Since his youth, sports and hip-hop have been the nucleus of his world. It wasn't just the style or flavour that enamoured him, it was also the history behind the genres.

After years of running vintage pop-ups and an online shop, in 2015 Josh and his partner Chantal ventured to Parkdale, Toronto and opened a storefront - In Vintage We Trust (IVWT).  Step inside, and you'll notice it's not a thrift store, it’s far from it. Instead, this curated space serves as a time capsule, and each section tells a story of its own. With racks of Polo and Patagonia from the 90s to age-old concert tees and a treasure trove of sports apparel, co-owners Josh and Chantal are making their mark in the vintage clothing landscape.

We talked with Josh to get his perspective on how he got into the game and how they plan to change it for the better.

Since his youth, sports and hip-hop have been the nucleus of his world. It wasn't just the style or flavour that enamoured him, it was also the history behind the genres.

After years of running vintage pop-ups and an online shop, in 2015 Josh and his partner Chantal ventured to Parkdale, Toronto and opened a storefront - In Vintage We Trust (IVWT).  Step inside, and you'll notice it's not a thrift store, it’s far from it. Instead, this curated space serves as a time capsule, and each section tells a story of its own. With racks of Polo and Patagonia from the 90s to age-old concert tees and a treasure trove of sports apparel, co-owners Josh and Chantal are making their mark in the vintage clothing landscape.

We talked with Josh to get his perspective on how he got into the game and how they plan to change it for the better.

You've been in the vintage clothing game for over ten years, and since 2015, you've been a co-owner of In Vintage We Trust - a premium vintage shop located in Toronto. What high do you get from what you do?

The high I get is when a customer asks for something they've been looking for 10 or 15 years, and we pull it off the rack, and they snap like they're losing their mind and react like, "How do you have this? How does a store like this exist?" Creating that connection with a customer and telling them our backstory through the garment is unique and something my partner Chantal and I do better than many other retailers. At In Vintage We Trust, it's not just a t-shirt because there's a story behind it. There is a deeper meaning, and it's on us to connect those two things for our customers.

Vintage is now considered a luxury good, was this something you always expected?

Vintage was always a luxury good, but it changes what it looks like. What is now a luxury good for today's buying public was not a luxury good ten years ago; it was something else. So the "it piece" for every generation is different, but it's essentially the same formula. Vintage doesn't have to be luxury because you can buy it at various price points. But it's only for some. Some people are just looking for the noise, and that's okay. That's why other stores exist. No shots, you can buy a stained shirt (somewhere else), but that's not our lane. Our shop is a luxury, vintage and curated premium experience.

You've been in the vintage clothing game for over ten years, and since 2015, you've been a co-owner of In Vintage We Trust - a premium vintage shop located in Toronto. What high do you get from what you do?

The high I get is when a customer asks for something they've been looking for 10 or 15 years, and we pull it off the rack, and they snap like they're losing their mind and react like, "How do you have this? How does a store like this exist?" Creating that connection with a customer and telling them our backstory through the garment is unique and something my partner Chantal and I do better than many other retailers. At In Vintage We Trust, it's not just a t-shirt because there's a story behind it. There is a deeper meaning, and it's on us to connect those two things for our customers.

Vintage is now considered a luxury good, was this something you always expected?

Vintage was always a luxury good, but it changes what it looks like. What is now a luxury good for today's buying public was not a luxury good ten years ago; it was something else. So the "it piece" for every generation is different, but it's essentially the same formula. Vintage doesn't have to be luxury because you can buy it at various price points. But it's only for some. Some people are just looking for the noise, and that's okay. That's why other stores exist. No shots, you can buy a stained shirt (somewhere else), but that's not our lane. Our shop is a luxury, vintage and curated premium experience.

With your shop, you're not just a buyer, but you curate and source your products. You don’t just drop one-offs, you drop collections. What inspired that approach?

This whole idea of clothing drops was created by the streetwear forefathers. We took that idea (of big drops) and parlayed it into our business model. So, when we started doing themed collection drops in our retail store, it was fresh and new (for a vintage shop). It looks cooler, and it's an easier buying experience for customers because they don't have to make multiple trips to the store.

Building vintage collections and scheduling drops sound like an easy concept, but that takes time to build.

The drawback is creating this thing is a lifestyle. It's not like you can (hustle) one day and not do it another. It's a daily grind. We sit on a lot of stuff and invest money, and sometimes, we don't see a return on investment for a long time. For example, we dropped 200+ rock tees a few months back, but we've been holding many of those tees for five years. We could sell the same amount over five years, but (dropping collections) is how we like to do stuff. We're not trying to be a regular vintage store. Nah, fuck that shit. We're the best vintage store, and we're a perfectionist with everything we do, and that (reputation) is what we're putting out.

Choosing to be different means you're staying true to yourself.

Exactly. In life, I always get high off the shit that makes people feel uncomfortable or things people don't like for whatever reason. Like, my top five rappers aren't your top five rappers. The way I dress and everything we do, I'm not trying to appease the masses — we're in our own lane.

Does that apply to sports as well? Did you dig people who weren't your typical cover athlete, or were you interested in other things beyond the game?

Growing up, I followed and watched sports but was more interested in sports history. Like, I wasn't that shook on Jordan (back in the day). Everyone liked him; he never lost, so the story wasn't exciting. When I was 9 or 10 years old, they were two things I remember. First, my favorite books were these sports encyclopedias, they had every year of baseball or football information, and I would look at all the pictures and the stats.

I was just obsessed with them. Second, there was this VHS series called "This Week in Baseball," and it would cover the greatest events over composed music and they would talk about all these amazing baseball feats like the "Shot Heard' Round the World (by Bobby Thompson)," "Babe (Ruth) calls his shot." It was that type of shit (in sports) that got my attention.

Choosing to be different means you're staying true to yourself.

Exactly. In life, I always get high off the shit that makes people feel uncomfortable or things people don't like for whatever reason. Like, my top five rappers aren't your top five rappers. The way I dress and everything we do, I'm not trying to appease the masses — we're in our own lane.

Does that apply to sports as well? Did you dig people who weren't your typical cover athlete, or were you interested in other things beyond the game?

Growing up, I followed and watched sports but was more interested in sports history. Like, I wasn't that shook on Jordan (back in the day). Everyone liked him; he never lost, so the story wasn't exciting. When I was 9 or 10 years old, they were two things I remember. First, my favorite books were these sports encyclopedias, they had every year of baseball or football information, and I would look at all the pictures and the stats.

I was just obsessed with them. Second, there was this VHS series called "This Week in Baseball," and it would cover the greatest events over composed music and they would talk about all these amazing baseball feats like the "Shot Heard' Round the World (by Bobby Thompson)," "Babe (Ruth) calls his shot." It was that type of shit (in sports) that got my attention.

What was it about the other side of sports that you were fascinated by?

It's the romanticism of sports, and I would get caught up in the storylines and the uniforms. The fact that no one my age cared about that shit probably had something to do with it, too. Even when Jordan was popular (during his playing years), my favorite team was the fucking Pacers because they were the villains, they were a boring team from the midwest, and the Knicks hated them.

Let's switch gears and talk about hip-hop. Which era for you was iconic?

I fell in love with hip-hop in '97/'98. Those years were iconic, with several different events happening all the time. That is like the last golden era of hip-hop, but I'm looking at it from a New York rap scene (point of view). You had Rocafella, Ruff Ryders, Wu-Tang, and Mobb Deep, but the stuff that I really gravitated to was the burgeoning underground scene coming out of New York — Rawkus Records, Company Flow, Lyricists Lounge, Sound Bombing and the mixtapes.

Was there a specific album or rapper that tipped the scale for you?

It was probably the album "Wu-Tang Forever." But specifically, the track "It's Yourz," I paid attention to that music video and took in everything they wore.

But during that time, Raekwon was the most stylish dude I'd ever seen in my life. He had a crazy (New York) style - sweatsuits, premium boots like Dolomites, interesting colored Timbs, light denim, and heavy butter leather jackets like Avirex or Davoucci. Raekwon would wear sweatbands in all these weird ways, like halfway on his head. He was so swaggy with it. I was obsessed with the whole situation. Rae was the best example of style during that era, and he did it super clean.

Back then, hip hop had a unique sound in different cities.

There were no rules back then. There was a lot of rap or hip-hop music, but they sounded completely different. Like, everything had a different wave. Music from the South or the West sounded different. Music from the East, everyone had their lane. It was never-ending; everyone would use different samples, attack a song differently, and wear different gear. Like, everyone was on their own shit. Remember, in the 90s and the early 2000s, there was no fusion. You know, you couldn't be into rock and dress like you were into hip-hop. Back then, you had to be in a lane. It's just the way it was. I wouldn't say I liked that. But I wanted to fuse my interests. Around '97, many people into skate were listening to rap, punk, and metal. And for myself, beyond rap, I was listening to a lot of Rancid, NOFX, Black Sabbath and slow-down metal. So I thought, "why can't I do it all, too?"

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What was it about the other side of sports that you were fascinated by?

It's the romanticism of sports, and I would get caught up in the storylines and the uniforms. The fact that no one my age cared about that shit probably had something to do with it, too. Even when Jordan was popular (during his playing years), my favorite team was the fucking Pacers because they were the villains, they were a boring team from the midwest, and the Knicks hated them.

Let's switch gears and talk about hip-hop. Which era for you was iconic?

I fell in love with hip-hop in '97/'98. Those years were iconic, with several different events happening all the time. That is like the last golden era of hip-hop, but I'm looking at it from a New York rap scene (point of view). You had Rocafella, Ruff Ryders, Wu-Tang, and Mobb Deep, but the stuff that I really gravitated to was the burgeoning underground scene coming out of New York — Rawkus Records, Company Flow, Lyricists Lounge, Sound Bombing and the mixtapes.

Was there a specific album or rapper that tipped the scale for you?

It was probably the album "Wu-Tang Forever." But specifically, the track "It's Yourz," I paid attention to that music video and took in everything they wore.

But during that time, Raekwon was the most stylish dude I'd ever seen in my life. He had a crazy (New York) style - sweatsuits, premium boots like Dolomites, interesting colored Timbs, light denim, and heavy butter leather jackets like Avirex or Davoucci. Raekwon would wear sweatbands in all these weird ways, like halfway on his head. He was so swaggy with it. I was obsessed with the whole situation. Rae was the best example of style during that era, and he did it super clean.

Back then, hip hop had a unique sound in different cities.

There were no rules back then. There was a lot of rap or hip-hop music, but they sounded completely different. Like, everything had a different wave. Music from the South or the West sounded different. Music from the East, everyone had their lane. It was never-ending; everyone would use different samples, attack a song differently, and wear different gear. Like, everyone was on their own shit. Remember, in the 90s and the early 2000s, there was no fusion. You know, you couldn't be into rock and dress like you were into hip-hop. Back then, you had to be in a lane. It's just the way it was. I wouldn't say I liked that. But I wanted to fuse my interests. Around '97, many people into skate were listening to rap, punk, and metal. And for myself, beyond rap, I was listening to a lot of Rancid, NOFX, Black Sabbath and slow-down metal. So I thought, "why can't I do it all, too?"

‍

‍Hip-hop clothing lost its steam in the early 2000s, and around that time, independent street fashion was slowly emerging.

Hip Hop clothing was completely dead by '01. But something was happening in the early 2000s. I became aware of this style called streetwear, and at the time, it didn't even have a term. The taste and feel of it were completely different from hip-hop clothing from '93 to '99. It was a youth movement. If you were up on things, it was like this secret society. If you saw someone with a piece on, they had to be "a head." You would only see these (streetwear) brands in these random Japanese magazines like Tokion, Popeye, or Sneaker Jack. Locally, the only brand we had for people to look at back in the day was Stussy at Uncle Otis (a menswear boutique shop in Toronto). So in 2001 or 2002, if you saw someone wearing Dunks, they were on some shit because nobody was checking on those (sneakers) during that little window (before Dunks became popular in '03).

Multiple genres and cultural interests inspired street culture, which showed up in the garments.

Streetwear was cool and interesting because it was more about the culture and not just one part. With hip-hop fashion, it was more about the rapper. In comparison, streetwear was about graffiti, records, DJing and the history behind things. I found my lane because I was always this weird outsider who knew all this weird shit. But streetwear was all about history, and knowing was like a weapon.

I'd love to hear your perspective on sports and culture today and how much the world of hip-hop, basketball, fashion and music has collided. Was there a moment when you started to see it all come together?

One of the most iconic things that happened in fashion and sports was when the NBA fined Marbury while he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves because his shorts were too baggy. Of course, baggy shorts already happened at the college level (with Michigan Wolverine's "Fab Five"), but this was the first time it became a thing at the pro level. But when that happened (and became an issue again), it was as if the NCAA and the NBA were telling its players that they got to "change your level of blackness on the court because you're too hip-hop for basketball, and you need to tone it down." That moment spoke to many people of all races because even though I'm not black, it sent a message that you can't be yourself and nobody wants that. At least, that's how I perceived (that situation).

‍Hip-hop clothing lost its steam in the early 2000s, and around that time, independent street fashion was slowly emerging.

Hip Hop clothing was completely dead by '01. But something was happening in the early 2000s. I became aware of this style called streetwear, and at the time, it didn't even have a term. The taste and feel of it were completely different from hip-hop clothing from '93 to '99. It was a youth movement. If you were up on things, it was like this secret society. If you saw someone with a piece on, they had to be "a head." You would only see these (streetwear) brands in these random Japanese magazines like Tokion, Popeye, or Sneaker Jack. Locally, the only brand we had for people to look at back in the day was Stussy at Uncle Otis (a menswear boutique shop in Toronto). So in 2001 or 2002, if you saw someone wearing Dunks, they were on some shit because nobody was checking on those (sneakers) during that little window (before Dunks became popular in '03).

Multiple genres and cultural interests inspired street culture, which showed up in the garments.

Streetwear was cool and interesting because it was more about the culture and not just one part. With hip-hop fashion, it was more about the rapper. In comparison, streetwear was about graffiti, records, DJing and the history behind things. I found my lane because I was always this weird outsider who knew all this weird shit. But streetwear was all about history, and knowing was like a weapon.

I'd love to hear your perspective on sports and culture today and how much the world of hip-hop, basketball, fashion and music has collided. Was there a moment when you started to see it all come together?

One of the most iconic things that happened in fashion and sports was when the NBA fined Marbury while he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves because his shorts were too baggy. Of course, baggy shorts already happened at the college level (with Michigan Wolverine's "Fab Five"), but this was the first time it became a thing at the pro level. But when that happened (and became an issue again), it was as if the NCAA and the NBA were telling its players that they got to "change your level of blackness on the court because you're too hip-hop for basketball, and you need to tone it down." That moment spoke to many people of all races because even though I'm not black, it sent a message that you can't be yourself and nobody wants that. At least, that's how I perceived (that situation).

Of all sports, athletes and leagues, basketball has always been the most connected to our culture.

Basketball players aren't wearing much sports equipment, so you get to see the athlete, and you almost gain a deeper connection with them. But the biggest attraction for the consumer to basketball is that it's the only sport where the footwear can be worn in a street style, focused kind of atmosphere. Like, nobody is rocking football cleats in the streets. But don't get me wrong, sports and culture don't exist without music. So many critical things happened in basketball, hip-hop, black culture, and how we wear our clothing.

While rappers in the mid-90s wore jerseys in music videos, a lot of the emergence of sport and culture dates back to the throwback jersey era in the 2000s because hip-hop had a much bigger platform. Every rapper from Diplomats, Cash Money, Fabulous, to Hot Boys was wearing a Mitchell and Ness jersey for two years straight.

But it was also timing. If you think about it, during Jordan's playing years, I never listened to the same music MJ was listening to when I was 10. But in the early 2000s, Ron Artest, Chris Webber and Rasheed Wallace were probably listening and checking the same shit as many of us. It was a gradual progression, but sports and culture eventually became the same and were interchangeable.

You always do things your way. Have you always felt like an outcast, and how has that shaped you?

Yeah, I always have a chip on my shoulder, and I'm constantly going after it. Every day I wake up trying to push the envelope.

"I always have a chip on my shoulder, and I'm constantly going after it."

Why is it essential for you to walk your path?

I don't know. It's just born within me. Don't get me wrong, what I do is stressful. Fuck, I wish I could wake up and have an office job, I guess. But there's something in me that wants to drive these ideas forward. (For Chantal and me), we didn't choose our path. It chose us. It's just the way we are.

I've known you for over 15 years, you've kept it real since day one and you’re still the same O.G.

If you haven't seen me in a minute and were to ask someone who knows me, "what is Josh up to nowadays?" They'll probably respond, "exactly what you think he's doing." Just like back in the day, I'm into the same stuff. From time to time, I'll ask myself, "would 19-year-old Josh be proud of what 39-year-old Josh is doing?" The answer is yes, and while it's a fucking grind and it's tough — I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing on planet earth.

Of all sports, athletes and leagues, basketball has always been the most connected to our culture.

Basketball players aren't wearing much sports equipment, so you get to see the athlete, and you almost gain a deeper connection with them. But the biggest attraction for the consumer to basketball is that it's the only sport where the footwear can be worn in a street style, focused kind of atmosphere. Like, nobody is rocking football cleats in the streets. But don't get me wrong, sports and culture don't exist without music. So many critical things happened in basketball, hip-hop, black culture, and how we wear our clothing.

While rappers in the mid-90s wore jerseys in music videos, a lot of the emergence of sport and culture dates back to the throwback jersey era in the 2000s because hip-hop had a much bigger platform. Every rapper from Diplomats, Cash Money, Fabulous, to Hot Boys was wearing a Mitchell and Ness jersey for two years straight.

But it was also timing. If you think about it, during Jordan's playing years, I never listened to the same music MJ was listening to when I was 10. But in the early 2000s, Ron Artest, Chris Webber and Rasheed Wallace were probably listening and checking the same shit as many of us. It was a gradual progression, but sports and culture eventually became the same and were interchangeable.

You always do things your way. Have you always felt like an outcast, and how has that shaped you?

Yeah, I always have a chip on my shoulder, and I'm constantly going after it. Every day I wake up trying to push the envelope.

"I always have a chip on my shoulder, and I'm constantly going after it."

Why is it essential for you to walk your path?

I don't know. It's just born within me. Don't get me wrong, what I do is stressful. Fuck, I wish I could wake up and have an office job, I guess. But there's something in me that wants to drive these ideas forward. (For Chantal and me), we didn't choose our path. It chose us. It's just the way we are.

I've known you for over 15 years, you've kept it real since day one and you’re still the same O.G.

If you haven't seen me in a minute and were to ask someone who knows me, "what is Josh up to nowadays?" They'll probably respond, "exactly what you think he's doing." Just like back in the day, I'm into the same stuff. From time to time, I'll ask myself, "would 19-year-old Josh be proud of what 39-year-old Josh is doing?" The answer is yes, and while it's a fucking grind and it's tough — I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing on planet earth.