Generic Youth thinks young

GREER WYLDER

Last summer, 15-year-old Newport Harbor High student Coco Yokoyama

received an exciting challenge.

“You have three months,” her father Jeff Yokoyama proposed. “Come

up with a T-shirt business, something that you can build and grow.”

Jeff Yokoyama, 49, is the founder of Modern Amusement, an

international clothing company based out of Costa Mesa.

Last year, he sold his West Coast lifestyle apparel company to

Mossimo, another clothing designer. For the first time, he wasn’t

wearing the multiple hats it takes to run an international company:

designer, negotiator of contracts, and financial and marketing

decision maker.

The elder Yokoyama took the entire summer off, spending precious

family time with his wife Colleen and their four children.

“It was so much fun,” Coco said. “It was a great learning

experience. Every day, my dad and I worked together. It was something

we both wanted to do.”

Coco invented a company name, registered it, contacted an

attorney, designed artwork, decided on a logo, learned how to silk

screen and wrote invoices.

She named her first-born business Generic Youth to reflect the

multifaceted abilities of teenagers.

“Kids are into art, computers, sports, education, music,” Jeff

Yokoyama said. “They can do so much.”

Coco also chose a key as Generic Youth’s logo. To her, the key

symbolizes many things: “The key to success, the key to my heart, the

key to the future.”

The father and daughter went to local locksmiths and asked for

defective keys to use in the clothing. The key logo is silk-screened

in gold, and on sweatshirts, keys are attached to the zipper.

Now she had to sell the finished product. At a local hair salon,

the T-shirts sold in one week. When school started, her brother Woody

wore a Generic Youth T-shirt to school, and the name started a buzz.

“It took off by word of mouth,” Coco said. “Kids wanted to know

about the company.”

The elder Yokoyama hooked up with the owners of Paul Frank -- a

fun, offbeat apparel, home furnishings and accessories company based

in Newport Beach -- in a partnership.

In December, a flagship Generic Youth store opened on Avon Street

in Newport Beach. Coco’s silhouette and her company logo was painted

on the window.

The store sells men’s and women’s T-shirts and sweatshirts, as

well as Bermuda shorts and board shorts.

For an upstart company, Generic Youth is doing well. Nearly 1,000

T-shirts were just ordered from a distributor in Japan.

“Right now we’re building the brand, building the business. It’s

not about making or losing money. We want people to know who we are

and what we believe in.”

Jeff Yokoyama said he tries to stay in the mind-set of a teen,

always asking himself, “What would a 15-year-old-kid do?” He

constantly reminds himself that kids, unlike adults, don’t demand

perfection.

If there are tiny splotches on the Bermuda shorts from over-dying,

they’re there for a purpose, according to Jeff Yokoyama.

Generic Youth’s clothing is crafty and artsy, customized by hand.

Each piece is special.

“We beat up garments with cheese graters, razor blades,” Jeff

Yokoyama said. “We over-dye fabrics, tailor a generic piece with

contrasting threads to show that we have touched it, or add velvet

trim inside a sweatshirt to create a luxury feeling.”

They sort through bags of buttons purchased on e-Bay, sew interior

designers’ remnants on pockets, purchase silk scarves at thrift

stores to add detail to sweatshirts, and even haggle with street

vendors for cashmere scarves in Manhattan.

Prices range from mid-level to high: T-shirts cost $40,

sweatshirts run from $80 to $100, and Bermuda and board shorts cost

$65 to $115.

Now that Coco’s summer project is over, her other interests --

art, photography, volleyball, friends and school -- take up most of

her time. Coco still stops by the store regularly.

“I like to check it out, see how it’s going and tell my thoughts

to my dad,” Coco said.

As for Coco’s future in design and fashion, “there’s definitely an

interest there,” according to her father.

“I’m just glad she had the opportunity to take the steps last

summer,” Jeff Yokoyama said. “If she doesn’t choose it, that’s fine

too.”

* BEST BUYS appears Thursdays. Send information to Greer Wylder at

[email protected]; at 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626;

or by fax at (714) 966-4679.