Want to show off your 805 pride? New business sells SLO County prints, clothing

When Joanna Wemple moved from Orange County to San Luis Obispo 25 years ago, the first thing she noticed were the stars.

“My son was two years old at the time, and he goes, ‘Mommy, look at all the stars,’ and it was like he had never seen a star before,” Wemple told The Tribune.

That prompted a revelation: “We’ve got to get back to nature,” she said. “This was where I saw all different walks of life.”

Wemple’s time in SLO County inspired her to start 8-Oh Five, a new clothing and home goods brand highlighting the joy of the Central Coast.

“You look at the wine country, you have the ocean, there’s so much art here,” she said. “You have cowboy culture, ranchers. So that’s where it came from — this desire to create a real art-based product that people could wear or have in their homes to represent this amazing place that we live in.”

Wemple co-owns 8-Oh Five with Richard Westcott and Kathryn Trimmer-Westcott, with the art and designs by Canadian artist Miah Reeves, Wemple said.

The brand’s motto of, “It’s a Lifestyle,” translates to the multitude of lifestyles on the coast, Wemple said.

“You can be whoever you want in this,” Wemple said. “I call it a community, but it’s a big community from the North County all the way to South County. Everybody has their own lifestyle, and then we all come together to form this really amazing region that is 805 in the Central Coast.”

8-Oh Five sells graphic T-shirts, hoodies, pullovers, hats, stickers and blankets. Classic Central Coast events like the Mid-State Fair, wine festivals, SLO Film Fest and others are featured events on the designs, as well as all cities in the 805 area code.

“The quality is the most important part to us, and that the art is represented properly,” Wemple said. “People think I can just have something printed somewhere and it’s going to look great, but you lose the vibrancy of the color.

“Miah’s art, we want to always honor the art and the artist and represent it the way that they intended it to be represented.”

The brand’s price point ranges from the $2 stickers to a $75 wine tour camp fleece snap pullover.

The future of 8-Oh Five includes expanding to retail stores and more art designs, Wemple said. It will also expand its home goods section and prints.

“The point is that it’s tangible art,” she said. “I can have this piece and be able to be like, that’s my backyard. To be able to have a memory and a reminder of how great this place is.”

For more information, visit 8-Oh Five’s website.