Speaking from his loft in Los Angeles’ Lincoln Heights neighborhood, Tommy Bogo leaves a person of two minds. One instinct is to protect the Oakland-born multimedia artist, music producer, designer and founder of TOMBOGO inside a creative bubble that preserves his singular voice. The other is to shout from East Bay rooftops about his transformative T-shirts, hoodies, trousers, footwear, bags, experimental one-offs and now, original music.
Bogo, 31, grew up in Oakland. His parents are Carrie Lederer, the former longtime curator of Walnut Creek’s Bedford Gallery and a highly successful independent painter, sculptor and installation artist; and Steve Pons, a gallery and museum exhibition production and project management professional who served for more than three decades at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art before retiring.
Bogo—who previously used his “government name,” Thomas Lederer-Pons—launched his fledgling apparel company with screenprinted t-shirts he learned to make by hand in his family’s backyard. He stored them in his locker at Oakland Technical High School and met his first success as an entrepreneur with what amounted to onsite pop-up locker sales.
“I was being what they say in the Bay, ‘out the trunk with it,’ Bogo said by phone. “A big part of my design aesthetic is my Bay Area heritage and who I was growing up.”
Authenticity, being self-starting and hands-on, and surrounding himself with friends and other likeminded artists are business principles he attributes to Oakland and his upbringing. His parents may have “dragged him to art galleries” because he was too young to stay home alone, but they definitely did not push him to be an artist. “They both went through being young struggling artists, and what they wanted was for me to find something I loved to do,” he said.
Bogo not only found what he loved in fashion design, he found thousands of people who admired and now flock to own TomBOGO apparel. Jumping from lockers and vehicle-trunk sales to big-time runways, the brand showed up for several years during New York Fashion Week. TomBOGO made its debut at Paris Men’s Week in 2023. Now officially on the apparel industry circuit, the brand claims celebrity clientele such as J. Balvin and Bad Bunny. Bogo’s “Reverse Engineering” show during New York Fashion Week in June 2025 came along with a new logo that resembles a rounded “+” sign.
But what stirred the critics and everyone else about the multipurpose clothing were the details that have come to signify his brand. These include oversized silhouettes, multiple pockets, unconventional use of materials like vegan pineapple leather, and an overall industrial, tech-savvy practicality and utilitarianism expressed in fiberglass toes on work boots, custom silver hardware accents on bomber jackets, detachable panels and more.
TomBOGO items not only make an instant statement, they serve a wearer’s purpose and become classics as much as they express contemporary times.
Which is not to say Bogo’s line is not also playful. Although primarily consisting of black, white and gray, more new products are beginning to show pops of color. A line of modular button-up shirts show off a jolly mix of pinstripes in powder blue, medium blue and gray. Orange thermal lining blazes out from inside a modular bomber jacket.
“I love color, although what we’ve dropped up to now is black, gray, white—remaining colorless, in a sense,” Bogo said. “We recently put out camo pants that did really well. Like, people have been waiting for them. I gravitate to warm colors. But a friend and I recently brought up the idea of a desaturated light blue. Color brings emotions. I sort of follow the 50-40-10 idea where there’s a lot of black and white, and maybe just the tag is red. Maybe there’s just a pop of color.”
The new Bubble Pleat Curve pants and hoody have unique popcorn pleats that literally animate the garments. “It’s the best example of texture and material within my line that usually has my maximalist design approach—lots of pockets. But this is minimalist in this curvy, bubbly set with only standard pockets,” Bogo said. “It’s made with polyester, and it’s bouncy. The utilitarian side of the design was first, but when I saw how the set moves, it was eye-opening. When you jump up and down, it’ll do a couple of extra jumps after you land. I’m definitely considering the movement aspect for the future.”
From the beginning, Bogo established not only his line’s look; he built a community. He credits the area for its tech- and fashion-aware atmosphere, support for innovative self-starters and a creative environment that encouraged cross-collaborations. Most of the people working on his team and the few people he collaborates with are longtime friends or fellow artists from Oakland or the greater Bay Area.
“TomBogo has my name on it,” Bogo said. “That means I keep my hands in the pot. It’s a big part of being from the Bay to stay authentic. Early on, I set up pop-ups that were like mini concerts, inviting emerging artists who’ve since then made names for themselves like [rappers] Larry June, Iamsu, Guapdad 4000 and others. It was a huge grassroots bubble for me to catapult from.”
Bogo is deliberately turning more of his attention to his music. “We’re rounding the corner on a few projects already in motion,” he said. “We have an open window that means more music will come out. I’ve found amazing sound engineers to elevate the sound, and my music’s developed and it’s better. The runway shows were an excuse to mess around, but music was mostly in the background. I want to let this new stuff out and let it have a life of its own.”
As the conversation came full circle, Bogo presented a clear vision for the future: Features arising from his history that result in an exhilarating fusion of classical and contemporary apparel design with practical, utilitarian appeal will continue. At the same time, innovation will be a welcome disrupter. “It’s never too late for a good idea. Try it and see how people react,” he said.
For more info, visit tombogo.com. Instagram: @tommybogo.
