Living Room SF: The Not So New Kids on the Block

“It’s definitely a point of pride for us to be in in SOMA Pilipinas. When we first set out to start Living Room SF, we were unaware that the location we were looking at was in the District, but once we found out we were juiced! It was never our main intention but now we‘re hoping we can use the shop as a platform to help push a lot of the amazing Filipino creatives we’re surrounded by as well as mesh a little of our culture into our product offerings,” Joog says.

John “Joog Mac” Macapiniac, Hubert “Hu” Gamit, and Casey Yabut (aka Casey GRAMS) are the creative team behind the newly-opened boutique and creative outlet The Living Room – located at 6th & Mission, the traditional heart of the SOMA Pilipinas Cultural Heritage District. Home to three projects, Living Room SF houses GRAMS clothing, YouByHu Barber Services, and a new in-house brand called Living Room, while Joog curates pop ups and art shows, and runs the day-to-day. Soft opened in early Fall, their grand opening is slated for December.

“Originally we were each running our own solo missions. Casey just started GRAMS and was involved in operating several Bay Area streetwear and sneaker shops, Hu was already an established barber in the Bay working at several big name establishments before pursuing his unique take on Personal Barber Services, and I was on the party circuit as a progressive DJ and Event Coordinator helping create the Cheat Day Collective, Smax Pop Up, and Macrowaves.”

Importantly, the shop is located just a few doors down from Hu’s grandfathers former barbershop space. In this way, Living Room SF can be understood as a generational project and a reflection of a diverse, bustling neighborhood that Filipino people continue to help build.

“My grandfather Pablito Gamit Sr. operated The Gamit Barbershop at 46 6th Street. Growing up, my parents would drop me off to hang out with my Lolo at the shop. My Lolo was the perfect example of someone who served his community. And I saw the way the neighborhood looked at him, especially the Filipino community: as someone out here really hustling to provide for his family and people around him. I still remember walking to the donut shop on the corner of 6th & Market on his break to get a snack. Back then, 6th Street was like it is now: filled with a bunch of characters living their life they way they want to,” Hu says.

By maintaining an abiding respect for the richness and ongoing history of the South of Market, the Living Room squad looks to preserve – and grow – a vision and expression of life in The City that was once the very image of San Francisco, but is now falling by the wayside due to gentrification pressures.

“The Bay Area has sadly lost many of its creative outlets due to skyrocketing rent and costs of living. We want to help fill this void and provide a safe space for local creatives, artists, streetwear brands, and most especially, the Bay Area youth to come and meet other likeminded individuals as well as provide opportunities to tell their story,” Joog says.

“We aim to distill our view of Northern California Bay Area culture into our in-house brands to create an intimate look into our world and culture. Using these brands as a platform we aim to put a spotlight on the diverse range of sub cultures and creative individuals that make the Bay Area what it is,” Casey says.

Still, there’s a decidedly neighborhood-oriented focus for this team of streetwear biz veterans. And that represents their answer to an enduring cultural question that Hu’s grandfather took on, and is now posed to the next generation of business owners, Filipino or otherwise, across San Francisco: if your work doesn’t enrich the people around you, then is it really worth doing at all?

“We’re going to ingrain ourselves into this neighborhood. We want to assist in bringing more business to the area, as well as creating and participating in programs that help provide assistance to those around us. We also want to partner up with our neighbors and other local businesses in the form of collabs or co-events in order to help cross promote and build more energy in the District,” Joog says.

Written by Paul Barrera.