How a Chicago Designer Went From Escaping Legal Woes to Working With Nike

Growing up in Chicago, you learn early to dress functionally for any given weather condition and how to make your own way.

Over the last few years, artist Rob Valentino and his team, Project Mayhem, have grown in notoriety in Chicago for placing their stake in the city’s creative community through their dip-dying work and assisting in bringing unique experiences to consumers through brand activations through his brand, Hidden Characters.

In recognition of his work, Valentino is one of six from Chicago that have been tabbed for Nike’s new “Unsung Heroes” campaign, which highlights the unique stories of selected individuals also in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto, who have a unique vision across fashion and art and who embody the spirit of the Air Force 1. The brand will celebrate the shoe and Chicago’s Unsung Heroes with a special All For 1 experience, starting Dec. 7 – Dec. 9 at 900 S. Wabash. The experience is open to the public from 12 pm – 6 pm.

The campaign holds sentimental value for Valentino. At the start of each school year, his mother would take him to City Sports, where she would cop an all-black pair to go with his uniform and an all-white pair for casual wear.

Just a few years ago, Nike Elite Basketball socks were in high demand. Not only were they some of the most comfortable socks to hoop in or wear casually, but the assortment of colors offered made them a must-have for hoopers and those just trying to get a fit off. In wanting to add further distinction beyond the bold colors available, Valentino started the company Cool Socks Bruh. It gave customers choices to customize their Elite socks with the likeness of their favorite bag of snacks, high-end fashion brand or pop icon. It was one of the first times that Valentino used dye sublimation to customize and print on a Nike product.

It didn’t take long for the socks to go viral, and get the attention of the companies who didn’t like seeing their branded images being profited from so freely without consent. “We got a cease and desist from Nike, BMW, Frito Lays and a bunch of other brands,” Valentino says. “That was five years ago in 2013. To see how it’s gone from being chased by Nike to now being kind of praised by them is unbelievable.”

After dodging legal actions, he and his team got to work on their first pop-up with Notre and Hidden Characters. Project Mayhem falls under the umbrella as an agency, but Valentino hates the term because of what he feels most of them miss. Having worked for a couple of agencies, his focus is on leaving customers with a unique experience to go along with a coveted purchase. With how well the first activation went, they were brought back to do Notre’s next few activations, each one allowing them to be even more creative than the next. That caught the eyes of other brands and last year they were invited to ComplexCon with Nike.

Being brought on as specialists, they were tasked with helping all the celebrities and consumers with customizing and creating their own Air Force 1. Seeing the smiles and energy around the experiences that they helped create and all the possibilities with what they were already doing with customization validated Valentino’s belief that this was what consumers wanted from brands. “Some people left there with some pretty far-out-there shoes,” he says. “But they left with the biggest smiles on their face and they were organically posting to their social because of the experience.”

They followed up ComplexCon with helping out with the AF-100 Gallery pop-up, presented by RSVP Gallery and NIKE in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Since that time, they’ve helped the brand with activations and have taken their customization formula on tour with their umbrella company 625 INDUSTRIES, helping with activations in Nike Basketball, Football and even Baseball. Even with how much has changed for him in just over a year, Valentino is most proud of what they’re helping deliver.

“What makes a great activation is the experience itself,” he says. “What separates us from other agencies is that we focus on the experience, not the cool points and cool factor of it. As long as the customer leaves with a one of one, and they’re happy, that’s what’s really important.”

When he thinks about it, it’s hard for Valentino to think just how much has transpired in just a little over a year. One of his formulas for creating is now being used to help others bring their ideas to life, and the culmination of that process and the experiences he’s helped launched has him being highlighted by a brand that once threatened him with serious litigation.

“I would have never thought,” he says. “I’d be here talking about this campaign with a brand that I was close to having legal problems with.”

Keep up with Rob Valentino on IG.