A white ski mask features the Sunset.Vintage.Flex logo emblazoned upside down. It looks like something a stylish burglar would wear, said brand founder Rico Curry. However, the ski mask is only meant to be a symbol of single-minded determination. “We don’t promote negativity,” Curry said. “But if you go crazy for your dreams, you put on your ski mask.”
SUNSET.VINTAGE.FLEX
Brand Buiding Starts With the Hat
Eventually, Sunset.Vintage.Flex will offer all categories of clothes, said Rico Curry, the Los Angeles–area line’s founder. Yet since it started in 2013, the nascent brand’s focus is on headwear.
“If I make a T-shirt, I’m competing with your whole closet,” Curry said of his line’s strategy to gain a foothold in wardrobes.
The brand’s snapback caps, beanies and ski masks have been sold at Tradition, a leading streetwear store in Los Angeles’ Beverly Center mall, among other boutiques. Curry often goes to nightclubs frequented by celebrities such as Chris Brown and Rihanna, and those musicians have been photographed wearing Sunset.Vintage.Flex’s headwear.
A graphic on one snapback depicts hands spelling out the word “Gold” in sign language. Gold happens to be the moniker of a Sunset.Vintage.Flex sub-collection. The sign language also is a symbol of Curry’s life story as a boy growing up with profound hearing loss in his left ear.
The label’s Gold line also has a provocative side. A white ski mask features the brand logo emblazoned upside down. It looks like something a stylish burglar would wear, Curry said. However, the ski mask is only meant to be a symbol of single-minded determination. “We don’t promote negativity,” he said. “But if you go crazy for your dreams, you put on your ski mask.”
Other looks are snapbacks with a 1990s retro theme. When the 1992 film “Malcolm X” was released, baseball caps bearing the letter “X” were very popular. Curry does his own version of the cap, with a graphic of the African continent on the right side of the cap and the name of his brand on the back of his cap. Wholesale prices range from $18 for beanies and $22 to $25 for snapbacks. For more information, contact sunset.vintage.flex@gmail.com.
