It was 1992, and I was about nine years old when we left La Villita and moved to the Gage Park neighborhood. Heavily influenced by my older siblings, I was inevitably introduced to partying at a very early age.
Underground parties had codes: in the pre-cell-phone days of the 90s, there were real-life checkpoints where you could get a map showing the way to the party location, where everyone knew everyone and gave hugs, enjoyed youth, music, and the underground culture. One store on Archer Ave., The Yard, was a checkpoint for many 90s parties.
In 2025, with high respect, I sat with Larry Mondragon, also known as Big Larry. He is owner of Definitive Selection, a Pilsen streetwear boutique geared towards “tastemakers, artists and aficionados,” according to its website. There is a bodega-style sign behind him that reads “The Most Dangerous Immigrants Came in 1492”. More bodega-style signs encircle his shop with excerpts from lyrics that shaped the Chicago-street scene of music and fashion, such as “JACK JACK JACK,” a phrase attributed to Chicago house DJ Steve “Silk” Hurley’s legendary 1986 track, “Jack Your Body.”
In 1986, Mondragon was a big music head himself, DJing and writing graffiti. He was standing at a bus stop one day when he saw another young man whose fashion sense identified him as a fellow traveler to Larry.
That young man was Jesse De La Pena. United by graffiti, music, fashion and culture, the two became lifelong friends. In the early 1990s, De La Pena and Mondragon opened a store on Archer and Kedzie with two other friends. There were not many stores selling freshwear and serving as a checkpoint for the party kids. But something very different about The Yard was that it sold supplies for writing graffiti, which supported the artists who gathered there and helped shape the culture.
Larry went on to work as a promoter with True Marketing, where he had the opportunity to work with big labels like Sony. With the evolution of music streaming, Mondragon oriented towards street-fashion marketing with mentors Fred and Sheryl McGowan.
In 2011, he cofounded Definitive Selection, initially a showroom, on 19th & Morgan with Luis Castro, Sean Alvarado and DJ Kim. Mondragon said that at first, people did not really know how to respond to a showroom, which promoted the brand but did not have retail. Eventually they responded to customer demand and began selling gear.
More recently, Definitive Selection moved to its current location at 1745 W. 18th St., where the gear includes anti-Trump politics in bodega-style lettering, Sade fandom, and Chicago culture in the 1990s. Remembering how he was mentored, Mondragon said he gives opportunities to young, local designers.
It’s more than fashion. It’s about cultivating culture and reminding by example what street culture was all about. Definitive Selection also has pop-ups, community events, and DJ sets—including from DJ De La Pena. When you visit, make sure you take your dog; Mondragon has treats behind the counter.
Definitive Selection, 1745 W. 18th St. Wednesdays–Saturdays, 1–6pm. (773) 318-3613, definitiveselection.com
Dulce Maria Diaz was born in Tumbiscatío de Ruiz in Michoacán, Mexico and raised in Chicago. She is a multidisciplinary self-taught artist. Following her study of Business for Artists at the University of Chicago, Dulce founded an arts and education non-profit organization, S.H.E. Gallery (Sharing Her Energy Gallery) in 2015. She is an adjunct lecturer for the Art Institute and works with other educational organizations such as Art Muse Chicago and Childhood Victories, as well as leading mural art clubs with Chicago Public Schools.