SAN ANTONIO — A local teenager with a knack for seeking out rare fashion finds is teaming up with one of San Antonio’s biggest celebrities.
- The store sells limited edition items
- DeMar DeRozan to host meet-and-greet Oct. 12
- True North is located in Alamo Heights
DeMar DeRozan is bringing his clothing line exclusively to True North, an Alamo Heights store owned and operated by 18-year-old Eddie Pagan.
Right now, it’s filled with limited edition and exclusive sneakers, shirts, skateboards and other highly coveted items from in-demand brands including Supreme, Nike, Off-White and Adidas.
Starting next month, DeRozan's apparel will be the first line the store sells straight from wholesale.
Barely out of high school, Pagan opened the store last year with his parents.
“Personally I never felt like I fit in, like, period,” said Eddie Pagan, True North founder and owner. “So that’s why I found clothes as a way that I could fit in.”
To prepare for his freshman year at Alamo Heights High School, Eddie Pagan went online shopping. He quickly began buying and reselling limited edition and exclusive shirts and sneakers.
“It was probably $300 and at the time that was probably the most I’d ever spent on a T-shirt,” Pagan said.
His talent of finding rare items and reselling them turned out to be economically successful, but it also gave him confidence.
“This was another way to help myself not be so alone,” said Pagan.
True North is already a regular stop for collegiate and pro athletes.
“Personally I wouldn’t think of them ever coming in here like, ‘hey man how’s it going?’ and I’m like, ‘whoa how’s it going?” said Pagan.
“Actually, I get a little star struck too because I’ve seen a lot of football players come in here and you know, I love football,” said Pagan’s father, also named Eddie Pagan.
It isn’t just football players stopping by.
The father-son team says the manager for Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan came into the shop one day, asking if they’d like to begin carrying the Spurs guard’s clothing line COMP10.
“We’re like do you mean DeMar DeRozan? And he’s like ‘yeah, DeMar DeRozan,’ and I just kind of looked at him like ‘uhhhhh yeah, sure why not?’” said the younger Pagan.
“At first, I didn’t know who he was talking about and then my son’s like ‘DeMar DeRozan, he plays for the Spurs’ and I’m like ‘Oh okay,’” said Pagan’s father, also named Eddie Pagan.
Pagan’s dad believes choosing a local store as the sole outlet for his apparel is DeRozan’s way of joining the San Antonio community.
“I think this is going to be one of his ways to reach out to the city,” said the older Pagan.
On October 12, DeMar DeRozan will host a meet and greet at True North for the launch of the line.
The store says it will be selling COMP10 apparel available on the line's website, as well as exclusive items only sold at True North.