Married duo Steven Mzar and Santiago Valencia López launched Haus of Marica about three years ago, with a small Etsy store. Their wickedly naughty designs quickly earned them a cult following among gay men who know what’s what in both pop and cruising culture, and the brand has since grown by leaps and bounds. For example, they sell an oversized T-shirt where the phrase “I made you look” sits right at crotch level.
The business and the couple are currently based in London, but they’re considering a move to Spain, where Mzar attended design school. They both grew up in Medellín, Colombia, and it was in Colombia where they first met.
Wander+Lust caught up with Mzar to ask about their love life, his sex life, the business, their travels and when the hell Haus of Marica is going to start selling underwear and swimwear.
Before I ask about the fashion brand, Haus of Marica, that you run with your partner, Santi, I want to ask about you and Santi as a couple.
We’ve been married for about 15 years now. We started when I was 17. Back in the day, there was this website called Hot or Not. This was before the apps. You would post a picture of yourself, and people would rate you from zero to 10 on how sexy you were. I was living in Spain and going to Colombia to visit family, and I posted a picture saying, “Hey, I’m a 17-year-old guy who’s going to be in Colombia. If you want to meet, send me a DM.” This guy gave me a 10 and asked if we could meet. We started chatting and quickly fell in love. I told him I was going to be a soap-opera star and move to Colombia to be with him. We lived there together for half a year. Then I came back to Europe. We were falling more and more in love, so I asked him to come over to Spain to be with me.
We got married to get him a visa—not very romantic, right? Then ten years ago, we moved here, to the UK. I got a job offer with a big well-known branding agency, and I couldn’t say no.
What do you like most about London?
It’s a little bit like New York, isn’t it? Everything happens in London and everything’s happening. You go outside and there’s always something new—new places to discover, new trends you didn’t know about. One of the good and bad things about London is that people are often here for just a few months or years, then they move on. You always get to meet new people, get new points of view, but at the same time, it’s hard to create a bond because people are leaving, too. For us, it’s got such a rich gay history, connected to cruising and clubbing and all of this stuff that is part of our community. London has contributed to the sexual awakening we’ve had as a couple.
Sexual awakenings? Tell me more.
We’ve been together a long time. We’re still in love and it’s perfect. But I think the only reason we’re still together is that a few years back, we decided to play with other people together, open a little window sexually. That’s been amazing. Suddenly, you know, I realize I’m into feet, sweaty socks, discovering new things like that.
Naughty. Speaking of which, the Haus of Marica brand is a bit naughty. You sell socks emblazoned with “Just sniff it.” Where did the idea for the company come from?
The idea started with me wanting to buy gay merch, right? The gay market is full of over-the-top diva rainbow merch that doesn’t really resonate with me. I wanted something a bit more subtle, but still kinky—something that celebrates cruising culture, but only for people who know. Something you can wear on the tube that’s not overly shouty but will get you a look from a stranger. I wanted a T-shirt that I would wear. Black and white.
It can be controversial, right? Because we are very inclusive of LGBTQ+. But within that spectrum, there is this masculine sexuality that needs to be celebrated as well. There’s a fine line between that and toxic masculinity, isolating other people from our community. But it’s not about that. It’s about: What do I look for? It’s really manly and sweaty. Masculine queerness is something we want to celebrate.
You mentioned “subtle,” but then you have a sweatshirt with “Choke me, daddy,” printed around the neckline.
The words are not subtle, but the way it’s designed is subtle. It’s just white type on your T-shirt or your jumper. I would feel comfortable wearing it to go out to a party or to Pride.
I love how you mix English and Spanish gay cultural references. Your company name, which is on some of your products, references “Marica,” which means “faggot” in Colombian Spanish, but it can also be said with affection. And you also have garments that say “Faggot.” But then you have shirts quoting Rihanna and Miley Cyrus. How do you come up with the references?
It’s pop culture, cruising culture and fetish culture. Dirty, naughty gay culture. We’re trying to re-own words like “Marica.” One rule we have is: Does it turn me on? Does it turn you on? We’re never going to do something that doesn’t turn us on.
Who are your customers?
Most of our customers are based in the States. A lot of people from Canada, but also Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Mostly North America.
North Americans appreciate Spanglish.
Yes, and I’d say the North American audience is more open to exploring new avenues of fashion. They’re not shy to wear this stuff, which you have to understand, so it can be niche.
We’ve talked about the ideas that are embedded in the fashion. But how are the clothes themselves sexy?
I don’t get any sex appeal from the item itself. It’s something that looks good and feels great. The guys we use on social media are guys we find sexy, that we like. They make it sexy.
How do you find the guys you’re using on social media, the guys you’re using as your models?
We have a hook-up profile and we sometimes get messages like, “We love what you’re doing. I would love to do this or that. Can I model for you?” The rest is very organic. People buy the stuff and send us pictures. Some guys are very passionate about the brand. They’ll send us dick pics wearing our stuff. It creates a sense of community. We haven’t paid anyone yet to wear our stuff or model for us.
I’m a little shocked you haven’t yet tapped into the huge gay market for underwear and bathing suits.
We’re aiming to do underwear, swimwear and a few other bits next year. We have a few ideas, which I can’t tell you yet. It’s going to be very subtle, because we like to keep everything black and white.
Is that how you’re going to take over the world, through underwear and swimwear?
That’s exactly how we’re going to take over.
You mentioned living in Spain before London.
We spend I don’t know how many weeks a year in Barcelona. Sitges, Maspalomas in Gran Canaria. Winter Pride in Maspalomas gets really crazy. And we go to Colombia a lot. For the swimwear and underwear stuff, we might actually do the production in Colombia.
Haus of Marica’s three favourite cities and why
Barcelona
Barcelona is just easy. There’s a great balance between it being an interesting city and the quality of life there. You can walk everywhere. There’s sunshine. People are smiling. It sounds very cheesy, but it’s true. We’re slowly retiring from partying, but you can start clubbing there at 3 a.m.
Boyberry (Carrer de Calàbria 96, L’Eixample, Barcelona). It’s a cruising spot that’s open from lunchtime to 11 p.m. Cruising heaven. It’s like a sauna without the sauna, if that makes sense. All the tourists go there, locals too. Everyone goes there.
Safari Disco Club (Carrer de Tarragona 141, Sants-Montjuïc, Barcelona). We love two parties that happen here: Bananas! which is on Friday nights, and Yass! which is on Saturday nights. Depends on the party, but the music is gay pop, with a bit of reggaeton, a bit of everything. There’s a techno room. Bananas! is supposed to be more about bearded guys. Yass! is supposed to be a younger crowd. But to be honest, they both feel the same.
Churros (various locations, often Sala Apolo, Carrer Nou de la Rambla 113, Sants-Montjuïc, Barcelona). That’s the party that Katy Perry went to a couple of months ago—it’s our favourite place now on Sundays. The great thing about it is the unexpected. One night you see Katy Perry, the next it’s a drag show. The music can range from Madonna to Bad Bunny.
Medellín
First, it’s kind of home, right? Second, because Colombian guys are just sexy and flirty. The moment you go out walking it’s constant flirting and smiles. Nightlife is a lot of dancing, sweaty dancing, close together.
Bar Chiquita (Cra. 37 #8a-88, El Poblado, Medellín). One of the best bars in the world. Amazing decoration, great music, drag shows and very welcoming.
Club Oráculo (Cra. 36 #8A-123, El Poblado, Medellín). It’s the same owner as Bar Chiquita, so there’s a similar aesthetic to the décor, but it’s a dance club.
Jardín (about a three hour drive south of Medellín). I would suggest any visitors leave the city and go to some small towns around Medellín, which are beautiful. Jardín is so completely different, from the way people interact to the landscape. It’s such a beautiful drive.
London
We’re getting over London at the moment, but it’s a great city for being gay. You have Dalston. You’ve got the iconic nightclub Heaven (9 The Arches, Villiers St., London), Soho. Royal Vauxhall Tavern (372 Kennington Ln., London). All of these places are absolutely great. There are lots of options.
Cybil’s House (The White Swan Bar, 556 Commercial Rd., London). This party doesn’t happen that often, but we’ve had an amazing time every time we’ve gone. The East London venue is great. It’s not popular with tourists or anything. It’s just free. Drag queens. Gay pop. The crowd is everything, whatever you want to be or represent.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
