2wice Shoots Nice

01/31/2021

The story behind Victor Suarez and his Derby success involves a tight-knit blue-collar network and much serendipity. A friend of his, an auto mechanic at an Audi service center in Burlingame, was wearing one of Suarez's Derbys in fall 2011 while working on a car for , the founder of the online shoe retailer.

"My wife went wild when she saw it," recalls Swinmurn, who sold Zappos for $1.2 billion in 2009. "So I took that seriously and asked where he got this thing."

Instant success online

Swinmurn called up Suarez and offered to help him out with his first large-scale sale, free of charge, by putting up a website and letting Suarez keep the jackets in his nearby warehouse. The website had a countdown to Jan. 21 at noon, when the jackets would go on sale. Suarez decided to advertise at a game two weeks before the sale - with $40,000 that he didn't have. "I just had to pray," he says.

"We went live, and the site crashed within five minutes because there was so much demand. It was insane," Swinmurn says. "This is not how selling clothes usually works."

Suarez did $100,000 in sales within four hours and sold out. He advertised at another ballgame and did another sale Aug. 18. He made $140,000 worth of sales in the first half hour.

"I didn't realize how much people loved this thing. I don't know why this one jacket just struck a chord with so many people and was so memorable, so iconic," says. "But Victor's the perfect guy to sell it. ..."

(3rd image and article credit )

@ DerbyOfSanFrancisco

01/31/2021

01/30/2021

If you grew up in or the & are at least 30 you probably grew up wearing a DerbyOfSanFrancisco jacket. A staple of West Coast Culture spanning generations. The iconic with the classy gleaming inside like the hidden contents of the briefcase 💼 in

I had a Navy Blue one I wore in the until I grew out of it in middle school & hunted for one for years into adulthood.

Back in 2009 I had the pleasure of meeting Victor Suarez who unbeknownst to me was working on plan to resurrect the company which had gone out business in 1992. Victor worked tirelessly to ensure that the modern reproductions were true to the originals in every detail from the Double pockets to the Cape-neck stitching but when he could find no suitable modern source for the iconic Paisley lining, his longtime friend redrew the pattern by hand ✍️

The Derby was once emblematic of working-class San Francisco & was even adopted as part of the UPS uniform. But by 1992, the Derby basically vanished.

"It wasn't just a jacket for us - it was a part of being young, being working-class, being in the city."

'Rite of passage for young men'

With $12,000 he got from a VA settlement , he decided to make 1,000 based on the models he'd worn as a little kid.

"This is a part of San Francisco history that's been missing for 20 years," Suarez says. "It's iconic like sourdough, crabs, the Golden Gate Bridge 🌉 - the Derby."

First appearing in 1963 & manufactured in SF, they were popular among car club members & those wanting to project a tough-guy image. By the 1980s, the jackets were part of the mainstream, worn by Eazy E Dr Dre & NWA. With a 💵 dollar and a dream Victor brought back the Derby’s we all love and opened a store at

Unexpectedly, Victor passed away in 2019 and the company legacy is being carried on through his wife and children.

This photo is back from 2012 from the first run of and now
I’m lucky enough to be doing some creative work with this legendary company.

01/30/2021

Beware the man who brings the jaguar. Behold him reborn from mud and earth. For the one he takes you to will cancel the sky, and scratch out the earth. Scratch you out. And end your world. He's with us now. Day will be like night. And the man jaguar will lead you to your end ̈xvision

01/30/2021

Haven’t posted content in a long time, going to start posting past photos in light of current social climate...

Every Year on the morning when most are celebrating Thanksgiving, there is an Indigenous People’s 🌞 🌄 celebration ceremony on Island
my life I have to have the desire to experience the ceremony and was fortunate enough to do so back in 2017

This series is from 2017




̈xvision

11/02/2017

09/12/2017

Hui Tarava O Hiva 9-10-17