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Victorious 22 (V22LA) is a Los Angeles based fashion line specializing in denim and leather jackets, pants, purses and accessories. V22 was started in 2010 by Frank Rodriguez and his wife Angela.
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History and overview
Frank Rodriguez got a start as a designer in the 1980s designing leather jackets and selling to stores on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. It was around this time that Angela Smith was making hand sewn bags and bone jewelry, also selling to stores on Melrose Ave and other boutique shops throughout Los Angeles.
Being a lifelong rider and builder of bikes and cars, Rodriguez gained notoriety for his luxe custom bikes as owner and operator of Excalibur Choppers. Some of the more notable custom builds include a 40 foot long chopper, a Vespa scooter with 35 mirrors and Big-twin engine, and a 1936 low rider hot rod restored after spending decades in a Florida swamp. The inside tapestry and seat covers of the low rider are made of the same denim used to make the company jeans and jackets, and come from a stock of 10,000 yards of vintage denim that is no longer manufactured.
After leaving the world of custom bike building, Rodriguez and Smith started V22LA out of a small Hollywood apartment with a collection for men, using high quality denim, selvedge denim, and hand-picked leather. The line expanded into jewelry, object d’art, and hand-made items for the home. The couture women’s line came along in 2012, which included bags, motorcycle jackets and jewelry in the vein of punk rock, bohemian and rock 'n roll style.
Expansion
From its humble beginnings in a small North Hollywood apartment to a 7000 sq ft show room and compound in just a few short years, V22LA is on the rise and plans to bring all manufacturing to other floors of the building which it now occupies in the fashion District of Downtown Los Angeles, so that all production would be in-house. V22LA has turned down offers to manufacture in the developing world for a fraction of the cost. The company decided to keep operations within the US, with ambitions on becoming exporters of high end apparel to overseas markets. A storefront in Tokyo, Japan was opened in 2011. The company plans to expand into the China marketplace by the end of 2015.
Reception
Victorious 22 clothing line has been featured in numerous publications and art magazines, including: Dark Beauty, Rolling Stone, Astonish, Inked, This is Rock Spain, Easyriders, Biker, Etro Japan, Relapse, Sorbet, and a Corona Beer advertisement.
The apparel line has gained the attention of rock stars and musicians, including: Steve Vai, Dylan McDermott, Sylvester Stallone, Orlando Bloom, Steve Lukather of Toto, Robert Trujillo of Metallica, Usher, Chris Brown, Future, Nicole Murphy, Columbus Short, and RJ Mitte.
V22LA signed on to create clothing for the TV series Sons of Anarchy, in which Smith appears in 2 seasons of episodes.
V22LA works with Claire's Place Foundation, a cystic fibrosis organization, and hosted the 2014 Boot Campaign Boot Bash.