“It’s young and youthful. There is a history here,” says Third Ward resident Melissa Thornton. She’s referring to our fair city, of course. “It’s more like a community rather than just a city. We are ready to be known as the Milwaukee state, not just the beer and cheese state,” she says.
Every morning, Thornton, 32, rises with the sun and takes her six-year-old golden doodle Frodo for a walk through the streets of the Third Ward. The New York native graduated from MIAD in 2002 and then moved to Orlando, where she lived for five years working for a consulting company. It was there that she came to the realization that Milwaukee is and will always be her home.
Thornton’s idea for a Milwaukee-inspired clothing brand started last December with a Christmas gift for longtime friend Scott Mizzen. The two had met eight years ago but lost touch. Last July, Hotel Foster reunited them. As Thornton says, “I bumped into him… And we have been hanging ever since.”
Thornton designed a logo that said “Milwaukee Home” in Helvetica font and created the hoodie through zazzle.com, a clothing customization company. Mizzen, 31, teamed with Thornton to turn the sweatshirt into a business after he was frequently asked where he bought the sweatshirt. Thornton and Mizzen began spreading the message to other Milwaukeeans in February, calling it “MILWAUKEEHOME.”
“There’s pride and a chic cache that comes with saying ‘I live in Milwaukee.’ You find it as you walk around and see people with tattoos of the skyline on their arm or wearing t-shirts of favorite local businesses,” Thornton says. “So [my] inspiration would be the people themselves, the DNA to every neighborhood. We believe it’s the people that make Milwaukee home.”
Now, Thornton works from home for the same consulting company while developing her business. The pair keeps business local, ordering their screen prints from Bayview’s Redwall Prints.
“This city is still growing – not so much by people – but by coolness,” Thornton says.
Hooded sweatshirts, t-shirts and tank tops for men and women are available through mkehome.com.
– Chelsey Dequaine
Photos courtesy of MILWAUKEEHOME.
