We had the good fortune of connecting with Payton & Jonathan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Payton & Jonathan, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Jonathan speaking here, and I have been in the hospitality industry since the age of 15. This industry is one of misfits that want to stand out in some way or another. When you think of a chef, the stereotypical white chefs coat comes to mind and maybe the funny hat. But in the real world, we are either in t-shirts or chefs coats and always wearing an apron. I want to make something real for the misfit creatives to feel seen.
Payton has dedicated her life to textiles and garment production with factories she has developed a relationship with. Both of us coming together really couldn’t have been more perfect. The colors of aprons you see available in the market and on chefs at restaurants are often bland, boring and expensive. Our statement as a business was to find a way to make affordable, stand-out aprons that are comfortable so the creative, real human can wear it every day.
We went into this with the goal of creating a platform that “fitting the mold” is 86’d (taken off the menu). We aim to do this through the apron brand, and my social media pages where you get to know me better!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Jonathan- Like I’ve said I’ve been working in this industry since I was 15. I am now 34 and still working as a chef. You can only imagine the amount of stories inbetween starting as a dishwasher, to going to culinary school as an adult, and now chef. I am most proud that I get to turn around and be support to the people starting out where I did.

So I would say, the things that I am the most proud of are my staff. No matter what restaurant kitchen I’m running I love that I get to teach and mentor employees that were missing any sense of direction and creative cultivation outside the kitchen.
The challenges are more extreme in this post pandemic world. We are seeing more and more restaurants changing their hours of operations; we are seeing rising costs in not only food but in raw textile material.

This all boils down to supporting one another and treating staff like people. Which has made it a “fun” challenge for us at Vintage 86 on how to keep our aprons at a cost of $60 to our consumers. It’s a big puzzle piece to keep any sort of reasonable costing when you are just starting out. Every single apron purchase really matters. We also recently rolled out our industry pricing for 4 aprons or more.

Payton –
To be honest, it’s incredibly difficult to put down in words everything that has happened to get here. The exciting things like family travel, to the the grueling things like having to find time to read all 70 pages of how to do business taxes because hiring someone would completely wipe out our small budget to buy the next aprons… is thrilling. All the while having two brand new twin babies! coming out the other side of something difficult and putting your heart on the line with a product being presented to the public is extremely humbling.

The best way I can suggest to see even a small glimpse of the magic this family supports and creates is to follow Jonathans instagram @eljonathanreyes and scroll all the way back, or watch the saved stories! I can’t tell it better than that.

But overall I wouldn’t say we have fully overcome the challenges yet. We have created a platform, made aprons, tee shirts, and pulled together quite the crew of first supporters through food trucks, pottery creatives, restaurants.. but we are still in the thick of growing awareness of the brand. In this world of social media moving so quickly, its difficult to find ways to stand out and truly show that this bran did by industry people, for industry people.

The goods are fully backed by our own money we have put in so progress is slow, but every shout out, feature, and person using our aprons is a slow bit of progress we truly appreciate.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Payton and I are both from Denver and we are currently. living in Montana and California. We we have to show some love to our favorite 303 stomping grounds.

Morning: get up early with the rest of the denverites and take a hike! Waterton Canyon for beginners, park at Red Rocks and take the stairs to the top of the amphitheater and take in the sounds (or brave some stair repeats!), Or adventure to what our family calls the “beast” for some over the city “look back at Denver” views at Green mountain trail accessed by Rooney Road Trail.

You’ve earned your brunch! We can’t pass up a good mimosa, chicken and waffle combo from a place Jonathan used to work, The Post Chicken and Beer (Lafayette/Rosedale location).

Middle of the day has endless possibilities. Brewery tour, Distillery tours, walk around Larimer square, drink at Flyte Co Brewing (Ask for Dan!) NAP!

Dinner: If you aren’t going to a Colorado Rockies game or Colorado Avalanche Hockey game, we highly recommend the Dairy Block. A little something for everyone! Great the insta pics too!

Drinks: sneak into the Ghost Donkey at Union Station. We first found this place as a family in Vegas, truly an unmarked door speakeasy. Then, they opened their Denver location.

Other favorites:
Linger
Little man ice cream
Uncle

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Our entire family! We cannot even begin to think where we would be without them. The fact that our families jump on social media and share pictures of our aprons is incredible. We recently just started our own cooking showdown, where we challenge 2 people to a cook off or bake off using the tools they already have in their home.. Its fun and it really lets people come out of their shell. Especially people who don’t work in the industry or even people that really don’t cook much at home.

Our families are our own free marketing team! they are constantly pitching ideas of colors of the next apron, or the next recipe we should make. It really does make our start up work a lot easier.

Check back soon as we work on a sign up for the show-down!

Website: vintage86.com

Instagram: @vintage86aprons

Other: vintage86aprons@gmail.com to get ahold of us! Reach out, say hi, and you might just get an invitation to be a part of the weekly meal showdown!

Image Credits
Codi Heath Gifford Reyes

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