This Gay Owned Business is Wearing Love on Their Sleeves

If you want something to grow, you must give it light and love. Nourishing rays and nurturing affection combine to form a potent concoction that invigorates us from our roots all the way up to our limbs. This strategy works on both a micro and macro level, so whether you’re striving for personal growth or business expansion, just follow a simple mantra…

“Our motto is let the sun shine in. We’re El Tuggle.”

Rodrigo Tuggle beams with warmth as he conveys his fierce philosophy before passing the baton to his husband and partner, Robert Tuggle.

“Every time Rodrigo and I would go off on vacations, it was always somewhere, quote unquote, ‘resort,’ by the beach, in the sun. Just something that had that vibe of what would one pack for a resort. It’s just comfortable clothing. Lightweight, we always gravitate towards lightweight because we always seem to want to go to the beach… It launched our thought process of what we would do if it was our own line.”

Putting passion into practice, Rodrigo punctuates the central motif of El Tuggle. “Resort goes hand in hand with the feeling of happiness when you’re on vacation. It’s one of the times that people remember the most, when you’re at ease, when you are completely thinking of enjoying yourself from dusk to dawn.”

The Tuggles’ R&R is well earned and wonderfully deserved. Their journey from dreamers to doers is an inspiring one, and it began in Robert’s romper room days. “I’ve been constructing and sewing for as long as I can remember. I know a lot of designers say that, but I think I started with my grandmother at age four and knew what I wanted to do through junior high, high school, probably before I knew what a designer was.”

When Robert applied his instincts to higher education, the results were next level.

“I ended up going out to Los Angeles at Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design and got my degree, BFA in design, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I wouldn’t know anything else to do… I thought, ‘What would I want to do every single day of the rest of my life?’ And that’s how it happened. That’s clothing.”

Rodrigo’s path was similarly focused and fabulous.

“I went to school for an MBA, and so I’m business oriented. But I’m a very creative person. I really love fashion, I’m Latino and, you know, I dress well, live well.”

For the Tuggles, the end of school marked the beginning of their soul search. “When I graduated,” recounts Robert, “how many companies did I reach out to after graduation? And that’s always in the graduates’ back of their head. ‘When am I going to get it? How am I going to get a job? Am I going to get a job?’ I’ve always had a connection – even after graduation – with the school I went to. And I will help them out as much as I can.”

Robert (Left) Rodrigo (Right)

In addition to mentoring his Parsons pupils, Robert was building a network of potential collaborators. “We’re always thinking of how we can promote a younger designer as well as someone in their 80s who might think, ‘you know, what am I going to do? I don’t want to be retired. I’m too active.’”

At this point, the couple’s biography becomes a love story.

“I’m from Mexico City,” Rodrigo narrates, “but I ended up in Seattle some years ago, and that’s where we met nine, almost ten years ago. We clicked and the rest is history.” It is a history full of exploration and innovation. “We were bringing pop ups around the country, our resort collections. And that’s how we got to establish a lot of exceptional relationships with future customers. And one of those times we ended up in Palm Springs. We got married here in Palm Springs, so, we have a lot of history here. And we have a connection. I think it’s a perfect fit.”

The Tuggles’ wanderlust galvanized their whimsical yet worldly aesthetic.

“We love the experience of finding local design and authentic things that I’m not going to find back home that are going to remind me of that moment of happiness and vacation where I purchased the item.”

But no matter how far they roamed, Palm Springs always felt like home.

“The goal,” declares Rodrigo, “was to find a space for our first brick and mortar.” El Tuggle became more than just a storefront; it became a beacon. “It’s about bringing them to our happy place in the desert. Because that’s the way we feel here.”

Immediately, their brand bloomed in the Coachella Valley heat.

“We are El Tuggle, we’re two gay men. Our clothing is for all men, not only for gay men. We have a big line for straight guys that love design and color.”

“We definitely have our own language,” Robert interjects. “It’s about fun details, colorful details, colors, color themes, color combinations, stories that you aren’t going to find in other brands.”

Despite their firmly unique vision, the Tuggles stress the value of broad perspectives. “We still have our finger on the pulse of what the industry is and the direction the industry is going in general. But we do not let that dictate what the collection is going to look like.”

Men’s wear became synonymous with El Tuggle, but their style has always defied rigid roles. “Women have connected to the way we do things,” explains Rodrigo, “from our flowy and light fabrics to our designs and colors. And for a while they were asking us to do things for them. And finally, this last collection, we introduced a small batch of items for the women in our store. We introduced it to give a little space to them, to make them feel included.”

With a friendly flourish, Rodrigo announces, “We opened the women’s side of the business, which we call La Tuggle… It’s our sister brand.”

Clarifying their mission statement, Robert adds, “We didn’t want to view it as a second thought like, ‘oh, we’ll just give the women a little group here.’ So, in order to really focus on women’s clothing and women’s designers, we wanted a separate space. So, it’s not an afterthought. No.”

“It’s one brand,” notes Rodrigo. “Even though La Tuggle just refers to the female side of it, it’s one brand. And we want them to connect with each other. That’s the way we design, there’s a story behind every collection that is reflected in the way we display the color story, the theme. And people get that.”

To tell that story as authentically as possible, the entrepreneurs enlisted female friends to step into the stylish spotlight.

“We call it a platform,” Rodrigo continues, “for women, art and design. When you have a product that you want to get out there, you get 99 rejections out of 100. It’s not easy for people to give you an opportunity. We wanted to utilize that platform to give women and women-owned brands the space needed to put their art out there.”

Honing in further, Rodrigo specifies, “The idea is to continue having collaborations with designers, women designers with the focus of LGBT, Latinx, Black-owned and anyone that needs an opportunity… that would be a good fit for us.”

Robert zooms out to paint the bigger picture of El Tuggle’s wondrous worldview. “We want to make sure that the brand is inclusive. You know, there’s so much ageism. I’m sorry to say, I see it in my industry, I see it in the business industry. And that’s really what we like about our jewelry designer in Riverside. I mean, she’s 80, 81 years old and she’s active, active, active, active… She just walked into our store and asked about our jewelry. And the conversation led to the fact that she’s a jewelry designer… and we connected.”

Finishing his hubby’s sentence, Rodrigo chirps, “With her story.”

El Tuggle embraces the narrative of our shared humanity – a tale that becomes more enriching when it includes a diversity of race, orientation, and gender.

“The women’s line is the best way to balance our art and our design,” surmises Rodrigo. “Bringing them into the equation. Equality. Mainly because it’s needed nowadays. And I think it’s healthy for everybody and everyone needs to be represented. And it’s fun! And when the formula works better, when you have your creations along with someone’s story of their creations and they complement each other, that’s what we want to portray in the way we curate and the way we utilize this space for everybody.”

Trevor Wayne’s Bold, Brilliant Palm Springs Pride Poster

The Palm Springs shop is a gallery of gregariousness, a cacophony of caring, and an enclave of innovation. The Tuggles open their hearts, minds, and doors to anyone ready to wear joy on their sleeves. “They have to come in for the experience,” invites Rodrigo. “It’s just all we hear, over and over and over. ‘Your clothing makes me so happy’ and we get so many compliments. It’s one of a kind. It is true design, and it’s something that you will not find anywhere else… It brings the best out of you when you wear our clothing.”

Expression and inclusion. El Tuggle and La Tuggle. Light and love. These are the threads that weave our community together. May they never part.

Visit them at 388 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262, and online at eltuggle.com.

[All photos courtesy of El Tuggle]