DrownedMadonna.com talked with Rico Mann, who designed the belt worn by Madonna on her ''Hard Candy'' cover.

DROWNEDMADONNA: Hi Rico, how did you get in touch with Madonna?

RICO MANN: Madonna's stylist B. made the initial contact with Ed Chuman, the director of operations for Reggie Parks Championship Belts, seeking a custom title belt for Madonna. Ed then forwarded the email to me and I made contact with B. via phone to discuss her need, timeframe, etc.. then followed up with an email outlining our process which also included images of some of our more widely known belts and the prices associated with them. We then discussed the email and several belts before B. presented the info to Madonna.

DM: Was there any belt that inspired Madonna?

RM: There was a belt in the samples that Madonna really liked and wanted her belt based on. We agreed on the price, I developed the art, Madonna signed off on it and it went into production.

DM: Can you describe the process of making the belt for Madonna?

RM: Reggie Parks and his crew created the base silver belt on black leather, which was then sent to Dave Millican for dual plating (adding 24k gold accents by hand) and for paint. It was then shipped to B. who hand delivered it to Madonna in London.

DM: Why did Madonna choose you?

RM: B. said that they had been fans of our work, considered us the best title belt makers in the world and said that when Madonna wants something she always goes with the Best. Quite a compliment from the world's largest Pop Icon!

DM: Can you give our readers some background on you?

RM: "The King of Belts" Reggie Parks developed the process used to create most major title belts in wrestling and MMA today, and has been making them for over 40 years. "The Ace of Belts" Dave Millican has been doing the same for more than 20 years and is widely considered the foremost title belt historian in the world today. Both men are widely accepted as the Best title belt makers in the world. I've been designing custom championship belts for just over 7 years and have brought a whole new artistic style to the medium. Together we are responsible for the majority of the title belts used in wrestling and mixed martial arts today including those used by the Ultimate Fighting Championships, World Extreme Cagefighting, bodogFIGHT, American Fight League, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance, and New Japan Pro Wrestling among many many others. We also produced the most popular WWF title belts which were used in the 80's and early 90's.

Source: Drowned Madonna