Pablo P Pantoja is originally from California of Native American and Hispanic roots. Since the age of six,
he grew to love drawing. By the time he was in high school, he felt to combine the love for dressing well
and sketching to do something with his life, and see the world. He attended Art Center of Pasadena and
Otis Parson's School of Design in California. At this point he moved to New York and designing for few
brands, most notably and currently Members Only, as well as Kenneth Cole men's leather in 2000.
Shortly after Kenneth Cole, he also started his own women's contemporary label called 'June'.
It was sold in hundreds of specialty stores across America and some high end stores like Barney's
Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. His latest creation is the smallest thing he ever designed and taken
the longest to achieve. In the past couple of years he sacrificed time by working part-time only so he
could pursue the development of what he feel is an important product.
The product came about in a backward sort of way. He never intended to make a product, just a detail
for a hem. While trying to get a license to deal with Rocawear Women's, designing some leather jeans
as a proposal to that hip-hop brand, he thought he should find a way for the hems to stay at a specific
position because frayed denim is one thing, but leather is another. Several years later one factory agents
was working in silicone, rubber and foams and asked him if he had any ideas he could develop for him.
This is when it dawned on him that I was thinking too 'in-the-box' by assuming it should be a component
of the garment. The solution to the problem was to make a separate adjustable accessory that could be
used from pant to pant and attach to other parts of clothing if necessary.
In the past couple of years he sacrificed his time by working part-time only so that he could pursue the
development of what he feel is an important product. He invented kUffzÜp but it's only through under-
standing how my sketching, designing, graphics and love for clothing, cars and gadgets has made it
possible to create the product that he envision will benefit all, more than the fashions and art I've created..
The many uses for kUffzÜp have yet to be discovered, but for now it's by far the easiest, simplest and
most elegant way to keep pants from dragging and scuffing on the ground. Who knows, perhaps it will
affect fashion on its own, as suspenders, safety pins, belts, hair ties and other accessories have in the past.