When we first launched a little over 2.5 years ago, Victor Diaz, Founder and a staple in the CA run scene, was the first to take a chance on Bandit, carrying our product in his Oakland shop. At the time, our first collection had only been out in the wild for a couple of months, but he saw the vision and backed us early. This type of support is par for the course with Victor; every bone in his body is geared towards supporting others, fostering connections, and rising all tides.

Fast forward to today—we’ve both grown a lot since that first partnership.

A few months back, Victor hit us up about an opportunity to take the space next to his second store in Silver Lake, LA. The idea? Join forces to keep building community and pushing the sport forward, together. We hopped on the first flight out to see the space and signed the lease soon after. Bandit and Renegade have always felt spiritually aligned and it's an honor a dream to be sharing walls.

Without further adieu, here's the man himself...

Victor, first things first, tell us a thing or two about yourself... Where are you from and how did you get here?

Hello, everyone. Thanks so much for taking the time. I grew up in San Jose, CA and worked in public education for 20 years. I first started off in the Bay area, moved out to the Boston public school system, and then came back to the Bay where I worked in alternative education for the Berkley Schools.

Throughout my life, competitive athletics, from collegiate running to Ironman distance triathlons, and lots of cycling, I've always had a deep love for sport. As I was winding down my education career, I wanted pursue my biggest passion, which is long distance running...

That brings us to our next question. When and what made you want to start Renegade?

In addition to sport, I've always had a passion for impeccable, purposeful design—design that is driven by something bigger than the product itself. This led to a fascination with Japanese brands, avant-garde fashion designers, and the like. Diving into this world earlier on, I felt like I was witnessing this new creative super highway begin to extend from fashion into sport. Designers and brands were seeing how far they could push the boundaries of materials, silhouettes, functionality, etc. Once this  began to reach a critical mass in running, it drew me to want to have my own space to showcase their talents.

You've accomplished so much with Renegade and have been paving the way for how run specialty stores go about fostering and serving community. What's been your proudest moment with the shop?

Building community in general is absolutely the pride of the shops, but I never refer to myself as a community builder. In the public school system, you need the community otherwise you're fucked. All the families, local businesses, the neighborhood/towns, they all come together to contribute towards making the school successful. With Renegade, I wanted to tap the communities parallel to the way I grew up, but not exactly. I aimed to create a space for likeminded people who enjoy well designed products, want to help and support their fellow runner, or maybe were even a bit of a loner who could find a welcoming space for themselves. Be leaders, be silent, be whatever you want. People coming from all walks of life coming into Renegade, connecting with each other and realizing they actually share so much in common—that's the proudest part of Renegade.

Turbo round:

• Favorite restaurant: Bombera in Oakland 
• Favorite race: NYC Marathon. It's just this insanely beautiful cornucopia of the country coming together to run. 
• Favorite band/music right now: Rage Against the Machine
• Favorite cultural experience: Visiting the pyramids in Mexico was lifechanging.

The sky is the limit for Renegade as far as we're concerned. Where do you go from here?

One thing I'm looking forward to doing is collaborating with the brands I love and sharing my creative experience to shape their products and messaging in new and interesting ways. That feels like the natural next step to deepen an already symbiotic relationship and has always been a big interest of mine. Also, having opportunities for Renegade in other spaces like cycling, trail, endurance, or even if different cities for short periods of time. There's also the idea of possibly creating some of our own Renegade products that we can use to further demonstrate our love for design and make a storytelling contribution. 

Final question: looking into your crystal ball, what does the future hold for running brands and shops over the next 10 years?

I definitely think that running stores will do more to actively get out of their comfort zone and to expand outside of their four walls (and maybe even their sport). Stores will likely emulate what clubs are doing to expand their reach, which is already underway with some great places like The Exchange, Runology, and RAYA. There's a changing of the narrative and perspective. Instead of saying, "come run with our store", it's more "we want to come run with you." The idea of being in service to runners rather than the other way around. And if I'm being wishful, it would be great to see more stores embrace emerging brands that are working to protect the planet, or are more mindful in other ways, which could in turn influence the larger brands.