BEHIND THE B-ROLL ONLINE

Rene Lopez is a sophomore at Fresno State with a style all his own. His small internet Business, Rene Customs, is primarily run on his instagram.

There, Rene takes custom orders and makes his own designs for T-Shirts and sneakers.

“I started when I was in high-school,” he says, “I drew on a pair of my shoes with a sharpie and at first I thought it was cool, then I thought, what have I done to my shoes!”

Through research on YouTube Rene taught himself how to not only paint shoes properly but also screen-print on T-Shirts. His most popular design is one of a faceless virgin Mary.

“I wanted everyone to be able to picture their mother’s face on the virgin, so it’s like, that’s your mom basically when you’re looking at it.”

Fashion Inc. President, Sarah Delgado, took one look at Rene’s designs and immediately identified with the style.

“It’s that like, Chicano, Latino street wear,” a classic style commonly found among Mexican-American artists.

When asked about the implications of a male designer taking an interest in fashion, Delgado said, “It’s cool to see guys step away from that machismo.”

Rene seems to be uninhibited by any gender norms or social expectations of him, he’s just a young artist expressing himself and taking joy in the process.