Rio Uribe, of Gypsy Sport fame (now simply named Rio), has been keeping himself busy. In addition to managing his own label, he’s been working for Chrome Industries, the utility apparel manufacturer, as its creative director. He also started a market in March, a community event in Los Angeles where he hosts budding designers and gives them the opportunity to introduce—and sell—their work to a wider audience. In the years since Uribe broke out, he’s become one of its most vocal advocates for inclusivity and a shining example of the importance of intersectionality. This Pride month, in the face of a U.S. administration that is targeting the community and with immigration raids as a backdrop, actions like his have become more important than ever.
Uribe has been working with Chrome for almost a year, but this Pride capsule marks the first time he’s co-signed the product as opposed to designing in the background. “The brand is very much inspired by commuter lifestyle, so I decided to take that and, because I live in LA, take a slower approach and do a lowrider take, where you’re just cruising, just chilling,” he said over the phone. The challenge, Uribe said, is that lowrider Chicano culture is not a cipher for queerness, but quite the opposite due to its emphasis in traditional Latino masculinity or “machismo.” “I was like, let’s disrupt that a little bit and show that there are queer people in those communities as well.”
Photo: Guicho Palma
Photo: Guicho Palma
Uribe’s timing in highlighting the Mexican-American community in Los Angeles could not have been more acute. “It’s very sad and scary what’s happening,” he said in reaction to the immigration raids targeting the community. “I don’t have any family that was affected this time, but my dad and other family members have been deported in the past few years for other reasons,” he said. “Migrating into this country the ‘right way,’ or whatever you want to call it, can be easy for some people, but there are so many shady immigration lawyers in California who disappear with people’s money, it’s a very common story.”
This is, in part, the reason why Uribe has also kicked off his market initiative: to activate his community and leverage their collective resources. Some of his vendors have pulled out because they’re afraid of being raided by ICE agents, he said, so he’s doubling up on security and staff. “My approach is always to still find the joy and find the creativity in the moment and try to keep people on that wavelength,” he explained. “I think there’s enough tragedy and despair out there, but how do we make this a conversation about unity and creativity?” Uribe is trying to flip the script: “We need more places to exist because existence is resistance, and just being creative, making music together, making fashion together, that’s also a big way to protest,” he said. That’s the spirit of Pride, too, to make oneself seen and heard.