Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaun “Deguzee” Deguzman.
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Shaun.” So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I could go into an elaborate story of how I got into vintage shopping, but we’d be here forever…so I’ll focus mainly on my current project, Art Of The Steal Collection.
Like most creatives, Art Of The Steal started out as a passion project and hobby… that’s a half-truth actually. The reality was that I was going through so many old clothes that I had accumulated over time that I said: “I need to get rid of this stuff.” The easy thing to do would’ve been to take it all to a store like Buffalo Exchange and call it a day, but I knew I could probably make more money if I just sold it myself. So, in the beginning, I would just post pictures of my clothes on my personal Instagram account just to see what would happen. I’d get a sale here and there, and I thought that was pretty cool. I started to post more frequently when people were showing interest in my clothes. Since the old clothes, in the beginning, were all mine, everything I made was profit. So then I’d take that money and use it to sustain the project by purchasing even more clothes! Fast forward to now, and it’s still the same idea; purchase the goods. Break even. Make a profit. Reinvest the money back into the project. Rinse and repeat.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
So many struggles! When I started, I thought that there was no way I was going to be able to sell a thing! Who’s gonna want to buy from me?? And on top of that, it’s a very Saturated market these days! And when you see other people’s collections, it can be just downright disheartening and intimidating. But you gotta remember to stay true to you, and slowly chip away at the project. If you keep comparing yourself to where others are at that given moment, you’ll forever feel like you’re in a rat race. And that ain’t fun.
A challenge to this day is finding pieces that are truly unique, ya know? So that’s my personal challenge, curating a small collection but everything in it is a gem or at the very least something that I’d wear myself. Sometimes I see vendors who have TROVES of “vintage clothes.” I mean, sure it’s vintage by definition—single stitch, of the era, etc. But just because it’s vintage doesn’t mean it’s valuable or even good. It’s just that. Vintage. That’s all spectacle. And not to mention boring! Your collection has no life or any personal touch. Yea you can dazzle someone with the insanely huge amount of stuff you have, but how much of your stuff is dope?? I’m just talkin’ sh*t.
One of the biggest struggles, in the beginning, was sticking with it! I remember accumulating all these clothes in an insanely short amount of time and had ZERO room to put it! I looked at my room and thought, “holy sh*t! I can’t get rid of this!” It was like Will Smith in that film Pursuit Of Happiness; I had something that was technically worth money but no one wanted to buy it! It gave me mad anxieties, and I wanted to throw in the towel and quit. But I had to quiet my mind and remind myself why I was doing this in the first place; it’s cause you’re good at this and it’s fun. So If I had to be honest, the biggest struggle was getting over my own self-doubt.
Art Of The Steal Collection – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Art Of The Steal is a vintage clothing collection sold online through Instagram and other apps. We’ve recently taken up space on consignment at FIVESPACE Shop in North Park. So technically we have a storefront as well. We specialize in having a small, but a formidable collection of vintage attire. We pride ourselves in having a well-curated collection as opposed to bombarding customers with a myriad of clothes just for the sake of it. I’m proud that we were able to take a very grassroots approach to developing the business, and I’m glad to see a good response to the project rather quickly.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I was very lucky to be part of the FIRST vintage clothing and sneaker event at Kobey’s Swap Meet! My mentor Anthony “Igotpolo” basically threw me into the event last minute. I remember being so nervous and telling him, “I don’t think I’ll be ready!” and he told me very plainly, “…what’s to be ready for? What’s so hard about putting clothes on a rack?” And the rest is history haha. Another proud moment is having gotten the attention of SD Voyager and the San Diego community as a whole in such a short amount of time.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2305 University Ave
San Diego CA, 92105 - Website: @shaunxdee
- Email: Shaun.deguzman53@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/artofthestealcollection/ Instagram.com/Shaunxdee/
- Other: grailed.com./artofthestealcollection
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