We were planning on doing these super list news link updates on the weekly, but last month seemed a bit shorter and our slow typing fingers failed the task. Take this as a catch up on all the news that caught our eye lately. we’ll attempt to do better moving forward. . . or not. Follow the jump for all the stories. Happy Friday.
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Vans just signed South African pro surfer Michael February to their global footwear and apparel team.
Recently featured in Vans’ surf film Can’t Steal Our Vibe alongside fellow teammates the Gudauskas brothers, February has been a driving force in Vans’ philanthropic initiative to inspire at-risk youth in South Africa through surfing. In partnership with Waves for Change, February helped to collect over 750 surfboards for local South Africa townships, helping kids heal through surfing.
For the official word from Vans, please follow the jump.
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Writer and former pro surfer Jamie Brisick has a story in The New Yorker, sadly, he had to lose his home to the Malibu fire to make it happen. In his Personal History story A Surfer’s Perspective on Malibu In Flames he explains what it was like to go back in during the evacuation to check on things. Here’s a piece.
The homes leading up to mine were gone, and so were the homes across the street. I pulled into the gravel driveway and got out of my car. The burning smell was like a punch in the face. There was nothing left of the front house, a ranch-style home where my neighbors—a husband, wife, twin thirteen-year-old daughters, and two loud dogs—had lived. I followed the winding concrete footpath back to my guesthouse. It used to be shaded by a canopy of trees, but the trees were no longer. Ditto the surfboard rack that held a half-dozen prized boards. I’d never seen a burned surfboard before. The foam had disintegrated, but the fibreglass husks remained. They resembled shed skin, or cocoons.
For the rest of his story, please click the link. Brisick’s perspective has much more to do with his being a great writer, than it does with being a surfer, but those East Coasties seem to have a thing for surfers who can write.
[Link: The New Yorker]
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Sadly, nothing in this Volcom + Hot Wheels collab comes in adult sizes. Guess we’ll all be forced into vicarious buying sprees. Come on now, V-Co.
[Link: Volcom]
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Tony Hawk announced today (November 14, 2018) that he is dropping in on the “agency” business model with D/CAL a “hybrid brand consultancy and creative agency based in Detroit and California, get it? Hawk is co-founding the business with partners Adam Wilson (Carhartt, McGarryBowen), Jared Prindle (Tony Hawk Inc., 900 Films), and Ryan Maconochie (Arc, Leo Burnett, Trisect). Katherine Huber is director of client services.
“I’ve worked with many brands and their agencies over the years and even as a relative outsider looking in, I understand the challenges between clients and agencies. Our approach is unique, with an emphasis on authenticity,” added Hawk.
D/CAL says current clients include: Michigan-based DROUGHT, and HoMedics, San Diego-based Tony Hawk Foundation, and Chicago-based CityBase. For the official word from D/CAL please follow the jump.
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Can you think of anything worse than selling your soul and then not getting paid? That’s the position 2John Florence has put himself in according to a lawsuit he filed against Monster Energy in May of 2018, according to a story in the New York Post.
According to the 26-year-old Florence. . . he and Monster cut a three-year marketing deal beginning in January 2017. . . Under the deal, Florence . . . agreed to promote Monster drinks for $350,000 a year plus $150,000 toward a marketing production that recounted his pursuit of his world surfing title, court records show. . . Nevertheless, Monster “has refused to pay any amount whatsoever under the 2017 agreement,” according to the suit, which has managed to stay under the media radar despite getting filed in California state court in May.
Monster claims that Florence hid “material facts” from the company during those contract negotiations. Florence says his dealings with Monster have been a series of broken promises and last minute changes to his contract. And, yeah, $350,000 in missing money is a pretty big deal. We hope 2John has learned his lesson when it comes to energy drinks–especially a brand with copious lawsuit experience.
Sidetone: if you’re in the Inland Empire today (November 14, 2018) you can stop by the Riverside, California superior courthouse and drop in on a conference hearing between the lawyers.
[Link: NY Post]
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Zombie brand extraordinaire, Airwalk, is hoping to ride the 90s wave of nostalgia right back to the top of the footwear game with the launch their latest “global ad campaign,” according to current owner Authentic Brands Group (Jamie Salter is the CEO, remember him?) The new campaign is titled Teen Spirit. Can you smell it? Here’s how they pitch it.
Returning to the brand’s roots, the 2018 campaign embraces the spirit of the Southern California teen that established Airwalk’s place in 90s culture. It gives consumers a candid look into the individuality, self-expression, and free-spirit that has shaped Airwalk’s identity for more than 30 years. . . .The campaign features The One, the Bloc, the Random, the Jim Lo, the Vic, and the Prototype. This assortment highlights Airwalk’s best sellers and a peek into what’s to come for the brand.
This just makes us miss footwear marketing/design genius Sinisa Egelja all the more. Hard to believe it has been nine years since his death on October 26, 2009. For the official word from Authentic Brand Group (which also owns Vision Street Wear), please follow the jump.
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Team Japan made junior surfing history and earned their first-ever Team Gold Medal at the 2018 VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship presented by Visit Huntington Beach.
Led by the individual Gold Medal performance by Boys U-18 competitor Keanu Kamiyama and four additional individual medals, Team Japan pushed ahead of Silver Medal Team USA to take the Junior Team World Title by a margin of 132 points.
Japan’s first-ever Junior Gold Medal performance comes shortly after an historic first Gold Medal for Team Japan in the World Surfing Games that took place in September in Tahara, Japan. It would appear the host country is getting ready for the Olympic debut of surfing. For the official word from the ISA, please follow the jump.
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When Beastie Boy Adam Yauch got into snowboarding it was a big deal to a lot of people. Not that we needed validation from the cool kids, but where he went the hoards followed. Here, in a clip from their new Beastie Boys Book is a little back story on the boys, MCA, and his obsession with snowboarding among other things. Click play for five minutes of Beastie Boys flavor via Soundcloud.
[Link: Beastie Boys Book]
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Jonah Hill’s mid90s is a great start of a movie. It is real, and moving, and serious and perfectly captures a slice of life for those coming of age in mid 90s skateboarding. The performances are solid, the characters mostly well developed, and the story hooked us right in, however, it’s missing a third act. Yeah, the “story” doesn’t wrap. Guess that’s better than going on too long, right? Here Jonah Hill, Sunny Suljic, Na-Kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia and Ryder McLaughlin speak with Hypebeast about how it was to make a film with first-time actors and skateboarders.
[Link: Hypebeast]
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