Inside 1897LB. Photos by Ashley Cordes
Long Beach entrepreneur duo Jóse Cordón and “Dire” Mercado combined their love for apparel design and their hometown to create 1897LB, a streetwear shop aimed to clothe skateboarders and otherwise active Long Beachers. Setting up shop last month in the artsy East Village, they have their sights on becoming the next big thing in just a mere 300-square-foot store space.
Mercado, who prefers to go by his artist pseudonym “Dire” mentioned that being the smallest shop on the block was a running joke. “We’re the smallest in size but biggest in originality,” he said. “We pack the biggest punch,” Cordón added.
The shop sells items from Dire’s clothing line, Long Beach Homegrown, as well as Cordón’s clothing line, Children of the Stork. Their store also has a namesake brand, 1897. A handful of other brands including Sourpuss, De Palma and Independent can be found amongst the racks.
Most important to the shop is that all items fall under the streetwear genre and share the same vibe of the shop with a touch of Americana and Rockabilly style. Streetwear is a catchall term for casual-style clothing that has roots in skate and surf culture; especially in California.
This genre resonates with Dire and Cordón on a personal and professional level. “Whether it was the graffiti we were doing in the early ‘90s, cars I was painting in the mid ‘90s, the style, the look, it’s Long Beach,” Dire said. The main goal for the store is to pay homage to their hometown, which is seen in every aspect of the store especially the “1897” part of the name.
An out-of-town customer flipped through a rack of clothing and asked curiously about the significance of the year. Cordón lit up as he explained that 1897 was the year his beloved city was officially incorporated. “The goal really is for us to cover everyone in the city with things that are Long Beach-centric because we love this city,” he said.
The pair is focused on creating apparel that covers every age group from newborns up. This store was a chance for the two to have a brick-and-mortar presence for their own clothing lines, to interact with customers and to collaborate artistically with their neighborhood.
“Instead of just going out there and getting generic designs or generic fonts we’re going the whole nine yards as far as things that get started on a sketch book, a drawing, that goes through the entire process,” Cordón said.
Cordón’s specialty line Children of the Stork was essentially created to make kids look cool. “My son Jasper is five, and there really wasn’t much out there to represent his mom and my style. Our life is really all about personalization and customization and making t-shirts for kids that just looks cooler than what is out there,” Cordón said. He credits his father-in-law David Sullivan for his strong support in the process. Key pieces include mini-trucker hats, onesies, and tiny t-shirts with the tongue-in-cheek phrase “Made in Long Beach” on the front.
Owners “Dire” Mercado (left) and Jóse Cordón inside their East Village boutique.
Dire’s line Long Beach Homegrown gears towards a college-age demographic that is inclusive of anyone who wants to represent the city with their apparel. The brand has its own skate team to represent them around town. After putting in over 13 years in the apparel industry Dire said he only wanted to open a store if it was in Long Beach’s East Village Arts District because it inspires him viscerally. “It was time to bring it back home and start building something in a neighborhood where I plan on being for the rest of my life,” Dire said.
Reconstructing the store took only one month with the help of Dire’s family and in the forefront was creating an artistic vibe and making the best of the limited space.
Dire, a prolific artist himself, created an aqua blue airbrushed portrait of praying woman, among others that hangs centered on the left wall.
Creative touches can also be found above the cash register where a small fish tank is built into the wall along side a hanging 710 freeway sign. The store makes use of previous design elements of the 1920’s building and added more modern touches. Leaving portions of exposed brick, paint drippings on concrete, and strategic blocks of worn wood the shop has a bit of juxtaposition.
The store feels like a more modern, city based take on a family store but Dire wants customers to see it as unique. “It’s our interpretation of the lifestyle we’ve grown up with and the lifestyle we live now.”
1897LB will feature new clothing items each month and hold rotating art shows every second Saturday of the month.
1897LB is located at 438 E. First St., (562) 270-4380, facebook.com/1897LB.
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