Made in Oklahoma: Louis and Cluck

Published: November 19, 2008

About the company

• Address: 5001 S 29th W Ave., Tulsa.

• Web site: www.myspace.com/louiscluck.

• Founded: 2005.

• Employees: Two.

• Key personnel: Zuri Louis and Steve Cluck.

• Product: Designer shirts.

Handmade shirts follow a design

Their names are Louis and Cluck — clearly not the early American explorers — but definitely men on a mission.

The pair first became friends while attending art school at the University of Tulsa, and that’s where they began producing shirts that are decidedly pro-Oklahoma.

"We wanted to make something that celebrated our state,” Cluck said. "We wanted shirts that would be really happy, and to show our Oklahoma pride.”

Slogans like "Don’t Hate the 918” struck a cord with Tulsans wanting to show their pride, Cluck said, and before long, the pair were creating designs worn by the likes of Hansen and other local celebrities.

Cluck said they also decided to skip the modern and easier screen printing approach, sticking with the more labor-intensive handmade shirt designs. To date, they’ve produced 20,000.

"It’s slower, but it’s very rewarding because it gives each shirt a handmade feel,” Cluck said. "It has that vintage look — a 1970s aesthetic.”

The pair also detoured from standard marketing. They kept all their Web operations on a MySpace page, and they’re selling shirts only at locally owned retailers (their shirts are sold at only two Oklahoma City stores, Blue 7 and Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Emporium).

Orders picked up after the shirts were worn by Hansen during their concerts, Cluck said, and he’s anticipating a similar response with the release of a new Ben Folds DVD where a "Viva Tulsa” shirt is worn by a band member. The shirts also have popped up on shows on NBC and VH1 and in People magazine.

Shirts were given to Blake Shelton and Holly Hunter during visits to Oklahoma City.

"I think this is helping promote our state to the entire world,” Cluck said. "Oklahoma has sometimes gotten made fun of out there, so whenever we can promote ourselves in a positive way, that’s really great.”

STEVE LACKMEYER, BUSINESS WRITER

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