Bryan Valdivia
Tuesday, July 29th
For the Damiano Summer Collection we wanted to keep it simple: basic silhouettes appropriate for hotter temps + colors reminiscent of sunny days. We’ve been so in love with the French terry cotton fabric used for our hoodies and sweatpants, so we decided to stick with that fabric and use it to create sweat shorts and crewnecks. The colors we chose - powder blue & lavender - look great paired with a classic white tee and pair of white sneakers. In addition to the sweat shorts, we wanted to create another style: something a bit lighter, breezier, transitional. I stumbled upon this textured fabric & knew it would be perfect for another style of shorts. Once we received the samples & started testing them out, we ended up wearing them every day, hence “The Everyday Short”. It’s been really nice hearing from customers that they’ve also been wearing them daily.
When we are developing a collection, we like to keep it basic, but also ask ourselves, “How do we make this someone’s go-to garment?”. We want every Damiano piece to feel like it’s something you can throw on when you’re rushing out of the house because you love the fit, feel, & you know it works with every outfit. Luxurious & elevated enough that you can look polished, yet also comfortable enough to wear when you’re just lounging around.
We like to capture the essence of our design process when we’re shooting photos of our garments, so we are intentional with the models we choose. We like to showcase friends - people that truly get what we stand for, people with integrity and respect for not just our process but for the world around them, people who see beyond trends & prefer more substance when it comes to what/whom they choose to fill their lives with. For our summer collection photoshoot, I couldn’t think of anyone better to use than my friend Bryan Valdivia. I met Bryan in 2010 when our bands would play together. I think we met in LA, but would randomly play a show when our tours met up somewhere in the US.
What stood out to me with Bryan was how passionate he is about life, fashion, music and especially his relationships. He is a person who is so easy to talk to about anything and talks to you like he’s known you for years. He is such an interesting person and we see a lot of his personality in the Damiano brand - quality, passion, intention. This is an interview we did with Bryan. We hope you like it.
Can you introduce yourself and give us a little background?
Buena! My name is Bryan Valdivia. Originally from California but I've been living in New York City for 12 years now. I'm a person that likes to work on myself in every aspect, mind and body. I love meditating every morning to get my day started. I love being active whether it's going on a run or going to to my Jiu Jitsu Gym, Clockwork. I've been plant-based for almost 22 years (shoutout Earth Crisis) which is crazy to think. I've been vegan more than half my life. I love music, I love my cats, I love the Melvins, I love Black Sabbath, I love my friends, I love my family, & I love my wife Kimberly.
You have/had a crazy sneaker collection. What got you into sneakers and what do you love about collecting?
There are three early memories I have with sneakers that I think were the early seeds planted in my life.
The first one is when I was about 4 I saw these Converse Chuck Taylor Hi Batman sneakers. They had the Batman logo printed all over them. My dad ended up buying them for me and I remember being so hyped I had them. I would have them to the side of my bed and made sure they were always clean. Mind you, I was 4 years old.
The second memory is when my older sister Christina was a teenager/young adult in the early 90s. She was actually collecting Jordans back in those days. She got me a pair of Air Jordan 4 'Fire Reds".
Lastly, I remember when The Air Jordan XI "Concords" came out. My sister was still buying Jordans back then and she got a pair for my niece Ashley and herself. I vividly remember seeing both their pairs in our shoe closet where we'd put our shoes once we entered our house. I remember thinking how futuristic they looked at the time; I was kind of blown away.
What got me into sneakers was skate culture. Middle school is when you start trying to express yourself a little more with things like fashion and music. At the time, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater came out and I was getting put onto so much ill music and fashion. The shoe that did it for me was Chad Muska X Circa with the stash pocket. My family wasn't rich so I didn't get them but my best friend at the time Lester Deponte did. I was in awe.
The first shoe I got with my own money was Nike SB X P-Rod 1. I had just started my first job at Best Buy and for extra money I'd sell weed on the side. I'd even sell weed at work out of my car, hahaha. All my side money was for sneakers and gear. I love collecting because as a hardcore kid, we are just naturally collectors, right? Books, Vinyls, Toys, Posters, Sneakers, Shirts. etc. We just love collecting or hoarding.
Bryan in his Fire Red 4’s
Circa x Chad Muska Pro Model Shoe
Nike SB X P-Rod 1
You used to live in Los Angeles. What made you want to move to New York City?
It's funny because looking back at my life, there were little things that I take as signs on why I moved to New York City. In my family, we were all Dodger fans, but my older brother Roger was a Yankees fan. The only one. We watched Yankees games just as much as we watched Dodger games at home.
Another thing is, I grew up on Hip Hop and R&B. I can remember being super young watching Yo! MTV Raps and seeing A Tribe Called Quest “Scenario” and Wu-Tang Clan “C.R.E.A.M.” music videos. My brother and I LOVED East Coast Hip Hop, and if you ask me, that's still in my opinion the best type (But if it wasn't for the Bronx, this rap shit probably never would be going on).
Down to the fashion, I was a HUGE fan of all the brands. My brother would always be buying Triple 5 Soul gear and I'd get his hand-me-downs. I've told this story before, but the first time I ever saw something Supreme was when I got Company Flow’s “FunCrusher Plus”. When you'd lift the CD, it was a picture of CoFlow, and Big Juss was rocking a Supreme crewneck. Just the name alone had me like, “Woah.”
I was a fan of all these New York things, and at the time I felt so stagnant back home. I felt like my life wasn't going anywhere. I thought a change of scenery would help, and it did.
People actually ask me this a lot. I always tell people get out of your comfort zone. That will really show you who you are and test you in ways you never think it would. I've grown so much as a person living here.
What do you love about New York?
As soon as I moved here, I loved it. Even talking to my really close friends and family back home, they would tell me, "You living out there makes sense and we see you happy." Of course anything new to someone can be appealing, but since I was a fan of so much New York culture, I just immersed myself into it.
I remember one of the first weeks I was here I saw Mark Gonzales skating around in the Lowest East Side. Gonz is from South Gate, California. My aunt and uncle live in South Gate, and for a portion of my life I lived in South Gate with them. I thought, “fuckin' Gonz lives out here hahaha.” This city is just pumping with culture.
Now I know that's a crazy thing to say because there's that whole topic of transplants, etc. But I don't really find myself in those areas. Shit, I did a whole photobook called "Photobombing" about all the legendary Hip Hop murals in all 5 boroughs of New York City. I have friends that are from here who have NEVER been to Staten Island and I've already been there a bunch. Shout out Mike Fontana!
I've been blessed that I have been able to build a life for myself out here. I'm grateful for this life I've been able to live honestly. For someone that I feel like no one expected much out of. I've done pretty okay out here in NYC.
Talk a little bit about being in hardcore bands/touring. How did you get into that? What did you love/what do you miss? What do you not miss?
Man, just being a Punk Rock Kid. I just saw this interview with Tim Armstrong and he was talking about Operation Ivy and how they just did it. No adults, no teacher, no one helping them. DO IT YOURSELF. I think anyone that grew up at an early age involved in Punk Rock/Hardcore can understand that's what is instilled in us, which is why I feel like Punk Rock and Hardcore kids are such go-getters. We just go out and do it. Look at your brand, you know? That's all you, TomDom.
But to finish answering the question, Nirvana was the band for me. They opened everything up because that made me realize I like "aggressive rock music." What solidified was Green Day “Dookie”, The Offspring “Smash”, & Weezer “The Blue Album”. Those records made me a fan of that style of music, and you know how it is - once you get hooked, you start searching for more. It all snowballed from there.
I love playing; nothing will ever compare to that. Not to sound corny, but being able to release whatever your body and mind has been holding onto & letting all that go is amazing. Getting older, I really love writing. Getting together with your band mates and creating something out of nothing. I used to get nervous with recording but now I love it.
What I miss is having those special experiences with your band members. When I played in Xibalba we were BROTHERS. So traveling the world and being able to experience different cultures is something that is truly life changing. Being in Australia and getting brought to some place where we jumped off like a 40 foot hill into water, or taking a taxi in Thailand with Nate and how crazy they would drive, being in Japan and standing outside Korakuen Hall because some of my favorite wrestlers and matches happened inside that building. What I don't miss is not being able to shower everyday.
I always forget that you’re vegan. What made you decide to go vegan? Did that mentality permeate into other areas of your life?
I really think it did. It made me become so disciplined and I've only gotten more disciplined as I've gotten older. In other ways, it made me appreciate a lot too - from big things to little things.
You know how touring is; it can be a lot on your mental state but also physical state. I would be grateful going somewhere to eat with Xibalba, and someone knew I was vegan and would make me something separate. My brothers in Xibalba were very considerate of that too and at times loved vegan food. Our drummer Jason grew up on vegan soyrizo. He didn't know that soyrizo was an alternative because his mother was so health conscious early on in his life.
With working out, I personally feel it has helped. I have never experienced it being a negative thing in my life EVER. I think I was born to be vegan, honestly.
I'll end it with this story that hit me so profoundly: I was working at Concepts and I was talking to this Rastafarian customer. He would come in often and we'd chop it up about everything. He found out I was vegan and he said, "Man, it makes sense. You have such amazing and genuine energy. I think it's because you don't put murder in your body." For whatever reason, that hit me profoundly.
I’ve seen you post your runs on Instagram and you usually talk about how it helps clear your head. What drew you into running and what do you feel like you get out of it?
I originally started running in 2007 or 2008. I was a pretty chubby kid and very unhealthy. It's funny because being young I didn't want to lift weights because I associated that with dumb jocks, and since I was a chubby kid, I didn't want to get any bigger. Body dysmorphia at its finest. So I thought, “what can I do to lose weight and be healthy? Let me go run.” And so I ran.
As I've gotten older, I’ve started to build confidence in myself through running. I like lifting weights now, hahaha. It helped my life in every aspect. Pushing yourself until you can't run anymore will really test you as a person mentally and physically. My mind never stops, and with running and meditiating, those are the times where I can actually slow my crazy ass brain down and almost feel a sense of calmness. Sometimes, when I have something I'm working on or just a lot going on in life, going on a run will clear my head and also help me process things. Running is one of the things in my life that changed my life for the better.
What goes through your head when you’re getting dressed for the day? What do you style your outfit around? What do you take into account? Ie.) comfort, styling around a specific pair of shoes or shirt, etc. OR do you not really think about it at all?
Man, it's all over the place for real. It depends on what my brain is thinking that day. What's the weather like? What shoes do I wanna wear (Vans All Black Slip-Ons hahaha)? What music I listen to really affects my style too. If I'm just listening to Nirvana obsessively like I do, I'll throw on a flannel, some jeans, & my Vans hahah. But I'll also add something from another thing I love in life - like a bucket hat because I wanna be like ScHoolboy Q or Reni from the Stone Roses. Clipse new album is coming out so you know I'm going to be rocking my Evisu jeans and some vintage Bape shit!
Who/what has influenced how you developed your personal style? Ie.) music, friends, family, skate culture, etc.
Everything in my life influences me. Literally everything. For example, right now, I'm watching a lot of ECW and I have a crazy DVD collection of original content, so I'm rocking a lot of original ECW shirts I have. It's funny because as I'm doing this interview, I'm watching this ECW Hardcore TV episode from 1995 and they are playing their ads and Type-O-Negative is the background music.
My wife and I watch a lot of baseball so I'm rocking my Dodger hat a lot. So I'll know I want to wear my hat and dress from down from there.
My friend at Supreme hooked me up with the brown Intarsia shirt. I love the shirt so much that I've just been rocking that shirt and switching up whatever bottoms I have and hat.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? (Again, unlimited money in this situation & economics & shit do not matter in this scenario haha)
My wife and I have been talking about that a lot. We want to for sure leave the country. The places we have been talking about are London, Dominican Republic (my wife is Dominican), & Italy. I think there's more but those are the ones that come to my mind.
What would you define as the perfect day - if money, obligations, etc didn’t matter for 24 hours? What would you do? What would the weather be like? How would you spend that time? Who would you spend that day with? What would you eat? All the lil details!!
Oh, this is easy. Wake up and meditate, grab a coffee, go to Jiu Jitsu class, do a cold plunge, come home and shower, hangout with my wife which means us cooking dinner together and just spending time with her.
Photos by Reggie McCafferty