If you’re someone that loves unique ’90s vintage streetwear, hip-hop and rap fashion and local art then you’ll definitely want to head to Five Points and check out Station. The store just celebrated the two-year anniversary of its Welton Street shop opening. The idea for Station and the original location both came from the house of co-owner David Bywater. As trends in the vintage fashion realm have sparked more popularity and as Station has created a larger following for the shop and brand, there was a need for a space to hold not only its unique clothing but local art, pop-up shops and events. Station focuses on finding items that you won’t find anywhere else from the hyped to the hard to find. It carries vintage Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica and Polo, local prints, brands and exclusive items from Supreme and Bape just to name a few.
“Basically, we saw a need for something in Denver and we filled it. We were like, ‘yo there’s a whole bunch of dope shit that people are into, but that isn’t in these other streetwear stores,” co-owner, Mario Conte said. “There were a couple people doing it like at Jiberish and Steadbrook and shit like that but they weren’t doing Supreme, vintage or these brands [we do], so we found this spot, got in the space and a month later it was 4/20 and two years ago we opened.”
Co-owner Bywater is a street artist with murals around the city and wanted to incorporate the art community into the store. And he and his co-owner found that people interested in the store’s clothing also had an interest in the art shown in the shop. To broadcast how art and fashion go together, Station holds monthly events like art showings, pop-ups for local brands and artists that also have local DJs and music.
“Art and fashion just go hand in hand. In my experience like you make so much cool art and people would be like, ‘I don’t want to pay $400 for this canvas, but hey put it on a shirt,’” Bywater said. “And just the exclusivity of fashion, which is similar to art, you can buy one of one canvas and put it on the wall and you’re the only one that has it, and there has just been a huge wave of limited releases, we only make a limited amount of shirts with our Station stuff, and kids are excited to be one of the 50 kids that got one.”
In terms of the art that Station shows, it is particular. The store is all about showcasing local talent and local art, but it doesn’t let just anyone put up pieces in the shop.
“Even if (the artists) are like homies they still have to have an established brand or name. For example, like Jack, he’s shown in Chicago and New York and has a few thousand Instagram followers,” Conte said of one of the artists’ work that hangs in the store. “So it’s always people who have a cult following is what we are looking for. People who already have eyes on their product or their art and then we’re giving them a space to show it.”
The same kind of dynamic goes for the clothes they offer. Station is a shop that buys, sells, trades and consigns items for its store. When we visited the shop, two kids walked in with some vintage clothes, Bywater assessed the quality and condition of the pieces and bought the clothes from them. This kind of dynamic shows the community and welcoming spirit that keeps people interested, connected and coming back to Station.
“The vintage stuff is found. We have to go find it at the thrifts, online, Craigslist and a huge network of people in other states dig for us. Stuff can walk in through the door. The high-end hype brands — like Supreme and Bape — that bring people in. We stay on top of new releases that those brands drop and pick things up when they release it,” Bywater said.
This shop and location are only the beginning for Station. They have big goals for the future and want to expand and grow the brand even outside of Colorado, with more stores, to more partnerships with other brands.
“Denver is such a booming tourist city. I want within the first minute of people thinking of Denver being like, ‘I want to go to Station,'” Bywater said. “We get so many out of towners coming through that followed us on social media, or a friend told them about us or they googled ‘vintage Denver’ and we popped up. That’s just one of my personal goals, to make Station a Denver staple.”
Station’s next event will be May 11 for the,”You Can’t Come Party.” For more information check out Station’s Facebook or Website.
All Photography by Alden Bonecutter.