The beginning of Taro California

New rising clothing brand from Fresno

By Joey Ybarra

Reporter

Taro California is a local clothing brand that has risen during quarantine and has released many products from clothing to short films and has almost 2,000 followers on Instagram.

“It all started with my art, I kept drawing until I got the characters perfect. I started to draw them in scenes. Then I wanted to make stuff with the two characters, like apparel, skateboards and all sorts of stuff. It all kinda just happened naturally,” said David Diaz the creator of Taro California.

Taro’s name and characters are very unique itself.

“Taro is a tropical root from Asia. It’s really sweet, they make bread, smoothies and bunch of things. I’m into this thing called boba and taro is a flavor often with boba. I wanted a name for the brand that stood out from everything and ‘taro’ is a very foriegn word to many people. So it was different. Also I thought it sounded awesome,” said Diaz.

Diaz said he uses a cat and a dog as part of the logo.

“The cat’s name is “Kalo,” which in Hawaiian means taro. The dog’s name is Love because the first scene I showcased of Love is him getting kissed on his forehead. It just matched him,” explained Diaz.

Taro has released many things from clothes to short films and even a fashion show.

“The film was fun. The boards are amazing, hoodies are extremely comfortable and sick. Also the fashion show was great,” said Diaz. Taro is planning on having a pop up shop and more fashion show videos.

“Yes, I had some ideas that had to be put on hold because of Covid and bad air from fires. But yes,” explained Diaz. Diaz even explained what his favorite pieces are that haven’t come out yet.

“The plushies. They’re awesome, but clothing wise McLaren on a sky blue shirt,” said Diaz.

“Little Big Planet, Diamond Supply, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Golf Wang, Vans, Supreme, Hello Kitty, Disney and Spider Man,” where some of the inspiration for Taro explained Diaz.

The brand is making a name for itself locally.

“I really admire the designs that Taro California has put out,” said Joselyn Gonzalez, an employee for Taro. Gonzalez explained, “I really enjoy working for this company, seeing all the ideas and watching the growth.”

Diaz’ message for anyone wanting to start a brand is simple.

“Don’t let toxic relationships control you from being yourself. Be 100 percent yourself. Don’t follow trends, make what you like. Just be you all the time. And your work should reflect that, and your passion. Also the haters suck, don’t listen to them. And people will make things into competition by themselves just because they’re making shirts too, let them do it to themselves, and put the work in. It’ll be fine. Be humble and work hard.”

You can follow Taro on instagram @tarocalifornia and you can check out their website tarocalifornia.com.