Meet Colin Miller Of The Darkside Initiative

Meet Colin Miller Of The Darkside InitiativePhoto: Courtesy of The Darkside Initiative
Stephen Jackson
Published on September 02, 2015

Colin Miller keeps it simple when it comes to fashion: he wears black most of the time. That's somewhat ironic, since he's been at the helm of one of San Francisco's most well-regarded urban streetwear boutiques for more than 15 years.

Miller moved to SF in late 1999 to open a third store in North Beach for now-defunct brand Recon, which also had locations in New York and Tokyo. In 2007, he broke away from Recon, and the store at 1827 Powell St. became The Darkside Initiative. Today, Darkside Initiative offers a handful of domestic streetwear brands, along with several of Japan's most sought-after lines, including WTAPS, Neighborhood, A Bathing Ape and Head Porter, and a few other foreign labels, such as Germany's Acronym.

As Miller expanded his selection, big shoe companies started courting his business, eager to have their most exclusive wares seen next to high-end, heavily sought-after clothing items. "It's not about money for them, it's about marketing," he explained. "They want to sit next to certain brands in certain boutiques, which is bizarre, because I'm not that guy. I wear the same things every day. We didn't seek out these accounts, but we would end up with their top-tiered programs."

Photo: Stephen Jackson/Hoodline

By "top-tiered programs," Miller is referring to elite groups like the Adidas Consortium, which sells limited-release sneakers and collaborates with other streetwear brands. The Darkside Initiative sometimes collaborates directly with certain brands to create these coveted limited-run sneakers; this past fall, they created the "Armored" Pack, two unique pairs of Vans that carried price tags of $180 and $225, respectively.

Most recently, Darkside was one of only 15 stores in the U.S. to receive 11 pairs of Kanye West's coveted Adidas Yeezy Boost sneakers for retail sale. Priced at $350, they frequently sell on the secondary market for thousands. In fact, the frenzy that ensued over West's previous shoe collaboration with Nike prompted Miller to sell the new Adidas pairs via an online raffle, instead of in person. "When Nike had their Kanye West stuff, some kids camped outside for eight days," he told us. 

However, some sneaker fanatics derided Miller's decision to hold the online lottery. A few took to social media and dragged his name through the mud, claiming that he "screwed all the locals" and even threatening his physical safety. Miller remained surprisingly calm. "We like our customers. It's only a handful of kids that can't control themselves. Most people have a sense of decorum, some idea of the social contract." 

Photo: Stephen Jackson/Hoodline

Originally from Philadelphia, Miller got his start in streetwear with his own tactical-style brand, called Spec Ops. He launched the business in 1996, and later worked for Recon as a graphic designer before opening the SF store.

He's since designed for brands like Vans, Upper Playground and FTC. He's also done some work for the music industry, making designs for Phish's Trey Anastasio and creating the album art for Deltron 3030's 2000 self-titled album. He even ran an art gallery in the basement of Recon from 2000 to 2003, but shut it down due to lack of interest. "We sold Banksy prints for $100, but people didn't want them" at the time, he said. 

Image: Courtesy of Colin Miller

15 years in, Miller is still very happy with his North Beach location. "I think North Beach is generally a good neighborhood. There are good independent stores, good restaurants and a genuine neighborhood feel," he said. "You see kids, families. It's a nice neighborhood. I see kids walking to school by themselves; you don't see that in Philadelphia."

With such a unique and exclusive selection of brands, Miller doesn't feel that the recent uptick in similar streetwear shops are a threat to his business. "We don't feel in competition with anyone. We all carry different things. That's been the impetus for us to not carry the same brands as other stores. We need you to have a reason to come across the city."

Photo: Stephen Jackson/Hoodline

Currently, Miller is working to expand his web sales, along with his social media presence on Instagram and Facebook. "We see the results, and it's another way to serve the customer. You don't have a business without customers, and you don't have a business unless the customers are happy."

He also plans to keep putting customers first by providing them with the unique product selection that has allowed them to stand out over the years. "We try not to be followers, we are more timeless. If we don't have something a customer wants, we'll call other places and send people there. If we're good to those people, they'll come back for the next thing. We keep prices at what they should be and keep kids coming back. We don't have a short-term outlook on what goes down. Some places run a sprint, not a marathon. We're not that kind of business."

"Cool people are people that are cool to other people," he added.