Native Angelinos Julio Guerrero and Jamie Pham exude their shared love of Los Angeles culture through their clothing and apparel brand, OneTwo Threads.
Friends for more than 20 years after meeting on their school bus, OneTwo Threads was started because the friends wanted to create Los Angeles Galaxy merch that resonated with them.
“I was at the stadium looking at things and none of it really spoke to me. I am a dad, but I wasn’t ready to wear dad gear,” Guerrero jokes. “I wanted to wear something that represented the L.A. of my experiences.”
He quickly approached Pham about starting a project based on the team they’ve both supported together as teenagers. The result was an innovative apparel line inspired by all things pop culture, Los Angeles, with a heavy emphasis on L.A. sports.
Pham, who is the son of Vietnamese immigrants, and Guerrero, who is first-generation Salvadoran and Ecuadorian, set out to create a brand that was authentic to their experiences growing up in Southern California and spoke to the blend between the Latino and sports cultures.
Now a few months before their third year, OneTwo Threads has evolved into being one of the most popular Galaxy creators that aren’t named Adidas and an emphatic advocate of elevating L.A. culture through their other Angelino-inspired items.
They’ve been able to gain popularity thanks to actually being supporters of the team themselves, being true to what speaks to them about Angelino culture, and listening to what actually resonates.
Most importantly though, Guerrero and Pham have found success because they have made creation and collaboration the goal of OneTwo Threads. This, combined with their willingness to help others that are starting out, has other creators looking to them for guidance.
That means rather than seeing others as competitors, the partners see them as a conduit to push their own creativity.
Because of this, the pair organized the Blue, White, and Gold pop-up, a gathering of all the independent creators they knew.
“We’re always willing to work with and help anyone because we’re on the same team. That makes for a better community for everyone,” Guerrero maintained.