Today we’d like to introduce you to Albert Gonzales.
Albert, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been in the vintage industry for over 20 years. Always had a passion for it since my sophomore year in high school at Roosevelt in Boyle Heights. I recall feeling excited to start the year where no one would have the same clothes as myself and buying clothes for 50 cents to a few dollars. Was a thrill.
We currently have a store in Pomona across from the glass house which was my first store.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve felt blessed to work for myself for over 20 years.
Time is always going to pass so you gotta be relevant where you are at.
I’ve always felt music and fashion go together so when it comes to music and fashion we had Bowie, to lead the way and Johnny rotten to fuck it all up and make it fashionable.
To have longevity you have to be open to new music and fashion. and appreciate style.
I recall our sandwich sign that read 1950s to 1970s. Welcome to the 90s throwback …and its current in fashion
Replay Vintage – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We opened our shop in Los Feliz about 5 years ago and before that we were in silver lake for over 5 years.
What we specialize in is dead stock vintage eyewear anything that is bohemian and has a pizzazz about it.
Proud moments would be supplying eyewear for American Apparel getting your first order. But before that I was sourced out by Sophia of Nasty Gal. She was on fire with her clothing but needed accessories to complement her cool and relatable photo shoot that every gal could relate to. She told me she used glasses in her photo shoot so she should start selling them. And she did.
A good percentage of items sold on her website were vintage sunglasses sourced through us and we were the only sunglass provider, but our name wasn’t mentioned. And with the fall of many companies, we were just a supplier.
We are now branding what we do and putting many lenses in our frames and will be launching our online within the next month.
What sets us apart from other companies is we love all subcultures for style from hip to hippy that kinda has been our motto. We have cool preppy glasses to goth frames from small round frames to oversized ones.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Proudest moment in my career would been working with many great owners of many companies and buyers. AND Treating all the same. Many of the buyers are unsung heroes who have taken risks in fashion and buy something edgy from us.
Other proud moments would be having unconditional love and being raised my grandma who let me express myself in fashion and music. Cheers Alice Camacho!
I’ve met so many influential people in my life…Quentin Tarrentino, Perry Farrell, Johnny Marr, and Billy Idol .
Contact Info:
- Address: 1766 N Vermont
Hollywood, CA 90027 - Website: replayvintagesunglasses.com
- Phone: 323 667 9773
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: replayvintagesunglasses
Image Credit:
Vida Kush
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