The iconic sunglass company is back/never left! What other bits of 2000s nostalgia do you long for?
Last week was a stunner, no? First the Eddie was on and then the Eddie was off but it was OK because Jaws. Then the Titans of Mavericks was on and Nic Lamb won and the Committee of Five nodded solemnly. And then Red Bull found it in the goodness of their hearts to point cameras at Pipeline and let us gorge off the teat all day long.
What else happened? Justice Scalia died in his sleep sending Rory Parker into a fit of ecstatic paroxysms, Nazarè put on a wonderful show, Kelly Slater turned 44 and iconic sunglass brand VonZipper was announced dead also in its sleep. The reporting entity stated the reasoning was that VZ made sunglasses that, “swallowed the entire face.”
And so sad. Parko, Taj, the late, great Andy Irons each made VonZipper mainstays of the 2000s. Bold, colorful, sassy and fun. Sure maybe a little large but everything was oversized at that heady turn of the century from pant legs to paychecks. The times, they were as big as our dreams.
Yes, the passing saddened me and partially because it feels, stylistically, that 2000-2005 is ripe for a nostalgic comeback. We could all use a dash of bold, colorful, sassy and fun in our ready-to-wear. It would show ISIS that we are unbowed. It would let Putin know to leave the West alone or else. Without VZ shielding our eyes from the horrors of a refugee crisis, stalled Chinese economy, racial tensions in Europe and the US, a raging Zika epidemic, stagnating global wages, though, things would not feel quite right.
But how our emotions can turn on a dime! This morning I woke up to find a retraction of the VonZipper obituary buried at the tail end of a different story! It read:
Oh, and please consider this is an official retraction from the Stab Department of WordPress CMS Login Details. Stab reported in Gossip Girl a few days ago that we’d heard a rumour that VonZipper was closing its doors. Well, we got it wrong. Very wrong. VonZipper is alive and well, and any surf industry whispers are false. We for one, are glad that one of the most beloved eyewear brands in the game will be continuing. We sincerely apologise to all that were affected by our inaccuracy.
And this has made my day! I know how fickle rumors can be. How, in trying to artfully recreate a style of reportage, in trying to rush first to market, important details can slip away. I mean, I don’t know but I’ve heard. In any case, welcome back to the land of the living VonZipper! May your future be as bright as your past!
And while we are discussing 2000-2005 nostalgia…which bit would you most like to reconstitute? Kelly already has a lock on the potato chip surfboard but what else? What would you like to see? What do you miss?
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What would GT do if they closed shop?
Sad indeed to claim a brand is closing doors without a fact check… Highly damaging and disappointing..
we’re past 2000-2005? holy shit. fucking bongs.
bring back von dutch
I would like to be walking up the beach with AI after he’d smashed Kelly in an early round of the Pipe Masters in 2000, snapping a board in the process. His eyes alight and flaming with the thrill of battle. And then hearing Kelly trying to joke about it: “Everyone’s all ‘Y2K! Andy Irons!”, and knowing by the tone of his voice that he was not liking it one bit. And knowing the greatest duel in professional surfing history was about to commence. I would really like that again.
A-fuckin-men, NC.
Ummmmmmm. Do you work for VZ? Is this your first time to BeachGrit?
Wasn’t it Stab who reported this in the first place? Makes me wonder why they didn’t just walk across the surfstitch carpark and ask someone, but I digress. I agree VZ isn’t going anywhere except up (it can’t go any lower right?) P.s How is it working there?
I miss 90s drugs.
Blood feud – stab vs VZ
Nothing. I do not miss anything from that garbage period of time.
The 90’s ya wipper snapper
Easy to understand why the world is politically a complete mess when journalists do not realise ISIS has been conducting a proxy war on behalf of the West and when journalists condemn Putin for smashing the ISIS regime change army. Stick to surfing & WhoIsJOB. .
Ummmmmmmmm
I love this contrarian. It’s like he has clicked on the second Google results page and found God.
Please let Nick Dee write an article please.
i second that motion. Derek let me contribute!
Flash is cool. Give him a pen & paper!
No! I don’t want in. I was giving you the nod..My reference to Derek was a story I passed up and got quoted.
You voyeuristically write articles in Hawaii (wherever) while my & Kelly’s people are being butchered in Syria. Unlike you, I have examined & researched the situation extensively. Try to be careful with what you write because innocent lives are being lost due to propaganda. I have no bias. If you truly believe ISIS are against the US-Alliance then where did they get their weapons & supplies from for the last 5 years? Which borders were the international gangs of mercenaries crossing? Who was buying the ISIS oil? Asking these obvious & simple questions are steps in uncovering the truth.
Sorry Nick but you’re just spamming this site. BeachGrit’s unique Anti-Depressant Ultra Hard Surf Candy “journalism” and your take on subject matter are just not gelling… So I’m going to put you on the Blacklist for a few weeks.
fuck thats a bit harsh. he is a bit of a cunt muppet, but there’s only so much “manufractured” surf “news” out there.. & everyone loves a bit of conspiracy theory
Everyone loves “a bit” of conspiracy… exactly my point.
really. his ‘unbiased’ rants are wonderful. they are the heights of hard candy surf journalism. i for one love the spamming overlord. #letnickdeestay
as long as it doesnt backfire like the once hilarious Donald Trump joke did. never expected about 20 million people to miss the punch line.
Maybe you should have been up-voting him then. Nick’s 200 comments to 1 up-vote ratio said alot…. also his thinly veiled karma infused death threat last week riled me to this point.
Anyway this sort of overlord censorship behaviour is only going to fuel his theories. Shutting down the truth….
Oh fuck, you’re a Zionist bastard!
Pfft. Someone read half an article once online somewhere…
But as far as what id like to see come back, and I may be biased here, but photographers/videographers getting paid a decent wage for their content. The internet runs off content and were out here producing it and sending off emails to editors and brands around the globe. My favorite line is,”we dont pay for video clips but we can feature it if you give us a link to a vimeo/youtube” or the emails asking for any shots of “rider mctubeface of the month” with no offer of compensation other than “exposure” does anyone know what a basic gear kit cost for photo and video? Somewhere between 5-10k want to go RED? tack on an extra $30k. I will say there are still a few places who honor this, and getting to that level is tough, but can be done. For a challenge to see the importance of images, go ahead and make a text only surf website/magazine and tell me how much ad space you sell…
The advantage of film was the barrier to entry and the learning curve was greater. Wait till the next crop photo bros crawl into the line up. My advice to you and ‘Pickles’ stop the whining. Its feeble to the ears of media and ‘X’ industry, and have a back up plan in case you have to retool your career. You can only hold on to a hand full of sand for so long. Is it still the norm to hand over the rights and/or equal rights to the Big Red Bully? Writers have a guild… Magnum Photo perfect example how a group of best photo journalist control their interest.
Im cashing checks still so im not too stressing it. Just seems fucked that its really only sports shooters getting the raw deal. Even S.I. ditched their photo team to use getty where photogs only score $2.50 per image used. I have back up jobs in the industry and beyond too. It doesnt make it like it was pre collapse when surf companies had massive marketing budgets
The whole photo industry has been affected not just sports! Advertising, Architectural, PJ…. All! Guild or Union is the way to go. All around the country you have regional advertising shooters that are good but not quite at the national advertising campaign level. That work with local advertising agencies shooting local medical, education, government, catalog… They got squeezed hard. I could go on and will. My own sister has a window banner up right now of my nephew, fins out, lighting is good… the banner has to be 5’x12′. She probably gave it to quikvolbongcurl! The best thing about it is she doesn’t even know how to select focus on her camera etc. etc. I have had two “come to jesus conversations” with her about giving images away and how it hurts the guys doing it full time. Its not affecting her dinner plate so and the brand is pumped. Me bitter? Yes sir.
From what ive heard arnette is pulling out of america. But I could see how the telephone game could turn that to VZ closing shop, especially considering the source.
VonZipper is not closing shop!! The Stab article Derek referenced is completely false
I miss the days before GoPro made everyone think their surfing was worth viewing from horrible, unflattering photographic angles. Leave surf photography to the photographers.
Amen!