Ride is a channel on YouTube created by Tony Hawk and friends, and ‘Let the good times roll’ is one of my favorite segments on there. It’s basically a behind the scenes look into Jamie Thomas’ life of skateboarding and his distribution company Black Box, which houses and distributes: Fallen, Zero, mystery, $lave, Insight, etc
I just like this segment cause Jamie seems like an all around good guy. Not one of those douchebag drunk burnouts that used to skate, yell in other kid’s faces and break things.
(kids, don’t be that guy)
I respect that he’s constantly pushing the limits of whatever “trick” he attempts, whether it’s a ollie melon down a 18 foot drop or breaking out to becoming a major tycoon and magnate within the skateboarding world.
He also has balls made of steel, peep the last trick he attempts to do on the Zero video, “Thrill Of It All”.
Since this is a blog, I’ve decided to treat it like my old Xanga page…just once a week. Am I breaking the blogging rules by not putting up fun, entertaining, cool posts to try and get you to come once a day to look at what we’re doing? Probably so, but I’ve found that it’s always better to be honest with yourself, no matter the consequences.
For example, Bobby from The Hundreds is a great blogger because he’s honest. I believe starting out he was always a much better blogger/writer than he was a fashion designer/artist, and he definitely used his strong points to grow his company into what it is now. (of course there’s a lot more than a good blog to succeed) What does that say about the streetwear customer? Culture and identity is a lot more important than the quality of a t-shirt or it’s graphics even. Our music, movies, art. Our passions. There definitely are brands out there that produce better made garments and in my opinion better quality art/design on t-shirts. But who else has a t-shirt with an obscure reference to Back to the Future? T-shirt with Johnny and the cobra-kai in their halloween skeleton costumes? I love that about The Hundreds. They bring everything that we grew up loving as a kid in the 80’s & 90’s to a customer that would otherwise have no idea these things even existed…and they educate them. I still meet people today that hasn’t seen Braveheart. How can you not have seen Braveheart?? It’s a sad thought to think that people go on living not having experienced certain things in life and with the possibility of death (cause you never know when you’re going) it’s a sad thought to think that a person can leave this planet not having seen Back to the Future. Or never trying korean food. Or never seeing Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
Anyway, so Kennedy was born about a week ago with the arrival of it’s first production. I’ve been working day and night trying to figure out how to get these jeans into stores and it’s been a humbling roller coaster. When it comes to the know-how of manufacturing jeans, I’m pretty confident to say that we have that end covered. When it comes to the other end of this business, (marketing, sales, social media, etc.) we’re still a toddler with our legs wobbly trying to stand up. It might seem like it’s easy, but actually doing it you find that there’s definitely more involved. In my brain it was a lot simpler: Make a good product, customers will take it. If only we were cooking Meth like Heisenberg in Breaking Bad, it would probably be that simple. I was actually having this discussion with a good friend about this comparison with Kennedy a few days ago. We have jeans (in my opinion) that are better made, better branded, and better loved like the Meth that Heisenberg was cooking, 99% pure. And the competition that cooks inferior meth has a current hold of the market. The question is now, how do we show the customer that it’s actually a better product? Or Don Draper’s problem on Mad Men, how do you switch the brand of cigarettes a smoker smokes? Yeah, you’re right the answer is probably better marketing but really…what does that mean? We have to show the customer that our jeans are cooler than the next? We as a company have more interesting and fun lives than the next? Cause honestly, we’re probably not. Well, maybe. I mean you compare us to Jeff Staple who’s flying around in private jets with the CEO of Nike, then yeah…our lives might seem like a big suck. Only thing we can present is honesty in the journey.
As of now (1 week in) we have only a handful of customers. We have no coverage or features on blogs, magazines etc. We have zero athletes that are sponsored by us. We don’t have a skate team that travels the world or an in house DJ that spins music for us while we eat. What we do have is me, my family, my close friends and God. The rest may or may not come, but it’ll be a journey in which we’ll both embark on nevertheless.
As Doc Brown would say, “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads…”
Thanks for reading.
Our season down here in So. Cal last year looked pretty much exactly opposite of what the Northwest looked like. What does it look like after Whistler gets 5 days of snow? The Burton team riders Jussi Oksanen, John Jackson, Mikkel Bang, Mikey Rencz, Mark Sollors and Jeremy Jones show us with a little snow porn.
I love the very last shot they take with the credits, makes me feel that I’m there and not in my office paying bills.
Ordos, inner China is China’s biggest ghost town and now the worlds biggest skatepark. Looks like a map taken from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Great shots, great riding, great video.
50 years running, The Rolling Stones just released a new single, “Doom and Gloom” – their first in more than 7 years – it’s clear that they can still rock the hell out of my 6-speakers in my Subaru. Call it a reunion, a comeback or whatever. I call it pure talent.
The Rolling Stones new three-disc GRRR! Greatest Hits set is coming November 20, 2012, just in time for you to get it for you friends for Christmas…or your dad for Christmas.
It’s very rare in So. Cal. but we do get pow days. If you’ve ever rode on fresh powder with anything that has a smooth surface (snowboard, skis, sled, trash lid, etc) you’ve felt what resonates inside my brain the entire summer.
Lets pray for good snow this season guys, and a lot of it.
JUST when you think you are out, he pulls you back in…to buying more toys
Brooklyn artist Kaws brings his version of one of my favorite cartoon characters, Astro Boy.
It’s set to be released in the coming weeks, tentative date is 10/27/12. I’m wondering if he’ll do another Damien Hirst rip off and show half of Astro Boy’s insides…with his robotic parts mmm yes, I am a huge nerd.
I wouldn’t normally post up videos/commercials that promote other brands, but Carhartt is a brand that I’ve admired for years and is one that I’ll make an exception for. Carhartt is a brand that I look up to simply because of their heritage and principles as a company.
Also, like Kennedy Denim, they’re Made in the U.S.A. and their focus is on the people, more specifically, the workers of America.
A good friend of ours, David Flores who is known for his stained glass-style, has been killing it all over the streets of L.A. lately and his latest piece is one of my faves. A giant portrait of Coco Chanel that you could probably see from outer space, is gracing the side of U.S. Alterations shop on Robertson/Wilshire.
Go check it out in person, it’s definitely a different experience to see art in person than it is from your computer screen…
