We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eben McCullough a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Eben, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I would count my life a success when others can say: “He taught me how to Live Bravely to achieve my ‘impossible dream’”

One of my biggest inspirations is Kamina (カミナ) – a character from my fave anime: Gurren Laggan. His whole ethos is centered on inspiring his younger brother and friends to dare to do the impossible. He recognized that when you don’t believe in yourself, you can find strength in believing in the you that those who love you believe you to be. As put in his iconic quote: “…believe in the me that believes in you”. This mentality carried the cast through their darkest trials and continued to strengthen the following generations.

As the eldest brother I see a lot of myself in Kamina, and I want to inspire my siblings to live bravely and to give it their all in life to achieve their dreams. And to do so without compromising their identity and morals.

That is the kind of legacy I want to have. I want people to look back and say “There was this cool guy, Ebenezer, he never let me make excuses for myself and always encouraged me to dare to live bravely and that helped me through a lot of crazy times” or something of that nature.

I want Koncept Culture to be the ecosystem where this mentality flourishes and spreads.

Eben, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

How I Got into the Industry.

When I was a wee-lad I used to make costumes and dress up as my favorite movie/comic book characters. There was a time when I took my mother’s scarves and tied them together to make dreadlocks so I could be Tarzan – I was bald at the time but I was determined to look as authentic as possible.
I got into sewing in high school because a lot of the cool goth clothes I wanted were too big for me / too expensive. So I made my own. Eventually I made cosplay pieces for my friends for anime conventions. Some of my earliest were Vincent from FFVII, Agito from Airgear, and Mugen from Samurai Champloo. I should’ve pursued fashion earlier because I always enjoyed looking at the alternative costumes of my fave anime/movie characters and redesigning them to look cooler but I never saw value in my creative abilities because I was always comparing myself to others. Pro tip Don’t do that shit!

I worked for a few screen-printing companies while in college and eventually went to South Korea to research Hanbok and visited some friends in Japan. While in Harajuku Japan, I was inspired by people confidently living in their Harajuku style and it reignited my desire to experiment in fashion. I figured that if they could go against the conventional norms and bravely go into the world I could do the same. Or at least try.

Thus, immediately upon returning to the U.S. I enrolled in small business, fashion design, and brand-building classes and got a scholarship to an online fashion program at Parsons the New School. “Youtube University’s” sewing tutorials taught how to properly use a sewing machine, how to measure and cut fabric, how to make patterns, etc.

During early Covid, I had gotten pissed off by the racism that was surrounding the Asian community so I decided to make face masks with the word “Unity” written in Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. After seeing how strongly the masks impacted people I started making more elaborate masks and eventually branched out into making kimono, pants and shirts. I had a friend who was a photographer in D.C (Ashley Troutman) and she knew a bunch of awesome models (Kyana), photographers, and studio owners and introduced me. And that’s how I got into the scene.

What Kind of Products/Services I Provide:

My handmade pieces blend the elegance of Korean and Japanese fashion, the practical functionality of military attire and are infused with my own urban/punk sensibilities. I also provide custom pieces for clients who share similar stylistic interests or need unique pieces for anime conventions or special events.

Let’s say you are going to a Beyonce concert (true story) and you need a focal point for your outfit. You enjoy Japanese kimono, sheer, lace and appreciate a dark gothic look. I would set up a consultation, get your measurements, work together to design something that suits your needs, construct your unique garment and get it to you for your show.

In the future there will be interactive augmented reality components to the garments… but that’s for another time.

What Problems Do You Solve for Clients?

“I want to dress like a sophisticated ninja with an Avant Garde / modern flair and practical sensibilities” or “How do I incorporate traditional Japanese pieces in a modern wardrobe?” I help you achieve the look, but add practical features inspired by traditional and military clothing like kimono-inspired pocket sleeves, extra/hidden pockets, or carry slings for jackets.

I make pieces that are sophisticated, comfortable to wear, and versatile for your day-to-day needs. Personally, I don’t like having a lot of clothes to choose from. I don’t have time to wear them all. I would much rather have my tried and true go-to pieces that I know will function well in whatever situation I find myself in.

That’s what I provide my clients with.

What Sets You Apart:

I’m like incredibly good-looking. lol I jest, I jest. But I’m incredibly obsessive over whatever I set my mind to. And resilient. When find something of interest I will stop at nothing to learn more about its history, how to make it, why, and how it functions and if I can make it better. I can also admit when I don’t know / can’t do everything. But, I will always find a way of getting it done, and done well.

What Am I most Proud of?

When I was 16 I wanted to be in a post-hardcore band so badly but I didn’t have any bandmates. So my best friend Tavon and I taught ourselves guitar and bass. I met Kam shortly after we would sit in my car and practice vocals (the kind your Nana associates with the devil lol). Eventually, we met Argentino and Garret and we ended up doing shows for the next 5 years. It was a great time and it taught me that if you really want something – be faithful with what you have, develop and share it with others and it will grow. It also helped me get over my stage fright and develop more self-confidence in stepping outside the comfort of cultural norms.

Closing things about the brand:

If you have a cool koncept that you want to explore or see in the real world this is where you come to bring it to life. I have a crazy imagination and berserk levels of resilience so I try not to limit myself on what “can be done”. If I can’t do it myself, I’ll learn. If I’m not at the skill level to make it high quality, I’ll train or find someone who can. Regardless it’s going to get done.

The Koncept Culture culture focuses on improving 3x core relationships of our lives. I’ve noticed that as I work on improving myself in these areas, it encourages others to do the same and I belive the ripple effect will make the world a better place.

9 : relationship with God Spiritual + Purpose
9 : relationship with Myself Mental / physical/emotional
9 : relationship with Others Career/the world

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

“Determination is the key to our meaning” – Being As An Ocean

You always hear how creatives don’t sleep much but we seem to have so much energy. It’s a weird phenomenon that doesn’t make sense but the best way I can explain it is as my dad describes it “When what you believe in means more than your life, it will give you life to accomplish what you believe in.”

In short, living with a sense of purpose and sacrificing immediate distractions will give you the energy to reach your goals.

Often, we have to sacrifice comfort for the greater outcome. Personally, sacrificing a few days of sleep isn’t something new for me. As a kid, I never slept because my head was always so full of new ideas I had to explore! (and because of that I get to be 5.5″ lol). However, as I get older I’m realizing that I have to shift what/when I sacrifice and modify how I use my time in order to preserve my health: which I now see as “my ability to do things”. Thank you Hannah + Tom for drilling that into me lol. So instead of sacrificing as much sleep, I give up playing video games, doom scrolling and I’m more selective about the opportunities I commit to. I also found that I waste time overthinking so I do things that help me improve my decision-making abilities or reduce hesitation like Aggressive inline or rock climbing.

So while my determination and resilience are on berserk levels, I am trying to balance them with my health needs which isn’t easy because truly, I just want to play and make cool stuff every day hahaha.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

This past summer I had 3 major events to prepare for. I was doing my first runway fashion show for an anime convention and I needed to produce six new looks. I was vending at my first Baltimore Artscape Festival. And I had a huge commission piece for a sheer and lace kimono for a Beyonce concert (which my client needed the day after Artscape).

Artscape that year was chaotic. The artists/vendors received our invitations late – 2 months before the show – not much time for a solo artist to mass produce their merchandise. I made over 2,000 screen-printed shirts and had issues with the print quality and delayed shipping times. I was traveling 45 minutes before/after work and on the weekends to use my library’s Cricut cutter for my kimono hoodie designs. My diet was trash and I would be working, look at the time, sleep for an hour then leave for work…it was gross. I was definitely rocking the disheveled artist look.

During that time I was also meeting with my client to do consultations and sizing for their piece. let me tell you, having to split your limited materials budget between a massive event like Artscape and high-end sheer & lace fabrics is like a Tetris nightmare. But thank God for my mom. She was tremendous in helping me get my supplies and stay organized. I also have an amazing group of close friends & family who kept encouraging me and showed up to support me. Without them, I wouldn’t be here.

Making that lace kimono was a completely different beast. The design had a sick “Refined Victorian Deathnote” kind of vibe. But working with multiple layers of sheer and lace….an utter nightmare. I never wanted to burn a piece so badly in my sewing career. The machine would try to eat the fabric, the cuts would be uneven. I watched soooo many YouTube tutorials and called tailor friends (the nice ladies at Joann’s) trying to troubleshoot the numerous issues. I labored on it for 12 hours straight then had to drive 2.5 hours tto deliver the final piece to the client at the airport. But it was a beautiful piece…I almost kept it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.konceptculture.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/konceptculture/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087120143240
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr90tfVnp5YRDtza5-o-pZg

Image Credits
@chrissy.unnie @kitkatfunvanilla @mcttan @mixednlensed @scalzoness @tjohns_production