When Ivan Reyes was growing up on 26th Avenue and East 23rd Street — on a stretch of blocks in the East Oakland “Dubs” — he only had one thing on his mind: streetwear.

“I wanted a clothing brand before anything else,” said Reyes, now 27, who recalled being influenced by the Bay Area’s vibrant streetwear scene of the early 2010s. “When I was 12, 13, I knew that’s what I wanted.”

From 2010 to 2015, the Bay Area became a hub for urban fashion apparel, home to clothing makers who leveraged their clout and popularized their independent labels with limited-supply merch drops. It was a formative era for Reyes — and the Bay Area streetwear scene at large — largely embraced by rappers like Richmond’s HeartBreak Gang and San Francisco’s Berner, who would often take over Haight Street in San Francisco to peddle their garments and weed-laced paraphernalia. 

Back then, local brands like Pink Dolphin, HUF and Cookies were the arbiters of cool and had garnered an international following. Merch drops attracted overnight campouts, and a burgeoning community of hypebeasts would flock from across the region for exclusive, high-profile events that featured visiting rappers, skaters and renowned designers for meet-and-greets.

Reyes began to think of ways to enter the industry as an Oaklander. A decade later, he’s done exactly that. 

Basilica Design Studio’s latest line on display in its showroom on Lowell Street in Oakland, August 23, 2026. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney for The Oaklandside

A first-generation Mexican American who was raised by immigrant parents from Michoacán, Reyes is the creative engine behind Basilica Design Studio. 

Right now, his clothing is among the most original brands in the East Bay, anchored by a creative design studio and a weekends-only showroom in North Oakland. And Reyes has plans to expand beyond his own clothing line by providing creative consultation for other brands. 

For anyone paying close attention, Basilica has been steadily making inroads with Oakland’s next generation of gamechangers, who have been backing the brand since its 2023 launch. 

Gen-Z trendsetters like ClayDough, JWalt, Ajai Kasim, Fijiana, and Seiji Oda have all worn Basilica while headlining rap shows. Dee Dot Jones — an Oakland rapper who recorded the official anthem for the Oakland Roots SC — is regularly seen rocking Basilica threads. Oda Kai (a Japanese Panamanian artist who went viral under his former moniker, Lil Ricefield) and Oli of the underground Oakland punk rock band Plane both model for Basilica.

Like anything worth its value, the brand’s identity didn’t get stitched together overnight.

Left to right June, 27, visuals director; Cianan Gaitan, 27, business and operations; and Ivan Reyes, 27, founder and designer, at Basilica Design Studio in Oakland, August 23, 2026. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney for The Oaklandside

As a teenager, Reyes opted to attend Metwest High School, a small OUSD school near Laney College. The high school offers an alternative, internship-based experience in which students pursue their interest in trades beyond the classroom. According to Reyes, the opportunities that emerged from that hands-on environment were highly impactful.

The school provided free AC Transit and Clipper cards, and for two days a week Reyes and his classmates would gain real-world job skills in fields of their choice. For Reyes, who graduated in 2017, that meant learning how to screen print (and mop the floors) with People’s Choice Printing and organize events with Wine & Bowties. As a high schooler, he built relationships with mentors like Max Gibson, a cultural curator and Wine & Bowties founder, who began to teach Reyes the tricks of the events-production trade, such as flyering and social media marketing.

“I was learning how to make shirts on the side, trying out my own different brands,” Reyes told The Oaklandside. “That changed my life. It gave me the confidence to speak to adults, and the ability to gain firsthand insights about what I wanted. It was a domino effect. That showed me I really wanted to do this.”

A studious pupil and a dedicated hustler, Reyes earned a full-ride scholarship to Boston University, where he graduated with a degree in Graphic Design in 2021, becoming the first in his family to receive a post-secondary education. While living on the East Coast, he continued to brainstorm ideas for his own clothing line. At one point, he worked for the late Virgil Abloh, who founded his luxury brand, Off-White, en route to becoming, in 2018, the first Black designer appointed as artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear. Reyes was selected from a pool of applicants to be a part of Abloh’s “Figures of Speech” exhibit when it arrived in 2021 at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston. The project allowed Reyes to design and sell his own gift shop merch alongside Abloh’s work. It resulted in the first ever Basilica drop.

Reyes researched the history of basilicas to inform and deepen his conceptual process. Roman basilicas, he found out, extended far beyond religion as their sole purpose. Basilicas displayed art, functioned as courts of law, and doubled as marketplaces. Their versatility felt perfect for what Reyes wanted to build.

“It was described as a building for many uses, and it was a staple for the community,” Reyes said. “Basilicas were buildings for people to come and sell food and handle business, because a lot went through the church in those days. I want my brand to branch out to different stuff, too, and not just strictly clothes. It’s a cool umbrella term, with lots of possibilities for whatever it might become.”

Reyes in one of his jerseys, custom airbrushed by Exels, at Basilica Design Studio. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney for The Oaklandside

Basilica hats and jerseys. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney for The Oaklanside

After Boston, Reyes returned westward to lay Basilica’s foundation — choosing Oakland’s grassroots scene over a potential life as a fashion designer in Los Angeles, where he said there was more glamour, but at the expense of his own independent vision and his desire to grow at an organic pace. 

In 2023, Reyes laid his first brick by opening a storefront in downtown Oakland. That path was laid by Oakland-based arts and culture advocate Assan Jethmal, the co-founder of Good Mother Gallery and someone who works tirelessly to acquire and maintain spaces for artists all over The Town. At the time, Jethmal helped Basilica acquire a 12-month rent-free deal on the ground floor of the Tribune Tower, a space where Jethmal was working to stimulate growth for cultural ventures, such as the art gallery and creative studio Endeavors. During that one-year span, Reyes developed important connections within the arts community and opened Basilica’s doors to a collection of East Bay creatives in search of common ground. 

“Basilica [became] like a church for my own design and creativity,” he said.

More than selling merch, Basilica served as a conduit for face-to-face connectivity, allowing others to use the shop for off-the-radar events and shows. Reyes said he didn’t always sell much, but his social blueprint had been created. After the lease ended, he packed up and focused solely on expanding his clothing brand. He’s since gained a cult following, largely cultivated during his days at the Tribune Tower while working with Oakland tastemakers like the DJ and creative factotum Daghe.

Besides Oaklandish, which launched its clothing line in 2006, and Mistah Fab’s DOPE ERA, which followed with its own clothing supply in 2011, Oakland has lacked major streetwear brand recognition outside of its city limits. 

For a city bursting at the seams with creative, entrepreneurial energy — as seen in its music, politics, food, sports and film — Oakland has remained insular with its streetwear and hasn’t made as big a splash as other regional brands in neighboring capitals like San Francisco (Upper Playground), Los Angeles (The Hundreds), or San Jose (Cukui). Oakland is much smaller than those cities but has often managed to punch above its weight class. Streetwear has been different. 

With mentorship from Bay Area legends like Mega, the founder of San Francisco’s Blvck Scvle, Reyes is now poised to help expand Oakland’s streetwear culture beyond Oakland.

“I don’t care about repping the Bay; I’m just focused on Oakland,” Reyes said. “Oakland in the streetwear conversation is very local and community driven, so it’s hard to translate that to others outside of Oakland. I’m trying to bridge that gap.”

Basilica’s style is minimalistic, aesthetically balanced, and filled with easter eggs. In a fashion era characterized by amorphous internet culture and homogenous duplication, Basilica feels personal, hinting at Reyes’ tastes and rooted in his upbringing as a Mexican American in East Oakland. 

“The aesthetic I’ve built in is based on personal experiences. I like to tell stories through clothing,” Reyes said. “Clothes can start conversations. It helps you find yourself and builds your confidence.”

An all-white tee featuring a Vicente Fernández concert from decades ago, when he performed live at the Cow Palace in Daly City. A camo-patterned shortsleeve featuring Master P’s No Limit Records, an homage to the famous New Orleans rapper-mogul who began his music empire while living with his family in Richmond, where he released his debut album “Get Away Clean” in 1991 and opened the original No Limit Records shop.

Prior releases have included wide-ranging references: a Run TMC-era Golden State Warriors logo, Selena, the national crest of Mexico, Outkast, and DJ Screw. Other drops have focused on simple, classic silhouettes with vibrant pops: an aged forest camouflage hoodie or a reversible soccer jersey with flamingo pink and baby blue tones, available with optional airbrushed adornments. Not until recently has Reyes started to print the phrase “Basilica” on shirts or hats to build name recognition.

“Streetwear is crazy. You can have a moment and then you’re gone. You have to evolve with your brand or you get caught in a wave and can’t age out,” he said. “When I first started, I didn’t have any Basilica branding, it was just the name of my website.”

Now, he said, “if you see someone wearing Basilica, it feels personal.”

In the end, the brand is hella Oakland: perhaps overlooked, but confidently smooth and unconcerned with mass approval.

Reyes, June, and Gaitan outside of Basilica Design Studio. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney for The Oaklandside

Of course, there’s always a touch of clandestine exclusivity in streetwear. An insidery IYKYK vibe. Basilica isn’t too concerned with cultivating that, or with luring consumers to purchase clothing from a faceless website. Instead, Reyes is emphatic about being part of an interconnected ecosystem, in which ideation and friendships transpire.

“The streetwear I grew up knowing in the Bay, all of those brands had events and collaborations in the community,” he said. “It was an experience to meet an artist and get my shirt signed. Partaking in it was more than just buying clothes. I want to bring that feeling to Oakland.”

Basilica Design Studio is open every Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at 6050 Lowell St. Expect the brand’s next clothing drop in October.

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