Nineteen-year-old Omar Delgado never thought leaving the United States would have such a significant impact in his life. Leaving behind his family, friends and country was never an easy task, but it opened his life to new opportunities.
Fast forward seven years, Omar decided to start his own clothing line, Pancho.co, a framework that aims to connect Latinos both in the U.S. and in other Latin Countries. Using minimalistic, yet powerful designs, Pancho.co hopes to serve as a venue Latinos can identify with.
Omar Delgado is the 26 year old entrepreneur and creator behind Pancho.co. Photo courtesy of Omar Delgado.
Q: In a few words, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and Pancho.co?
A: Certainly, so I started Pancho.co in late 2017. I had other projects at the time but honestly wasn’t really passionate about them as I was with this concept, so I just dropped everything to focus on pancho.co. For some reason, I felt like this movement or idea had to be put out there. Fortunately, the brand has received astonishingly positive feedback from the growing community not just in sales but from social media as well.
So it’s a one-man crew, I handle everything from content creation, blog, design, and customer service. It’s exhausting but I absolutely love the process. If anyone is interested in becoming part of the movement, I could certainly use a hand.
Q: How did pancho.co come about? Where did the idea and concept come from?
A: Well, this concept had always been present ever since I left my home country (U.S.) and came to Mexico only to start from scratch (you can read my personal story on my medium post).
This experience taught me a lot about our culture, something I had not been in contact with during my time in the U.S, it taught me the real struggle people here are faced with on a daily basis.
Also once here in Mexico, just seeing an abundance of poverty and suffering, then only to visit my family in the states and see all the comfort in which they live in was just an eye-opening experience for me. Seeing that people here are actually happier, more humble and warm with less is something I really want to uncover and unveil to others.
Overall, I think that documenting both sides of the spectrum will benefit our Latino community, in the states, value what they have, but most importantly strive for more success, whatever that is for each individual.
“Pancho represents an unconformity with society, a rebellion mind that is willing to take a stand for its beliefs using Love and Kindness at its primary weapons.”
Q: Can you talk a little bit about Pancho.co’s blog? What is it trying to accomplish?
A: Sure, the blog is still a work in process. As you know content is king especially in an era of heavy social media, audio and video consumption, so I´m still trying to polish this side of the brand.
The goal of the blog is to talk about the culture, experiences from the community that can help others. Ultimately I want it to be a platform where stories are shared in the community that can help struggling members overcome their personal obstacles and feel identified.
Q: What can you say is Pancho.co’s mission in the marketplace and the world?
A: Just like any other business, sales are a priority, but more than that our true mission is to start a trend which can empower our community. I feel like as a culture we´re easily intimidated, it may be due to our lack of knowledge or skills or just the will to be dedicated in a certain area. Being one of the biggest, if not the biggest minorities in the U.S. I feel that we can do much more to stand out and we have the capability of being a bigger player.
Overall, I want to make the word ¨Latino¨ be seen as a movement of unity, humbleness, creativity, and strength to everyone including our upcoming generations, something we can be proud of.
Pancho.co is a clothing line created to unite and empower Latinos around the world. Photo courtesy of Omar Delgado.
Q: Where do you get the inspiration to create these designs? Can people submit ideas?
A: What I´ve been trying to do is get inspiration from some minimalist fashion designs and just work from there, infusing a little sabor Latino as much as I can.
In order to be relevant within the market, I want to create designs that will resonate with both the older generations as well as millennial and other upcoming generations.
This is another area where I want to expand a bit more on. I want to make sure the designs resonate with not just one Latin country but with many since we´re targeting all Latinos.
Yes, we´d love for people to submit ideas. I actually plan on having a widget or section where they can submit their designs and can receive a majority of the profit from each garment sold. I´m also looking for Latin talent designers. If anyone is interested in working with pancho.co please connect with us at hola@pancho.co
Q: Why do you think is important to provide a venue Latinos can identify with?
A: Great question, simply because if there is none then they´ll feel compelled to identify themselves in other venues. Our culture seems to be shifting a bit with our upcoming generations, a clear example of this is my brother. I actually just came back from the states from attending his wedding, he married a beautiful African-American woman.
It was just amazing how two cultures came together to form one. The Marvin Gaye and Marc Anthony playing in the background while everyone was dancing and singing to these unknown tunes I think was just captivating to see.
So with this in mind I think now more than ever we need to revive our culture and rebrand it so our upcoming generations feel identified by the old but also by the new.
“We are unity. We are rebels. We are creativity. We are Latino.”
Katherine received her Bachelor of Arts and Science in Radio, Television and Film from The University of North Texas in 2016 and is currently pursuing a M.A. in Digital Media Studies at UHCL.
She's passionate about Social Media, Integrated Marketing Communications and Digital Consulting. She's a news junkie and her hobbies include fashion, music and photography.
