Brand Story: Honoring The Past, Building The Future with Homage LA

Homage LA: From Long Beach to the Streets of LA—The Story Behind the Brand

I was born and raised in Long Beach, California—where the sun might shine, but the streets don’t sugarcoat anything. Growing up, life wasn’t easy. My parents split when I was young, and we barely scraped by on food stamps. No parental guidance, no direction. I had to learn everything the hard way. School wasn’t any better. I graduated high school with just about a 2.04 GPA—just enough to get out the door. I wasn’t a “model student,” but I made it since I was the first in my family to graduate high school. That’s something I caried with pride but was the only milestone I had lined up.

After high school, I ended up at Long Beach City College, but I had no idea what I was doing there. I had no intention of attending college but I eventually signed up for a few courses just to feel it out. College felt like another box to check off because that’s what people expected but what I didn’t realize at the time was that my real education wasn’t going to come from any classroom—it was going to come from my career path after graduating with my bachelors.

The Struggle Was Real: My First Job in Apparel

After college, I stumbled into my first real job at Califame of Los Angeles, a company that made apparel for some of the biggest names in the game. I didn’t know the first thing about apparel production, but it was my first real look at how things were made. I learned the ropes—screen printing, direct-to-garment, sublimation, and the economics behind tees and hoodies. More than anything, I got to see the grind behind some of the brands I grew up with—Obey, The Hundreds, Diamond Supply Co., Kanye’s merch, Travis Scott’s line. Watching these products come together made something click in me. The idea that a brand could come from the ground up and turn into something that people connected with—that resonated with me.

But even with that, the grind didn’t stop. I kept hustling through different gigs—selling random products like medical supplies, vape products, and even razor blade sharpeners. None of it gave me the real sense of purpose I was looking for. I just needed to make money, survive. But something inside me kept telling me to keep pushing, keep grinding, and keep learning the business in apparel.

Diamond Supply Co.: Learning from the Best

It wasn’t until I landed at Diamond Supply Co. as their ecommerce manager was when I learned what it meant to be a part of a brand. Diamond was a streetwear institution. I worked directly with Nick Tershay, the man behind the brand, and watched how a small idea could explode into a worldwide movement.

Nick had his rules—strict, calculated. At first, I didn’t get it but as I saw the way Diamond operated, I understood. I watched sales hit over $100K within minutes, drops that became events, that spoke to an audience in a way I’d never seen before. It was a masterclass in how to build a brand from the ground up, how to create something that spoke directly to a community, how to tap into culture in a way that felt real.

I absorbed everything—how to market, how to communicate, how to build relationships with other brands, how to make designs that people wanted to wear, not just buy. Everything I learned at Diamond was a lesson in streetwear’s power. I was seeing how deep culture ran—how it could turn something as simple as a tee shirt into a symbol of identity. That’s when I knew I was going to start my own brand. I had to.

Smosh: The Shift from Streetwear to Fandom

After Diamond, I took a step in a different direction. I joined Smosh, a massive YouTube channel, as their e-commerce manager. It wasn’t streetwear, but it was another lesson in connecting with an audience. I had to learn fast what the fans wanted, what resonated with them, what made them feel connected to the brand. It was a crash course in understanding fandom. I made mistakes, dropped products that flopped, but also released hits that took off. I learned quickly that the key to anything—streetwear, merchandise, or anything—is understanding the people you're doing it for. You have to speak their language.

This time was important because it reinforced my belief that real success comes from connecting with people on a deeper level. It’s not just about selling them something—it’s about telling a story they can relate to. It’s about pride, identity, and culture. I knew my time at Smosh was valuable because it gave me a new perspective on how to connect with people, but my heart was still in streetwear. I was ready to build my own brand. A brand that represents what I truly am proud of.

Homage LA: Representing Where We’re From

That’s how Homage LA was born. It’s paying homage to the journey. It’s our way of paying respect to where we came from—Long Beach, South LA, or any inner city where we can say the streets helped raise us. It’s about honoring the struggle, the hustle, and the pride that comes with growing up in neighborhoods where the odds are stacked against you. It’s also about celebrating the culture, the things that make us who we are—the graffiti that tags our blocks, the sound of lowriders cruising by, the elotero carts selling corn on the cob, the smell of carne asada cooking on a Sunday afternoon, and yes, the giant donuts standing tall on street corners like monuments to our city.

Homage LA is a tribute to all those who’ve come from the bottom and made something of themselves despite the odds. It’s for the kids growing up with food stamps, for the ones who’ve walked through neighborhoods where you’re taught to survive or get left behind. It’s about those of us who’ve watched Boyz n the Hood on a random Saturday, felt that pang of pride when someone asks where we’re from, and stood tall even when no one thought we’d make it.

More Than Just Clothes: A Statement

This isn’t just about making clothes. It’s about making a statement. It’s about honoring those little moments—the ones that shaped us, the ones we carry with us, even when the world tries to forget us. Our experiences growing up in the inner cities don’t get the love they deserve. But we know the truth: it’s the struggle, the grind, the culture of the city that made us who we are.

Homage LA is about wearing that truth. It’s about showing the world where we’re from and why we should be proud of it. Every design, every product, speaks to that reality. The oversized donuts. The palm trees in the hood. The graffiti. The soundtracks of our lives. It’s about taking the things that were once overlooked, once dismissed, and making them something worth celebrating.

Homage LA isn’t just clothing—it’s a movement. It’s for everyone who’s ever said, “This is where I’m from. And I’m proud of it.”