NaCo...a way of life

What you see is what you get when it comes to clothing. It’s almost impossible not to wear what’s “in” because that’s mostly all of what stores sell. Everyone wants to be original and they end up looking just like everyone else. If who you are goes against the current, you are not alone. If you are Hispanic living in the U.S., and are caught between two cultures, you are not alone.
Teenagers and adults (those mostly in their twenties) have become walking manikins for designers, modeling their latest fashion statement that give the public a hint of what goes on in their minds. For Edoardo Chavarín (29, Tijuana) and Robby Vient (24, Mexican-American), founders of NaCo., which is a combination of the Spanish-Mexican word “naco” and the abbreviation for company (Co.). The Urban Dictionary defines “naco” as the “Mexican version of ‘white trash’…a Mexican word used to insult low class people…for someone who you think is less sophisticated than you, regardless of wealth.” NaCo’s website describes is as “more a state of mind. It’s more [of] a self assured disregard for what others think is cool without being arrogant or close-minded. Naco-ness is about being your own person regardless of if you're ever in the right or not. Ultimately, Naco-ness is about being yourself...”
Being a second generation Hispanic in the United States can be tough. There’s a part of you that wants to fit in with everyone else so that you don’t get picked on, but your roots keep pulling you back whispering, “Don’t forget about me!” Feeling the same struggles, Chavarín and Vient created their own clothing line that would change the face of style for the Hispanic American culture and that of the Mexican culture, at least for the present generation of ‘youth’. NaCo’s co-founders first began their line of clothing in Mexico City. Soon after, their fashion line was introduced to the U.S. and caught on quickly like wildfire, especially in Los Angeles, where Hispanics are the largest minority. An article in L.A.’s Tu Ciudad magazine in August 2007 said that “since crossing over to the United States earlier this year, the line—which features cheeky bilingual sayings (“Estar Guars” in a Star Wars-like font) and cool graphics (a paletero in silhouette, a towering quinceñera cake)—has caught on with L.A.’s bilingual set.” NaCo is a way of printing a way of life onto everyday clothes.
Not Hispanic? No worries! NaCo loves you too. The purpose of the line is not to leave anyone out, but exactly the opposite; it’s about including all those who have felt ‘left out’, making the ‘un-cool’ cool. In the same Tu Ciudad article, Chavarín says “It would be shallow to think that I am just going to gear this to the Hispanic market. One of our goals now is to be like music. A lot of kids say, ‘Should I go see The Strokes, Manu Chao, or Café Tacuba?’ Maybe one day it will be ‘Billabong, Puma, or NaCo?’”