Encuentra la historia en Espanol aquí.
For five hours on Saturday this past weekend, what is normally the basketball court of a small school called Assumption Catholic School, became the creative and spiritual center of the blue, white, and gold fanbase.
These supporters were starved of being among their community and they showed it in the way they turned out for, enjoyed, participated in, and supported their own at the “Blue, white, and gold pop-up.”
An idea by Jamie Pham and Julio Guerrero, owners and partners of One Two Threads, the event was an attempt at bringing together the diverse independent creators making Galaxy merchandise.
The event languished in the idea phase for more than a year due to the pandemic, which made any type of event like this next to impossible and even more ill-advised. But with Covid restrictions in California loosening recently, Pham put the plan in motion again.
In a little over a month, he was able to secure the participation of eight independent creators making Galaxy products like Move In Silence, Counter Cult, Noventa Sixx, Beanies By Bae, Cali Classics, AFJA, ZPot Lady, and of course their own brand One Two Threads.
G’s were also able to enjoy eats (Panes con Pollo by Julie & Eli) and rim-paste Aguas (by Sad Girl Sisters) at the pop-up. The event was also able to count on the presence of three supporter groups; Angel City Brigade, Riot Squad, and Galaxy Outlawz.
Pham was surprised that so many vendors would want to be involved and that around 10 new vendors contacted him in the lead-up hoping to participate.
Despite this, no one knew what to expect from the event.
“Honestly, when it started at 11 o’clock, I saw people coming in and the parking lot full,” Pham said.
“It exceeded my expectations.”
33-year-old Orlando Aguilar and his friend Carlos Abarca, 29, agreed with Pham about the event exceeding expectations.
The friends found out about it through social media and were expecting a smaller affair with just a few people being that it was being held at a school.
“It’s way bigger than we expected, way more things than we expected, more people,” Abarca confessed.
“It’s so good to see people here supporting local businesses and creators.”
Pham’s partner for more than 20 years, Julio Guerrero didn’t know what to expect either but sees the event as an opportunity to grow the G’s culture organically and strengthen the bonds between the creators in the Galaxy community.
Additionally, Guerrero explained that this type of collaboration between artists is good for creative growth.
“The creator community is super friendly. We say, ‘Cool, they came out with that? Let’s see what we can do?’ And in that way, we all push ourselves to get better,” Guerrero said.
Beanie by Bae owner Emily Ayala said that the pop-up was the perfect lead-in to the season.
The 25-year-old shared that when Pham proposed joining the event, she didn’t hesitate.
“We’re so used to doing our tailgates and that’s how this all feels. All of us coming together, people stopping and saying hello, meeting new people,” Ayala observed excitedly.
Rapper Arquitekto Verbal made sure to take advantage of the party-like atmosphere and recorded part of the music video for a song off of his album coming out on April 25th, the day of the Galaxy home opener.
While Arquitekto’s music blasted through the speakers and he danced in his vintage ‘97 Galaxy shirt in front of the fanbase, there could be no doubt that the event was a success.
So much so, that before the first “Blue, white, and gold pop-up” finished, the plans for the next edition were already being formed.
And if the first “Blue, white, and gold pop-up” is going to be the norm, everything points to the next edition exceeding expectations as well.
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