New ‘Wanted’ T-shirt line featuring shoplifter image launched by Vardagen store in Venice, Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — After a man was caught on video stealing from a clothing store in Los Angeles, instead of getting upset or filing a police report, the owner took a different approach: he started a clothing line.

“It’s a petty crime, and we were just trying to out-petty the petty,” said Jared Ingold, the founder and CEO of Vardagen, a clothing store on Abbott Kinney Boulevard. “So we were just kind of being silly with it.”

Ingold started Vardagen, which means “everyday” in Swedish, in his garage in 2017 and has been in Venice for seven years.

He’s the one behind all the clothes’ designs.

“We just take everyday things and then we play off of it, so we don’t really overthink if it’s positive or negative,” said Ingold. “We just want to be real about things and how they affect us and communicate that through fashion.”

Now, the store’s “Wanted” line is getting a lot of attention. It features T-shirts with the suspect’s image from the surveillance footage.

“I think it’s funny,” said Jessica Mah of Pennsylvania. “I mean, it’s hard to do anything about people stealing out of your store, so having people walking around with a wanted shirt is pretty funny.”

Some people said they believe the thief is homeless.

Ken Craft, the founder of the nonprofit Hope the Mission, which works to prevent and reduce homelessness, weighed in.

“I get it. I mean, you’re wanting to, you know, kind of highlight the fact that there’s this individual who’s been taking things from our stores. I just would hope that we would also be supportive to make sure that he gets the help that he needs to address the underlying issues that might be driving him to do such illegal activity,” Craft said.

Our sister station, ABC7 Eyewitness News in Los Angeles, spoke with employees from multiple stores on the wildly popular street who said they know the suspect.

They said he has stolen from their stores, and some of them have even banned him from coming in.

“We didn’t file a report or anything like that. It’s not about attacking a person. It’s just about making in-the-moment things and expressing ourselves. Really, it’s just an art form,” Ingold said.