APPAREL: Tommy Gonzalez co-founds the Paper Chasers clothing brand.
By Andrea Alvarado, Staff Writer
Imagine spending 12 consecutive hours in your room. How would you spend that time? You might scroll aimlessly and endlessly through social networking sites. You might sleep the hours away or choose to watch an entire series on Netflix. Chances are, you wouldn’t think about creating a brand new clothing company. After growing tired of buying clothing labels that were becoming too typical, Tommy Gonzalez (11) decided to do just that. “I don’t think I saw sunlight that day,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez and recent Poly Bear alum Drew Devine founded the Paper Chasers clothing brand in July 2012. In half a day, Gonzalez and Devine created the brand’s first designs along with its logo, which consists of a triangle flanked by palm trees. Without further hesitation, they printed the first set of shirts themselves. The meaning behind the name of the brand fits the duo’s situation: the “paper” symbolizes money while “chaser” symbolizes the act of chasing money. “That’s what we’re doing. That’s what everyone is doing. Everyone is trying to chase money,” Gonzalez explained.
According to Gonzalez, creating apparel is a long and meticulous process. First, designs for shirts are drawn and edited on a computer program. The finished design is either put on a flash drive or emailed to a printing company. Then, the printing company creates a screen for each color the shirt design needs. The shirt is laid on a flat board with the screen placed over it and a squeegee is used to stamp on a special type of paint. Lastly, the shirt is taken to a heater to dry in 300˚F or 400˚F maximum heat.
Paper Chasers rapidly gained popularity throughout the Inland Empire as teens began to notice the brand’s apparel. With the help of its website, other people in the United States became followers of the brand as well. “We’ve had customers from as far as Hawaii and Cincinnati,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzales describes the brand’s style as a Los Angeles type of look. It is simple and generic, something that Gonzalez attributes to the brand’s popularity and success. His goal is to bring something new to the apparel business with the brand’s simplicity.
Gonzalez doesn’t just hope for great success with Paper Chasers in the future; he wishes to make a career out of his business. “I don’t want nine-to-five. I don’t want to have to respond to somebody,” Gonzalez said. Currently, the brand’s clothing is sold at local skate shop Inkonsiderate’s two locations in Riverside. Paper Chasers offers hats, shirts and car decals. Gonzalez wishes to add to the apparel selection by selling sweatshirts and perhaps even socks. He also would like to add some complexity to Paper Chasers products. Based on the brand’s rapidly growing popularity, it seems that Paper Chasers will continue to succeed well into the future.