Marc Ecko

Leave it to a Jersey boy.
Of course Marc Ecko, the fashion mogul originally from Lakewood, is going to make some noise. And of course it's not going to be in a way that everyone thinks he should do things.
While most of the fashion world has spent the fall debuting their spring 2008 collections, Ecko has been garnering more attention than any of the big fashion names - in this country at least.
The headlines, in case you haven't heard, have been a result of Ecko's purchase of the baseball that Barry Bonds slugged into history. Bonds, in case you haven't heard, has been a lightning rod for controversy because he has vaulted into baseball history as the leading hitter of homeruns amid allegations that he achieved that accomplishment with the help of performance enhancing steroids.
Ecko, a longtime collector of pop culture and sports memorabilia, paid a whopping $752,467 in a Sotheby's auction for Bonds' historic 756th home-run ball. That's a lot of hoodies, t-shirts and jeans.
Then he really made news: he asked fans to vote on what he should do with the ball - send it to the Baseball Hall of Fame with an asterisk to denote the controversial nature of Bonds' record, send it to the hall as is, or shoot the ball into outer space. The asterisk option won and the hall agreed to accept the ball with the asterisk.
Say what you will about Ecko's decision, but he's definitely front page news these days.