Bianca Chandon: After Alex Olson quit riding for Girl, he started exploring his interest in design. Inspired by a love for late-70s subcultures, Alex launched his own line, Bianca Chandon (its name a combination reference to Bianca Jagger and race car driver Olivier Chandon.) Channelling everything from the Paradise Garage’s booming disco soundtracks (he even made a Larry Levan capsule collection in memoriam of the legendary late DJ) to the tucked in, washed out street style found in Tom Bianchi’s Fire Island Pines polaroids, Bianca Chandon’s limited-production runs of both decks and apparel aren’t just for skaters.
Bronze Hardware: Imagine watching a skate video while your brain barfs up shards of every late 90s public access television show, after-school special intro segment, and basketball game you’ve ever seen. Now set that visual to a chopped and screwed soundtrack and drink something that will definitely give you a cavity out of a jazz solo cup. That’s Bronze Hardware. Launched back in 2012, the brand’s web 1.0 video aesthetic garnered a cult following of skaters who were fed up with watching big budget, high definition video parts. Bronze’s lo-fi spots made fast fans of Supreme, who have long stocked its shirts in the Lafayette St spot. But having just dropped its first, very legitimate collaboration with Palace, the brand is fast becoming one to watch.
Fucking Awesome: By now, you’ve probably seen (and flipped out over) that baby pink deck and t-shirt capsule featuring a teenage, shaven-head Chloë Sevigny cheesing for a yearbook photo. That shit was Fucking Awesome. Although Jason Dill’s skate brand has been around for 14 years, it started picking up steam when he and Anthony van Engelen resigned from Alien Workshop two years ago. These days, Dill and AVE are steadily producing limited runs of highly covetable decks featuring the aforementioned #tbt graphics, cut and sewn garments with a bootleg Snoopy, and a few hats here and there. They’ve also been building a strong crew of young riders that you might recognize from Supreme’s Bill Strobeck-lensed opus, Cherry. Recently, FA made pros out of Kevin Bradley and Nakel Smith, the first of the Cherry kids to land top titles.
Eli Reed: Last summer, Eli Reed lived my greatest dream and skated around the Playboy mansion, hippie jumping over a Playmate in a pale pink tuxedo. These days, Reed’s keeping the focus on clothes, and recently launched an expanded version of his eponymous line at Opening Ceremony. Although Reed incepted the line back in 2011, this season marks his first foray into a wider range of product offerings. Although this collection is coming with a heavy checkerboard motif, it still boasts a nod to beloved Playboy graphics.
Patta: Amsterdam-based lifestyle brand Patta is gaining a fast following since first opening its doors in 2004. In the same vein of Supreme, Patta has already racked up a series of insane collaborations, cashing in on its OG sneaker shop status and producing multiple capsules for Converse and Nike. The brand has also dropped a pair of Kangol buckets fit for LL Cool J and Liam Gallagher, as well as a beautiful Wild at Hartt collab with Carhartt’s skate division, WIP.
Credits
Text Emily Manning