Like so many great Los Angeles stories, that of UNIF Clothing begins with a group of possibly inebriated friends riding down Hollywood Boulevard on a hot Friday night. The denizens of the legendary sparkling street are, as usual, yelling randomly at passing vehicles. Out of this particular car’s back window a young artist leans out and jokingly screams back to his vocal harassers, who are dressed no doubt in head-to-toe clichés, a sarcastic wake-up call: “Ur not in fashion!!”

The screamer’s name was Eric Espinoza, and it was shortly after this night that he found himself in his backyard, “hand-dyeing, hand-sewing, and hand-screen-printing everything.” He was also quickly realizing that his artistic endeavor, which had leapt out of boredom and a love for making cool clothes for himself and his friends, was growing into something much, much bigger.

And UNIF Clothing was born.

Five years after the era of the backyard studio, Elle Magazine has anointed the fledgling design house as the only local “Editor’s Pick” from LA Fashion Week, alongside such names as Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Alexander Wang and Marc Jacobs. UNIF Clothing is now sold in stores all over the world with hipsters rocking the tight acid-washed jeans and plaid hoodies from New York to Hong Kong, Tokyo to the Midwest.

Wildly influenced by the music and culture of Los Angeles, the very sizzle of the city seems to pop from each slicing-edge design, from simple screen-printed tops to dresses with an edgy verve. As a DJ, Espinoza was profoundly inspired by LA’s underground electronic music community, and the intense colors and energy found in the scene are evident in his work today as neon hues pop from jackets and loud structures hold up the designs with the posture of an unapologetic Angeleno. Also taking cues from grunge and death metal, UNIF’s designs are a slick, fashion-forward fit with ideas of the city of the future, hard edges and all. You don’t wear these clothes; you rock them.

With a casual lean towards city life, UNIF offers men’s and women’s cut and sew knits, woven items, denim, accessories and more. Originally a tee shirt designer, Espinoza’s “really weird sense of humor” is still a strong suit of the design company whose shirts emblazoned with “I EAT MODELS” and “TECHNO YOU DIN’T” are what he considers “humor toupees.” You may be bald when it comes to being funny, but slap on a humor toupee and everyone at the party will think otherwise.

And true to its beginnings, UNIF is a party. With four employees

and a girlfriend, Christine Lai, on the women’s design tip, UNIF Clothing is a crackling fusion of style from the city streets, a forward-thinking ethos and slick attention to detail that will please both genders and then some.

Out of LA’s Fashion District UNIF Clothing continues to grow, conquering block after block of the young and the fly, and always with the half-cocked smile that is so necessary for urban lifestyle survival. Espinoza’s goal in fashion is not to be the next Dior or take over the world with a megahouse of style dictation; rather, this LA native’s plans have stayed true to the ethics of a backyard studio:

“I just want to make cool clothes that people get a kick out of.  The only thing we take seriously is to take nothing too serious”

Check out UNIF’s current collection, viewed at the Project Las Vegas Trade Show, at www.unifclothing.com/looks

By Shilo Urban