Jonas Bevacqua, co-founder of hip-hop clothing line, dies at 33

Jonas Bevacqua, who co-founded the Orange County-based hip-hop and skateboarding clothing line known as LRG that became an influential fashion leader, has died. He was 33.

Bevacqua was found dead inside his Laguna Beach, Calif., home, the Orange County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday. Investigators were unsure how he died. An autopsy was expected to be completed Wednesday.

Bevacqua, who co-founded the Irvine, Calif., company with business partner Robert Wright in 1999, achieved success with products that appealed to artists, athletes and musicians such as Kobe Bryant and Kanye West.

LRG, or Lifted Research Group, created innovative designs that combined urban wear with skate apparel, Hymie Betesh told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. "In essence, they almost created a new genre in sportswear," said Betesh, chief executive of the clothing company DrJays.com.

By 2006, LRG had annual sales of $150 million, according to a 2009 profile of Bevacqua in The Orange County Register.

Bevacqua was born Oct. 23, 1977, according to public records, and was adopted into a family with six other adopted children of different races and ethnicities. Bevacqua said his background helped him succeed in the fashion industry.

"I didn't feel there was a clothing company to bridge the gap between all these different things that we were into — that spoke for that melting pot of what was going on. That's what LRG was all about," he told the Register.

Bevacqua is survived by his fiancee, son, parents and seven siblings, according to LRG.

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