It's lowrider rags-to-riches for L.A.'s Latino streetwear makers.

Mr. Cartoon wears his work: a long, plain black T-shirt and a crisp, baggy pair of dark blue jeans by the Joker Brand clothing line.

It's the classic look of lowriders, for whom the cars, women and tattoos often outshine the stripped-down clothing. And it can be found throughout Los Angeles, where Joker Brand LLC has turned itself into well-known name in the Latino community familiar to its local founders.

But Mr. Cartoon, a sought-after tat tooist, and his partners at Joker Brand, fellow designer Lucky Alvarez and Chief Executive Estevan Oriol, have run into trouble pushing the brand beyond the San Andreas Fault. They haven't been warmly embraced by many of the stores that carry other major streetwear labels such as Sean John, Rocawear, Phat Farm, FUBU, Ecko and Enyce.

The problem may be a matter of profiling. These stores have found success with East Coast rappers. The L.A.-bred Latinos behind Joker Brand are not East Coast rappers, and they certainly don't yet sit atop a massive hip-hop empire, churning out everything from music to shoes, clothing to perfume.

"A lot of the time, those rap stars have garmento money behind them," said Lucky, referring to the East Coast fashion industry. "We don't have the garmento money. They know the game in the industry," said Lucky. "We started differently because homies used their own money."

Despite that, Joker Brand has managed to find cracks in the industry seam. Working its way first into morn-and-pop stores, the brand has built itself into one of the larger urban Latino brands, with sales of about $4 million last year, up from $1.5 million in 2002.

That's a pittance compared what large East Coast brands make. Urban apparel is a multi-billion industry, with the top brands generating over $100 million annually.

Big apparel companies and investors have taken notice. New York-based Liz Claiborne Inc. swooped up Enyce for $114 million last year, and St. Louis-based Kellwood Corp. bought Phat Fashions, the Russell Simmons-headed outfit behind Phat Farm, for $140 million. L.A.-based Yucaipa Co. LLC, controlled by billionaire Ron Burkle, has plowed millions into Sean John.

Still, Joker Brand has made a dent, especially on the local scene. "In the L.A. lowrider world, we are Rocawear. We are leaps and bounds ahead of other guys," asserted Mr. Cartoon.

Other Southern California brands have scored with consumers, most notably San Diego-based Tribal Gear. And there are upcoming brands seeking to repeat what Joker has done, including L.A.'s Guapo Wear Inc. Still, there are few sizeable Latino-led streetwear clothing companies in the region. And it could be a while before new companies amass a following akin to Joker.

"You do find a lot of brands that are trying to do start-ups in Chicano neighborhoods," said Joel Estrada, a spokesman for L.A.-based retailer Eurostar Inc., better known as Warehouse Shoe Sale, a 43-unit chain that carries Joker clothes. "It is very hard to really establish a brand. Joker has done a good job of establishing itself."

At WSS, the most popular Joker Brand item is a $39.99 black hoodie. Joker clothes are simple: heavy on hip-hop T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts, often featuring the signature logo, a stylized frowning clown or a script-lettered slogan.

Learning curve

Two years ago, Joker broke into Warehouse Shoe Sale. It was a long process to get there, and one that demonstrates the difficulty that brands like Joker experience. According to Estrada, Joker is the only L.A.-based clothing line sold in the WSS chain, which doesn't easily let in new entrants.

"Real estate in our store is very sought after. It is highly desirable and vendors vie for it," he said. "We don't have space to experiment with brands that don't have a name or big initiative behind them."

Joker management knew the owners of WSS, giving Joker an edge. Without that connection, the brand would likely have faced the same attitude it has gotten from other chains: come back when you have a long record of proven performance.

If they do test new brands, store owners often pinpoint brands that are similar to known urban apparel commodities. That means L.A.-based companies with Latino leadership and without a pipeline to chain stores need not apply.

"In some of the stores, we could hang next to a Sean John, who the stores see the market is being run by. We can hang with our quality and design," said Lucky. "But a lot of times, they scratch their heads because they don't understand (our brand.)"

But Joker management also had its own comprehension issues. Untrained in the fashion industry, Mr. Cartoon, Oriol and Lucky had little idea of how to produce and sell clothing when Joker started in 1995. Trying to secure funding for their upstart brand, they entered into agreements with financiers who failed to deliver.

"It is one story after the next of financiers dropping the bail," said Mr. Cartoon. "They'd tell us our (tradeshow) booth is going to be designed by Armani, who's a cousin, and when it comes time, there's no booth, nothing."

Even when they did get orders, Joker straggled to fill them. They had little familiarity with apparel manufacturing and setting up connections with offshore factories. When one large chain decided to pick up the brand, Joker wasn't able to fulfill it on time and with the desired quality.

"The thing we learned is that we need to be more consistent. Now it is completely different because we know how to get the production," said Lucky. For example, Oriol said the jeans are often made in Mexico and the sweatshirts in China.

Joker got on track when it brought in two Israelis, Eran Britton and Dan Lederman, who had extensive background in the garment industry and could guide Joker Brand to avoid shady financing schemes and how to shore up production. The two are now part of Joker's management team and helped broker the deal with WSS.

Recently, Joker boosted its distribution in Europe. Along with Japan, where the brand has been strong, the company's overseas distribution has almost equaled its domestic distribution.

The 'hood

Joker's management has kept tight control over the brand. Joker has shied away from licensing arrangements for fear an outside entity would dilute the brand. They've kept the brand true to its roots, not verging too far from the narrow spectrum of colors and L.A.-inspired designs.

Joker has carefully orchestrated slow growth. Mr. Cartoon said that he had seen too many examples of urban clothing lines, even with prominent backing, tanking because they drove sales too quickly, saturated the market and then fizzled.

Originality, if it comes from the streets, can create problems. According to Lucky and Mr. Cartoon, Joker has been hurt by storeowners' fears that the brand is associated with gangs and violence. Joker treads a fine line. The brand needs to appeal to the street, which gives it credibility. However, it can't be too closely linked with violence because stores don't want negative attention.

Mr. Cartoon realizes this dilemma, but doesn't seem too worried about Joker's connection to violence. It's at least partly a strategic move: word of Joker spreads with newspaper and television reports, even if they are linked with violence, and sales could benefit.

"We can't help it if the 'hood supports us, and a guy goes and does dirt wearing one of our shirts," he said. "I don't like anybody getting shot, but it definitely is getting worn in the 'hood."

Joker has toned down a bit. It's moving away from the Olde English graffiti-style lettering and hardcore urban images that were integral to its early clothes. The point is to broaden the customer base outside of the Latino community and to appeal to older people as well as women. The company just started a women's line last season.

"We didn't want to limit ourselves just to Latinos. We didn't want to pigeonhole ourselves," said Lucky. At 36, Mr. Cartoon added, he can't get away with shirts splashed with designs. "I have to wear the line too."

Jay Tilles, who owns the store Long Beach Clothing Co. Inc. with his wife, said Joker Brand hasn't yet done enough to reach to consumers outside of the Latino community. He claims that may have hindered the brand's sales in his store and may be limiting its distribution.

"They really do embrace the Latino lifestyle, I think almost sometimes to a fault," said Tilles, who also produces the Kevin & Bean morning show on KROQ-FM (106.7.) "I know a lot of white kids who love the stuff, but they are kind of fearful. My hope is that Joker widens a little bit."

RACHEL BROWN Staff Reporter