When company founders leave, those who remain are forced to come to terms with exactly who the company is and what it is supposed to be. This can be made even more difficult when the company is purchased by a huge, international company and managers there begin wondering what their new brand has planned for the future. Oakley seems to be in that position right now.
Since founder Jim Jannard sold the company in 2007 it seems Oakley has been struggling for some kind of path forward. Their sports eyewear continues to sell well, but recently they’ve launched nothing in the way of innovative products.
This edit titled A Story of Disruption narrated by James T. KirkKevin Spacey is a reminder of all the “disruptive” innovative things Oakley has done. The idea is probably to suggest to all of us that a company with such an innovative past will continue to creative innovative products in the future. Sadly, there is nothing in the film to suggest there are any such products on the horizon. Only the promise that people with a space age home office must be able to come up with something that will make a “new and better future.” Guess we’ll just wait and see. . .
Adam Contoret, a standup paddler who is apparently tired of paddling, has equipped himself with a couple handheld jet engines and used them to propel himself across Chasewater Lake in Staffordshire, England. In this edit Doug Foden give the jets a little run. Wonder what happens when he falls into the water with those jet engines? Are they ruined for life? Could get kind of expensive.
Marcus Crossland, the Florida skate dad who decided to help his six-year-old son get over fear of the vert ramp by surprise kicking him off the coping appeared on NBC’s Today Show this morning to apologize and explain his “bonehead decision.” He says the repercussions from the video caused him to lose his job and now the family is thinking about moving.
How does Paul Rodriguez celebrate Cinco De Mayo? He takes his Primitive Skateboarding Luchador pro model out for a test drive. This edit was filmed by Kyle Steneide and Abraham Mayorga.
Last month a high school senior named Carly Monzo decided she wanted to go to prom (at her all-girl high school) with Shaun White.
So, Carly did what any self respecting high school girl would do. She made a video (click here to watch it) asking the former Olympic snowboarder to her prom, according to a story on NBC Philadelphia.
After a month with no response, Monzo figured her video was lost in the millions of tweets that her celeb crush normally receives. It’s a belief she held Friday night when she attended her prom at the Whitemarsh Valley Country Club. . . That all changed once she arrived and a school staffer called out her name. . . “I thought I was in trouble,” Monzo said. “I went out to the front and then all of a sudden the curtain on this photo booth dropped.” . . Behind the curtain was none other than White and his band “Bad Things.”
Rad to see how dressed up Monzo got without having a date. Guess that’s what makes Catholic School girls so, ah, . . oh, forget it. Follow the jump for her video. [click to continue…]
Desillusion Magazine created a nice little behind the scenes film of Jason Lee Parry shooting the Globe Spring 2014 look book. We were able to make it through this edit (where sometimes we don’t) thanks to the use of color, good lighting, focus, oh, and topless and/or nude girls. The results of this Mauntauk Summer edit can be viewed in Desillusion Magazine Issue 45 Tome 1 (their new hardcover book format) in a story titled First We Feel, Then We Fall. Click the link to order it up.
Rareform takes old advertising and makes surf and travel bags out it. Nice to see that sometimes old messages can survive the transitory nature of outdoor ads.
Founder and outdoor enthusiast, Alec Avedissian’s brilliant idea of billboards to bags came to mind during a surf trip to El Salvador where he noticed locals using old billboards to protect their homes from wet weather and the effect of mildew. Launched in September 2012, the former investment banker transitioned his life to reflect his passion for the environment and the outdoors; his now Rareform vinyl products are padded, waterproof, mildew-proof, and as tough as the products they protect due to the sturdy material each Rareform piece is created with. The one of a kind brand offers eco-friendly products ranging from surf bags, paddle bags, totes and backpacks to laptop and cell phone cases available in warm, cool, dark, light and mixed colors to ensure the best protection for outdoor gear.
Rareform bags are available at Patagonia, REI, and other retailers who sell high-priced outdoor gear to people who rarely go outdoors.
You know Greg Hunt from all his amazing skateboarding videos. But some people don’t. That’s why Leica’s Let Us Roam project is helping to get the word out. Like this:
Greg Hunt is a director and cinematographer that has shot some of the most influential skateboarding films of our time. He discovered photography and filmmaking while he was a pro skateboarder for Stereo Skateboards. After the making of the film “A Visual Sound”, he knew he wanted to buy a 16mm film camera. This purchase pushed him to take cinematography seriously and he’s never put the camera down since. Greg is now shooting the very first Vans skateboarding film and is in his final year of production. This film follows his path from skateboarder to filmmaker and offers a peek into his filmmaking process behind the Vans skate film.
