The Ugly Kids Club

by Heba Keshk on 06th of February 2008




Mark Bajade lives a double, maybe even triple, life. By day he is a student. By night he designs his own fashion label and even finds the time to be a "rudeboy graffiti designer" inbetween.

Mark (22) is better known under the alias of Mister Batlow and is currently studying Surface Design at the London College of Communications.

He is well recognised for his overwhelming street art design. He even designed THAT wallpaper in the LCC Student Union Bar toilets.

The interview took place in a secluded room, where fine art students would draw nude models.

The Ugly Kids Club members describe themselves as "Beautification Specialists", customising anything from a bland pair of trainers to an old sweater.

Mark was dressed as if he was a walking advert for his brand, wearing a T-shirt (Ugly Kids Club of course), which he designed for UK rapper Skinnyman, and traffic-stopping Nike Air Force Ones.

What's Batlow all about?

A name can define who you are and what you represent and Mark's pseudonym couldn't be more revealing:

Batlow has the obvious relation to Batman. Like Batman I'm a hardworking insomniac, who takes his personal problems out on his work, ie. graffiti art."

"At the peak of my customising career my life was very much like that: no sleep, chain smoking cigarettes and late night trips to the chicken shop."

Where did it all start?

With the use of Myspace, Batlow gathered a group of people who wanted to volunteer and share their talent with youths:

"The Ugly Kids Club was initially a workshop to teach youths in both South and East London how to customise with graffiti."

"That somehow turned into an art collective. We began to collaborate together, spraying walls, doing fashion shows and other designs. But somehow it turned into a T-shirt brand."

"It started in 2006, but was 'grinding' since I was 17 years old. I wanted to do something productive for kids. We didn't have any funding to start off with and still have no funding. It was more about the kids and seeing how happy it made them."

Mark was first recognised at the age of 17, when he was visiting a Levi's store in central London and was stopped by the management because of his original style.

Since then he opened his own shop in Carnaby Street, called the The Workshop, and worked for Levi's, customising products. He also worked for an array of big brands such as Nike, DKNY and the Urban Music Festival.

The likes of R&B diva Mariah Carey have been seen wearing one of his stunning creations.

"By the end of that year we were awarded with the first UK Urban Fashion Award for Custom designer of The Year," says Mark.

Inspirations or random thought?

Mark, with the support of his family, began to import items of clothing and accessories from Asia, where he would customise and sell.

His biggest influences were respected designers as well as businessmen. He combined their ideas with his own. This resulted in his high level of success.

"Fashion design-wise, Wale Adeyemi and Mark Ecko have an influence on what I do, but the graffiti element Astek is one of many."

Ara, the founder of the Urban Showcase, Jump Off, has helped and guided him from the start in the business aspect of it all. Watch the video of his fashion show at the event in December 2007.

"I am the type of person to take random aspects from unrelated sources and use them as inspiration for all aspects of my business," adds Mark.

Advice for others

"It's cliche to say 'It's not what you know, its who you know' but its true. The more people you know, the bigger a network you have. And the bigger a network you have, the more potential customers you have."


"Also, having the thirst of wanting to achieve higher. I approach every new job that I get with the aim of bettering the last."