand, it was at DFW Vintage Swap Meet and guess who I run into there. I have a booth I’m wearing Amerikon, and I run into Foreign. First time I see him in public and he didn’t know me. This is the kicker, he’s standing at the ATM. I tapped on his shoulder, like, ‘Hey, you’re Foreign, right?’ and he paid me.”

Like his name and slogans, the entire story of Amerikon is that of the underdog and the fighter who won’t give up.

“I’m trying to inspire, trying to push the limits, push creativity,” Mallo says. “I want to be, not only be one of the greatest artists of our time, regardless of whether it’s fashion, painting or music, I’m going hard. The example I’m trying to set is bigger than just me. I’m literally out here every day. Even if somebody just sees me walking down the street pushing the shopping cart, sometimes that can motivate because it’s like, damn, he’s trying to do something.

“I got fired from the career I was in and I just had to make something else work. Been homeless up and down, been couch surfing, but I’m still staying dedicated. Even if I’m living with someone on an airbed, I’m still hopping out, loading up my shopping cart, going to work every day, doin’ what I got to do.”