Marc Skid’s story begins, like many great stories, two drunken men roaming around in apartments, talking about beer and talking about underwear.
This is a young Dan Barry working in Anheuser Busch, Chicago, in the early 90s of the last century. He worked with Breuer, his best friend, and he opened the “maybe too much” thing on the back cushion, and something in the room caught Barry’s eye.
Barry explained, “he bought a pair of designer suit underwear – I don’t mention this brand – it’s sitting on the coffee table.” We just talked about underwear.
They pointed out that the underwear packaging was serious – a man with a six pack and “blue steel” on his face. They began to think about it, and realized that it seemed to be the standard for lingerie brands, which was a bit strange – after all, even those who were not in good shape needed underwear, right? Heck, the only six bags in the room were an alcoholic variety.
It will take decades for Barry to resume his conversation – but for whatever reason, he’s always with him.
Barry, 51 years old, grew up in Oakville, is in Saint Louis, went to University of Chicago for his first job after graduation 1990. For the next 25 years, as a sales and marketing director, Barry found himself unemployed, and 2015 in Atlanta.
Barry also found himself talking about his underwear with his old friends. There was talk, reaching out to another part of the man who eventually lent Barry underwear to run his naughty name.
“When we were kids, our mother was very concerned about the time when we had to go to see the doctor, the status of my underwear,” Barry explained with a smile.
An idea began to form. What if there’s a fashion designer called Marc Skid? (read once, if you don’t understand, put everything you need. Time, and more, if that fictional fashion sells suit underwear?
“Why brands are not like people?”” Barry remembers wondering. What do we appreciate? First, sense of humor. A man of character. People with goals. Why can’t brands laugh at themselves, but still have a serious purpose?”
The idea of “purposeful life” comes from an old family friend, a nun and Barry’s mother, who grew up in Saint Louis, where they went to Notre dame. Sister Laurinda went to Honduras to work with propapa, a trauma clinic and charity. Barry 1994 goes to the clinic. It was there that he saw the value of helping his fellow men.
At the end of his underwear Empire, the idea of this return took the most important place in his mind; he spent two years building partnerships with charities and trying to make his project sustainable. Therefore, every pair of Marc Skid underwear from organic cotton, Peru family farm, there is no genetically modified biological pesticide or growth. The belts are recycled polymer bottles, exactly. Barry explained that every belt had a bottle of plastic.
And each purchase, 4 dollars for nine organizations: anti hunger action, Amazon Conservation Society, carbon fund, Catholic Medical task board, focus on foundation, feedone, project c.u.r.e., hunger project and Water.org. Consumers can choose which charity they want to go to, as they choose the color of their underwear.
In October 1st, Barry launched the Marc Skid slogan, “let your Mark be in the world.” It refers to the company’s Philanthropy – but, hey, it also smiles for a cute little boy.
