Story and Photos by Kathleen Gasperini and Tom Wallace The flagship Agenda trade show in Long Beach, CA, from January 7-8, 2014, represented a quintessential snapshot of where the marketplace of streetwear, action sports, and music-inspired lifestyle apparel, footwear, and accessories is headed. The show was packed with business being done at the brisk pace […]
Eco-friendly solutions that are working in action sports. Now for snowboarding and skiing.
The guys behind the legendary core brand alife, Rob and Arnell, are not the type of guys who are going to spill their guts to media about how they stay so original in order to prove their cred-factor. They simply are original and have gained cred by working seriously hard for a long time on aesthetics, product, and quality results that embrace their lifestyle -which happens to be enviable in today’s contemporary street fashion scene. These guys, who were the Creative Directors for Mass Appeal Magazine, presented graffiti art and the artists behind the scenes in such original formats that some account it for being the birth of the mainstream graff movement of today.
Smack in the middle of an economic landscape that has torn retailers apart and sunk galleries into oblivion, up pops Swiv Tackle Circus in Oceanside, CA, a gritty little beach community on the northern edge of San Diego and an outpost for skaters, surfers, and artists. As original as its name, Swiv Tackle Circus has redefined what it means to be a retail store, gallery, and community gathering space. Known as a “gallertique” as in part boutique and part gallery, the 3,500 square-foot space owned by Shaney Jo Darden and Jeff Black, and managed with partners Desiree Dawn Kuhn and Kirsten Kuhn, gives new meaning and hope to the concept of having a business and artistic gathering space that pushes forward creativity and new ideas, rather than constricts life based on outside forces of bad economics. The concept is the epitome of DIY in that it’s so CYOO (create your own oasis).