Fashion / Business & brands / Music
Maurice Malone
· fashion designer, entrepreneur, promoter
Detroit-raised denim designer whose Hip Hop Shop on West Seven Mile hosted the 1990s open-mic battles that launched Proof, Eminem and a generation of Detroit rappers.
- Detroit years
- 1960s–1997
- Field
- Fashion, Business & brands, Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Maurice Malone was raised in Detroit and started his clothing brand there in the 1980s, selling to department stores from 1985 and running a nightclub called The U.N. in the late 1980s. After a year and a half in New York, where he launched Label X, he returned home in 1991 and self-financed his own denim line. He also promoted hip-hop nights at Stanley's Rhythm Kitchen and Saint Andrew's Hall. In 1993 he and partner Jerome Mongo opened the Hip Hop Shop, first beside a friend's store and, after an eviction, on West Seven Mile Road. The shop's Saturday open mics, hosted by Proof, drew Eminem, D12, Slum Village, Royce da 5'9″, Elzhi and many others, and inspired the battle scenes of 8 Mile. In 1997 Malone closed the shop and moved to New York to focus on fashion; he showed at New York Fashion Week and was nominated for the CFDA's Perry Ellis award in 1997.
Highlights
- Opened the Hip Hop Shop, Detroit's key 1990s open-mic venue, in 1993.
- Sponsored early hip-hop nights at Saint Andrew's Hall and Stanley's Rhythm Kitchen.
- Profiled by The New York Times in 1993.
- Nominated for the CFDA Perry Ellis Award for new menswear designer (1997).
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1993–1997
The Hip Hop Shop
Closed · 1993–1997
His store and open-mic venue; it reopened briefly under other owners in 2005 and 2014, and the storefront was vacant as of 2018.
Related place · early 1990s
Saint Andrew’s Hall
He was one of the first to sponsor hip-hop performances at the hall.