Meet Austin Cordell of By Shibbroni in Mar Vista

Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Cordell.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Austin. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The entire concept behind my company was based on a pair of “Jersey Jeans”. Jersey Jeans were an idea that I had to put sports jerseys underneath the holes in a pair of denim jeans. The idea came from accidentally ripping a pair of my favorite jeans right down the middle, realizing I had a closet full of unused jerseys, and somehow putting the two together. I took two pairs of jeans and two jerseys to my local tailor in Palms, Los Angeles in an attempt to walk him through it. The jeans came out okay, but the price was 3x what I thought I was going to pay. After realizing the cost behind the tailor, I bought a sewing machine on Amazon and a sewing class Groupon at an art studio in DTLA. The point of the class was simply to learn how to thread the machine – the rest I planned to learn as I went.

After I finished the sewing class and got back the denim from the tailor, I saw that there was a bunch of scraps left from each jersey since the holes he patches were pretty small. It just so happened that the day before, I bought a denim jacket from a bougie thrift store in Santa Monica without realizing it had gold glitter all of the back. That’s when a life-changing idea came to mind. “Let’s put the jersey name/number on the back of the jacket to cover up the gold, that could be dope” – I told my girlfriend at the time. ( It was dope ). We took some pictures of her in the jacket, bought a URL, opened a Shopify, and started posting on Instagram. The Jersey Jackets were a hit. I sold maybe 120 in the first year, some to celebrities – but most to consumers with an interest in sports & fashion.

That was in 2017 and for two years, I did the same thing as sales started to taper off. It wasn’t until 2019 when I decided to diversify the brand. It was changed from “Jersey Jeans” to “Jersey Jeans by Shibbroni” then finally to just “by Shibbroni”. Shibbroni is an internet alias of mine which stems from “Shibby The Jabroni”, with Shibby being my DJ name from college and Jabroni describing my tendencies. The rebranding allowed me to create more than just jersey embedded denim products. Since then, I have launched t-shirts, hats, socks, accessories, and services. Every day comes with a new idea, a new product, and a new way to innovate.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I think this question is a matter of perspective. Ever since I moved to LA, my goal has been to “Exodus The Cubicle” aka quit my day job because my passion project is doing so well. When you live in a city as expensive as LA and realize how oversaturated the fashion market is, you tend to expect some bumps in the road. When you expect the bumps – you don’t struggle as much.

After selling a little over 100 Jersey Jackets in the first year, I ran into a slight problem. My biggest selling jacket was a Kobe Bryant jersey (RIP) and I had just gotten a call from his attorney. The attorney was notified of my jackets by Kobe himself after he was notified by his wife, Vanessa. The day before I had posted a carousel of Kobe jackets and tagged Vanessa, her friends, her family, and anyone I thought could get in touch – to offer a free jacket. In doing so, I got their attention in a negative way. Luckily, the attorney was very kind and informative, guiding me along the legalities of what I do, all while informing me that I need to remove all Kobe likeness off of my website and Instagram immediately. It was a verbal warning prior to a cease & desist. Not the worst thing that could happen, but it did affect my sales for two months – until The King showed up in LA and my sales all shifted to Lebron Jersey Jackets.

By Shibbroni – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
As a whole, by Shibbroni is a fashion company – but I look at it as a store more than a brand alone. A store in the sense that we sell products (only our own, like a Trader Joes), but we also provide services.

Some of the products that we currently sell are:
– Jersey Jeans & Jackets
– Vintage sports tees sourced in DTLA
– Acid washed hoodies & tees
– Bootleg Vintage Tees
– Pop Culture Tees
– Face Masks

Services we provide:
– On demand merch for influencers, artists, entrepreneurs, etc.
– Photoshop Requests
– Buy One Give One Mask Donations

What I am proud of most: In very early April, we started a program called “BOGO by Shibbroni” which is a donation fund for masks right after the Mayor recommended every one wear a mask. I had a feeling capitalism was going to take advantage of this time, so we tried to beat it to the punch. We bought a couple of hundred masks in preparation and started to advertise on our own social media that we are selling and giving away masks. Basically the concept is, you can buy yourself a mask for the same cost I got it for, but you can also purchase a set of 6 masks to donate to the next person. Next to the “purchase one” and “donate six” tab on the website, there is one for “free mask” which allows for us to give away one mask per customer, paid for by the previous donors. At first, customers paid for $5 shipping on each free mask, then when sales on the donation masks picked up – we were able to waive the shipping fee and give them away at no cost what so ever.

That was a great moment that I am very proud of my brand for accomplishing. We raised about $2,000 and gave away over 500 masks. We still have 200+ masks in stock from overbuying, so the free mask deal is still on the table.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I have always felt like success is constantly achieving your goals as they change and evolve. You can’t be successful once and quit unless you’re Myspace Tom… Most of us have to hit a goal, then set another one a little bit further out. If you are constantly hitting your goals, then you will always be successful.

It’s impossible in my opinion to say success is at a certain level, especially since those that reach high levels are never fully satisfied. Anyone chasing success will always want more.

That being said, my current measure of success would be bringing in enough income to leave my day job and work purely for myself. That’s the current goal.

Contact Info:

• Website: byShibbroni.com
• Phone: 4242618750
• Email: shibbroni@jerseyjeans.com
• Instagram: byshibbroni
• Facebook: Facebook.com/byshibbroni
• Twitter: twitter.com/byshibbroni

Image Credit:
All Photos taken by: @undergroundvisual (IG)

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