About Us

Ryan Zappone and Shawn Clark came unexpectedly to the crossroads of their lives in a Jaeger-shooting contest in a seedy, desert bar in the middle-of-nowhere California. Ryan had recently been accepted to Law School, and Shawn was busy trying to sell him on not going. Shawn spent the night convincing Ryan that nobody in his or her right mind would go to school that long to do something that boring. “Besides, Law School is for Lawyers, and you look like shit in a suit,” Shawn told Ryan. That night of debauchery came and went, but Ryan was jaded about the prospect of school… and his appearance in a suit. For the next couple of weeks they tossed the idea around about starting a company; the only problem was that they had no idea what that alleged company would be or do. Then they put all plans on hold as Ryan left the country for one last summer of travel before school.

Somewhere between sleeping in the streets, running with the bulls in Pamplona, losing his hotel for four days in Amsterdam, bungee-jumping in Interlaken, and starting a bum colony, Law School faded in importance. After a drunken, midday call to admissions informing them their services were no longer needed, Ryan called Shawn and told him he was flying back to So Cal and to clear a spot on the couch. And, in what alcoholics refer to as “a moment of clarity,” he solved the problem of what the company would do.

It was the birth of 925NEVER. The name was easy as it had been both a mantra and a motto the brothers had sworn by for years. The idea was even easier, they were going to do what their heroes had done before them. Ryan and Shawn were going to provide clothes that gave the collective SuFi to anything and anybody that represented the 9 to 5 lifestyle; however, they vowed they would continue to do it and never forget their roots like their predecessors had. The only thing left was to learn how to make clothes, but that would be the easy part.

The first year was pretty stress free: Ryan and Shawn gave away over $15,000 in clothes and marketing stuff to get their name out there and only sold $700 worth of actual goods. They were business geniuses. They sold their couches, TV, and a car to help pay for the clothes. They were evicted twice for “entertaining clients” and for allegedly spending all their rent money on beer and new clothes. For nearly four months, they sold their designs out of the back of a pseudo “A-Team” van before they had enough money to bluff the deposit on another apartment.

Their friends with expensive, marketing degrees told them 925 was a horrible idea and that they would miserably fail. They also thought the idea of going out on their own was crazy and that blowing off Law School was the worst mistake Ryan could make. In the end, they were wrong. They were kicked out of the QYJ club, and they still have to be at work for somebody else every day at 9 am sharp.