He alone will either make or break the greatest
ever theoretical surfer!
Remember when, two plus years ago and after
winning his first world title, John John Florence announced to the
world that he would be taking Ross Williams out of the World Surf
League announcer booth and set him up alone on a bench with big
sunglasses covering his face to be coach? I do. I remember it well
and remember the correlating emotional response of “Why?” If it
ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Right?
Well, John John won his second title the very next year and was
it because he is the best surfer in the world or because Ross
fiddled with the inputs and outputs and coached really well? We had
absolutely no way of knowing.
No way of knowing until this year. Students of the game are
aware that John John Florence, after losing to Jesse Mendes in Bali
is mired in the high teens. And let us read Longtom’s analysis of
his heat, and Ross’s reaction to it, here.
Is there anything sadder than watching John Florence surfing
this year? Yes… watching Ross Williams watch John write another
chapter in his 2018 novella Anatomy of a Bad Heat. Kaipo cornered
Ross for a quick interview and it was one of the most painful
broadcast moments in world sport. Ross stumbling and mumbling
platitudes that fall from his mouth like wet ashes. Platitudes that
he has obviously stopped believing in but there is nowhere else to
go.
In this chapter, John started weakly with a desultory
opening ride, then a non-make. A couple of clean makes in perfect
head-high surf saw him sitting on a heat score of 11.97. Jesse
Mendes needing a a five-something with three minutes holding
priority. The wave came, he launched a lofted tail-high backside
rotation and nailed the score. John head down looked as emasculated
as a sterilised lion. His head is a mess. Ross, get your man out
and claim an injury wildcard for next year. Get him out by any
means necessary.
Brilliant but more importantly brings us to a very important
inflection point in the John John Florence and Ross Williams saga.
One that I’ve been waiting for. For I believe from this moment on
we will have clarity as to the importance and value of
coaching.
If:
John John continues to flail this year and gets out of the gates
slowly next etc. I think we can lay all blame at the feet of Ross
Williams. We can say that he took the world’s greatest theoretical
surfer and destroyed him and wrecked him and dragged his carcass
along the coral heads.
John John finds a way out of this slump and wins some events and
starts next year hotter than a fever with world title number three
buzzing I think we can lay all praise at the feet of Ross Williams.
We can say he rescued the world’s greatest theoretical surfer from
a life of Dane and elevated him to his rightful place amongst
competitive professionals.
Right?
If you were Ross Williams would you like these scenarios, either
all blame or all credit? Well, it takes money to make money,
baby.
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Colapinto stayed in the heat but looked slightly
outclassed and over-powered despite a bigger hi-fi game. It was the
best heat of the year. Griff needed something big and found a loft,
lots of loft in a tail-high, no-grab reverse. The landing was
trick, the recovery insane and clean. Judges had to pay it big and
they did. Griff spent the rest of the heat camped on Wilko with an
annoying smirk on his dial. That would have been painful. |
Photo: WSL/Ed Sloane
Day 4, Keramas: “Nutty, almost
incomprehensible!”
By Longtom
The longest sustained run of good heats and
excellent surfing the WSL has put on this year.
Y’cut off a slice of that action today? Blew
it, if not. Best day of the year for WSL heats. The first non-weird
day of high-performance surfing in sick waves.
Actually there was one thing weird. V. much so. Have you
noticed, in the booth, the face of ’89 World Champ Martin Potter?
Smooth as a baby’s bum, right. Not a wrinkle, not a line to be
seen.
What’s the scoop Pottz? Few little sneaky botox injections
during those long, lingering afternoons after the trades get up?
You wouldn’t be the first. No, not me. My mate who loves the happy
endings. Terrible business.
Kaipo cornered Ross for a quick interview and it was one of the
most painful broadcast moments in world sport. Ross stumbling and
mumbling platitudes that fall from his mouth like wet ashes.
Platitudes that he has obviously stopped believing in but there is
nowhere else to go.
Is there anything sadder than watching John Florence surfing
this year? Yes… watching Ross Williams watch John write another
chapter in his 2018 novella Anatomy of a Bad Heat. Kaipo
cornered Ross for a quick interview and it was one of the most
painful broadcast moments in world sport. Ross stumbling and
mumbling platitudes that fall from his mouth like wet ashes.
Platitudes that he has obviously stopped believing in but there is
nowhere else to go.
In this chapter, John started weakly with a desultory opening
ride, then a non-make. A couple of clean makes in perfect head-high
surf saw him sitting on a heat score of 11.97. Jesse Mendes needing
a a five-something with three minutes holding priority. The wave
came, he launched a lofted tail-high backside rotation and nailed
the score. John head down looked as emasculated as a sterilised
lion. His head is a mess. Ross, get your man out and claim an
injury wildcard for next year. Get him out by any means
necessary.
What followed was the longest sustained run of good heats and
excellent surfing the WSL has put on this year. No distractions, no
comparisons to epic surf elsewhere. Clean air finally for an
organisationand
CEO that must this year be wondering who is sticking the needles
into the voodoo doll.
Bourez ripped the tops of waves off and sent star trails into
the heavens. Zeke came back and took the lead and Bourez took it
back, emphatically. Every wave was a showcase.
Owenand Cardoso
was a minor letdown by comparison with Cardoso finishing just on
top.
Wilko went ballistic mk2. No delay, no bobble off the bottom
turn. Every top turn perfectly sculpted and framed. Judges
low-balled his second wave by a point-and-half at least, then
highballed the next one to compensate.
Colapinto stayed in the heat but looked slightly outclassed and
over-powered despite a bigger hi-fi game. It was the best heat of
the year. Griff needed something big and found a loft, lots of loft
in a tail-high, no-grab reverse. The landing was trick, the
recovery insane and clean. Judges had to pay it big and they did.
Griff spent the rest of the heat camped on Wilko with an annoying
smirk on his dial. That would have been painful.
The big heats rolled on. Mikey v Julian. Each winning heat from
Mikey looks the same: a big opening wave exerting maximum pressure
and a strong follow up. Each losing heat likewise shares a certain
symmetry. This was one was different. It was Julian who skipped out
to an early lead and Mikey who was quiet and then under
pressure.
The heat turned as Mikey sold J-Dub on two dud waves to get
priority. A long flat spell ensued. Julian paddled right up the
reef. Why? A simple strategic error. Wouldn’t you sit on your man
and induce maximum pressure with each decision? Make him
think.With space
Mikey needed a 5.23 and surfed a minor set into oblivion for the
score. There was No claim. Julian fell on a heat-winning ride
behind. In Kaipo’s presser shown after the comp ended, Julian again
seemed not to have an understanding on why he lost, how he lost.
You can’t win a world title losing a heat at perfect head-high
Keramas.
That lanky, no-power style of February’s is just not going to
cut it on the CT. Which means go hi-fi or go home. There is
literally no other option. He’s not the only surfer in that
boat.
There were some obvious mismatches and these went to the
“house”, as expected. Medina/February was the most brutal mismatch.
Medina laid on a vulgar display of power, taking the Wilko no
bobble backside line and adding extra power and aggression to it.
It was insane, a rare example of what pro surfing can be.
Despite not finishing a wave properly Medina did not get a glove
laid on him by February. That lanky, no-power style is just not
going to cut it on the CT. Which means go hi-fi or go home. There
is literally no other option. He’s not the only surfer in that
boat.
Remember the old Modern Collective
days, when Jordy and Dane were going to save us all
from the mind-numbing threat of conservative surfing and deliver us
a rivalry bigger and better than AI/Slater?
Except it never happened.
Jordy/Filipe Final in head-high Keramas has the potential to be
the best surfing the WSL has ever seen.
Jordy retreated into safety surfing and here we are a decade
later wondering when the fuck Jordy was going to bring the noise.
He got half the band back together today. His half, but playing the
Mod Coll bangers. The endless turn angles and repertoire, the
violent direction changes and silky transitions. All there. Good as
ever. Jordy/Filipe Final in head-high Keramas has the potential to
be the best surfing the WSL has ever seen.
Will we get it?
Italo/Hermes was another mismatch with Italo blasting and just
falling on a bunch of aerial interpretations, shuv-its and
super-whipped rotations among them. It was superlative
entertainment.
De Souza reminded of that cartoon character, Yosemite Sam:
running around crazy firing at will on anything. Too much energy,
too much zest and variety and spark for Parko, who pushed too hard
off the bottom and lacked pop on a day when above-the-lip surfing,
even if not made, was a requirement to progress.
That led to the final heat of the day and the most monumental
mismatch. Toledo v Asing. Filipe’s opening ride was nutty, almost
incomprehensible. His next three waves were under-scored.
Airs,a clean club sandwich.
A couple of huge attempts not quite greased. A light onshore
crumble made it almost perfect for an advanced attack.
Strider spent the heat telling us about Asing’s legendary huge
heart and spirit. Which made me ask: fine, but where is the
strategy? Throwing threes and fours in the most rippable head-high
reef on the planet is guaranteed to be a losing game. Why not
swing? Save the neat little combos for another day. Throw something
up there and see what happens. But alas, my entreaties went
unanswered and the plucky little fighter will not live to fight
on.
There seems to be a knowledge gap at the highest level of Pro
Surfing, some failure to understand that doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting a different result is a form of
madness.
Never mind. Great day. Twelve heats. About as much as a gal can
stand. Someone out of Medina, Italo and Toledo will be world champ
this year.
Book it.
Corona Bali Protected Men’s Round 3
Results:
Heat 1: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 13.34 def. John John Florence (HAW)
11.37
Heat 2: Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.17 def. Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 12.97
Heat 3: Willian Cardoso (BRA) 12.00 def. Owen Wright (AUS)
10.37
Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.40 def. Michael Rodrigues (BRA)
8.83
Heat 5: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.84 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
15.40
Heat 6: Mikey Wright (AUS) 12.27 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 11.83
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.70 def. Michael February (ZAF)
9.44
Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.04 def. Frederico Morais (PRT)
13.50
Heat 9: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.36 def. Conner Coffin (USA) 9.00
Heat 10: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 14.30 def. Tomas Hermes (BRA)
10.10
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.13 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS)
13.46
Heat 12: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 14.43 def. Keanu Asing (HAW) 8.43
Corona Bali Protected Men’s Round 4
Matchups:
Heat 1: Jesse Mendes (BRA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Willian
Cardoso (BRA)
Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Griffin Colapinto (USA) vs. Mikey
Wright (AUS)
Heat 3: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Jordy
Smith (ZAF)
Heat 4: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Filipe
Toledo (BRA)
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Do you miss the sexiness of middle fingers pointing
north? Here, Creed McTaggart, left, and Noa Deane, brilliant, ever
so brilliant, but where did they go? | Photo: @whatyouth/nate
lawrence
Who Killed Craig, Creed, Noa and Dane?
By Travis Ferre
Do you miss their romance? Their sexy?
I’m torn. Because there are definitely two (and
probably more) ways to look at this depending on your level of
fandom for these dudes. But I feel like we haven’t seen them in a
while and that is significant.
And I know, I know, buncha fuckin’ hipster surfers etc,
but, seriously, where’d they go?
Let’s begin by looking at what they were doing last we
checked:
Dane Reynolds: Started Former, put
out Premium Violence, and added twins to the family.
OK,Dane’s busy —
and it’s usually when you start to really miss him that he
drops an “excerpt”-level vid out of nowhere and we remember him all
over again and beg him to compete orsomething. Please let that be
the case, minus the compete.
Noa Deane: Last time I saw Noa he was on the
deck at the Volcom Pipe house, soaking wet and fresh out of surfing
third or fourth or fifth reef Pipe (it was huge) with the core of
the core on the North Shore. He was right there, trading stories
with “The Boys” over a Stella — showing the world in his nonchalant
manner that he’s more than just a punk kid with a
middle finger. There was no media there to document
this, but I saw. He was earning it. Oh, and that deck hangout came
after he beat John John that morning in maxing and hectic second
reef Pipe at the Volcom Pipe Pro where he went on to make the semis
in what was very good Pipeline the whole way through. Is Volcom
holding? Hopefully…
Mitch Coleborn: Since most
his sponsors stopped paying photo incentives for magazines, Mitch
continues trying to qualify. He gets a great spot at the Volcom
House in Hawaii and when it’s good there, that’s good and he’s
good. Otherwise, you can still find him doing some of the best
straight airs to the side of most WQS contest areas and living in
California. And should he get on tour, the waves there will allow
him to thrive. Oh, and should the right filmmaker come along: Mitch
absolutely has another hammer of a section in him.
Dion Agius: Dion is officially a Tasmanian Devil after buying some
beautiful land on his home island state of Tassie. He
still has his hands in several brands (Epokhe and a sig line at
Globe etc) and and he’s always around the prettiest of girls. I’ve
also heard whispers of him producing a new Nti Sheeto film
if the resources can be found (I hope they are!). But until then, I
picture him on his Tasmanian porch, drinking coffee and talking to
Joe G in the morning, and drinking wine and talking to Kai Neville
in the evening. Something will come of those chats, right? Of
course they will.
Brendon Gibbens: In recent times, like Dill
and Beeg era times, Brendon would hang out for long periods of
time in the British Airways Lounge at London Heathrow, using it as
a hub for dismount to Portugal, or Mexico, or Indo, or back home to
SA to bag clips. And when he wasn’t doing that, he was dancing.
Like authentically dancing. I have to assume that hasn’t
changed. Please tell me that hasn’t changed. Dill and Beeg
II, coming any second, right?
Craig Anderson: Last I heard Craig was camping
in a van somewhere in Ireland with a bunch of boogie-boarders,
hunting slabs like the humble mad hipster he is. Proof he’s more
than a knee-knock highline and may have been, in fact, born too
late.
Creed McTaggart: Well, Creed is in a rock band,
partner in an Australian grip brand (RAGE) and I think he shows up
to Billabong shoots if they bring Iggy Pop. So that’s pretty
cool.
My takeaway from this short update: These dudes are
actually doing stuff (rad stuff even), but ever since the surf
industry decided to police itself, then acquire itself, and then
sell itself for likes and views and basically go upside down and
over the falls like that shark in the barrel on Instagram, these
dudes don’t have a whole lot of outlets to be seen on.
And with every brand acting as its own media company, when we do
see them, we only get commercials, not parts, or films, or
interesting interviews or stories.
Now, keep in mind: I am a hard-core surf romantic. I am
emotional with my surfing and surf videos and surf photos. And I
have long been a loyal industry pawn because of this.
But in return I expect vids and romance back. With anticipation.
Characters. Emotion. Style. Zest. Moxie. Fun. And it should be set
to a good fucking song. But most of these elements have become
extinct and diluted from the once intoxicating surf world.
And those were the places where we usually put guys like Dane,
Craig, Noa and Creed. They were the polarizing romantics and they
made surfing sexy and strange and unique. Now, the most “exciting”
places we can go in surf are the comment sections. And I’ve never
gotten jazzed on much of anything in there. And I’ve definitely
never gotten buzzed up enough to go surf from them.
Perhaps I’m getting older and realizing Santa Claus just aint
real and I should just go get insurance or something, but I can’t.
I actually love(d) the surf industry.
I have boxes of VHS’ and DVD’s and magazines that contain the
stoke of my adolescence and beyond. Every good (and shitty) surf
I’ve ever had was sparked and made better by the contents of those
boxes. And I still get supercharged when I hear a song come on from
a favorite surf vid. And this is why I used to shell out much more
than I earned on surf shit. Boards. Vids ($29.99 a pop!). Wetties.
Grip. Wax. And every flavor of t-shirt and trunks there was. All
because it made me fucking psyched, and if I’m going to support it,
I need to be fucking psyched. And currently, I rarely know where to
turn to get those feelings.
Which proves to me that something is wrong and it might start
here with these missing characters. But maybe that’s selfish of me.
Maybe those dudes are doing what I supported all along and are now
some of the best in the world at being actual freesurfers.
And that’s punk in its own way.
But I can’t believe that entirely, because I need them and the
romance and stoke they bring. I need a boned-out slob by any of
those four above. I need the yin to the WSL yang, so we can get
T&C Surf Designs out of Tilly’s and Pac Sun and back where it
belongs: as a sticker placed unironically on our walls that makes
us stoked enough when we see it to want a T&C tee to go with
our new Glenn Pang shape.
And for all that we need Dane, Creed, Craig and Noa all over our
phones and computers and TVs…set to a damn good song getting us
psyched.
Otherwise, we don’t deserve them and we should set them
free.
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Olympics: Jordy Smith left out in the
cold!
By Jen See
And other fascinating Olympic surf scenarios!
Okay, we’re not going to the Olympics, but some
surfers are going! Forty, to be exact. It’s going to be so
exciting. I am the kind of person who reads Olympic qualification
rules. This is my confession.
The US Olympic Trials event is widely considered the fastest
swim meet in the world. Held ahead of the summer games, the trials
meet decides the US Olympic team. The top two finishers in each
event go to the Olympics. Everyone else goes home. There are tears
of elation and crushing disappointments. It’s all very high
drama.
If you were hoping for a similarly tear-filled dénouement for
surfing, you will be disappointed. Sorry! But the selection process
does guarantee some excellent subplots for the 2019 CT events.
Spicy!
Here’s your handy guide to surfing’s Olympic selection, so you
can impress your friends with your arcane knowledge. You can
actually like a pro in the parking lot next weekend. Friends always
enjoy that kind of thing.
Details!
First, some details. Twenty women and twenty men comprise the
Olympic field in Tokyo. Each national committee may send a maximum
of two men and two women. That’s a team of four total, if you’re
trying to keep track at home. Thankfully, there is no complicated
math by which countries receive different allocations based on
their standings in the world rankings. (Hi, cycling) Four. You get
four.
If you want to surf the Olympics, you must also surf the 2019
and 2020 World Surfing Games. Qualifying standards for the World
Games appear to be still under construction. I did not see them, in
any case. Maybe I did not look hard enough.
World Tour Spice!
The selection process begins with the 2019 CT standings. Fuck
yeah! Now, we’re getting somewhere.
The first ten men — and the first eight women — in the CT
rankings in December 2019 go to the Olympics. That sounds simple,
but remember the part where each country may only send two surfers?
If you’re from the US, Australia, or Brazil, you’ll need to be
among the top two ranked surfers from your country on the CT. This
is where the fun begins.
Let’s pretend that the women’s Olympic selection were right now,
today. Steph Gilmore and Nikki Van
Dijk would represent Australia. Two-time world
champion Tyler Wright would be left out in the cold. Tati West
snags one of Brazil’s two slots, while Silvana needs to keep an eye
on her overall ranking to stay inside the selection window. I’m
sure Silvana was stoked to welcome her new… teammate.
For the US team, meanwhile, Lakey Peterson and Carissa Moore
would take the honors, but Caroline Marks is oh-so-close to
overtaking Moore. The joint marketing from Red Bull of Moore and
Marks gets a little extra zesty in this context.
The plot thickens significantly for the US team if Courtney
Conlogue reclimbs the rankings after her recent injury. Or if Malia
Manuel were to make a sudden run up the rankings. At the moment,
the judges look to love what Lakey’s selling, but if that changed,
the door might just swing open.
On the men’s side of the draw, the three-way battle among the
Brazilians Filipe Toledo, Italo Ferreira, and Gabriel Medina is
going to be lit as fuck. If it were up to me, I’d say send all
three. But I don’t make the rules around here.
The US selection, based on current rankings, would be Zeke Lau
and Griffin Colapinto, with Kolohe Andino breathing down
Colapinto’s neck. Florence is ranked fourth among the Americans at
the moment, which isn’t exactly where he’s going to want to be next
December. Surely, there’s an Olympics bonus in his contract.
Now pretend you’re Jordy Smith. You’re psyched, because you
don’t have to worry about beating out three other guys from South
Africa. But you still have some work to do. Because only ten men
receive selection from the CT, Jordy Smith would miss qualifying
based on current rankings. The ten slots available from the CT are
exhausted before we’d reach his ranking, which is currently tied
for 25th. Bummer, dude.
But Smith is not out of luck! He could still qualify without
climbing the pesky CT rankings. Read on, for how!
Second chances!
Four slots for men — and six for women — are on offer to the top
finishers in the 2020 ISA World Surfing Games. So if Jordy were to
finish in the top four at the World Games, he could still qualify,
even if he were outside the CT selection window. This is also a
potential qualifying route for women such as Silvana, Pauline Ado,
or Bianca Buitendang.
If your country has already exhausted its allocation on the CT —
like say, the US or Australia — you can’t qualify by way of the
World Games. Basically, this is the route for QS and lower-ranked
CT surfers whose countries have not yet qualified two athletes.
Continents!
Continents, we have them. They number five.
One surfer from each of the five continents will be eligible for
Olympic selection. Who will it be? The highest finisher from each
continent at the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games will qualify. For the
Americas, the 2019 Pan-American Games serve as the selection
event.
There’s a catch — they must finish with the top 30 overall at
the World Games. So, no Jamaican bobsled action, basically.
Here again, the two-surfer quota per country comes into play.
The qualifying standards form a hierarchy with the CT at the top.
If a country qualifies two surfers through the CT rankings, that’s
it! There are no other opportunities.
These additional qualifying routes offer a route for countries
with fewer top level pro surfers to send athletes to the Olympics.
Maybe there’ll be an upset! That could be fun times.
Locals Only!
Two surfers from Japan will be included in the event, if they do
not qualify by any other route. If Kanoa Igarashi failed to qualify
via the CT rankings, a high finish at the ISA Surfing World Games,
or as a continental qualifier, he could still pick up the local
ticket.
If Igarashi does qualify through the standard routes, the extra
slot gets thrown to the ISA Surfing World Games and an additional
athlete from the Games can qualify. So if you’re from a country
without CT athletes, you’re definitely hoping Igarashi finishes
high in the CT rankings.
There. You are all smarter
now! You can impress your
friends with all your knowledge. I confess that I love
few things more than Olympic selection drama, so I will totally
enjoy next year’s CT even more than usual. Maybe you will too!
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The Argument for Diversity in Surf!
By Chas Smith
Maybe it's time to give others a chance to fuck it
up too?
The surf industry has been in a dizzying fall
for the past… what… ten years? At least ten years. An utter
collapse. We’ve seen giant Quiksilver declare bankruptcy only to
come out, shepherded by distressed asset management firm Oaktree
Capital, and buy Billabong for pennies on the dollar. Rip Curl has
floated the idea of a sale for years now with nothing
materializing. Brands rolling over. Brands disappearing forever.
Shrinking bottom lines. Vanishing jobs
It is bleak with no real end in sight and as I have pondered the
whys and wherefores have come to the conclusion that the surf
industry is dying because it has lost its center. I have, in fact,
written a whole book on the subject called Cocaine + Surfing: A Love
Story!
But maybe the failure to embrace the love story with cocaine is
not the problem. Bobby Kim, co-founder of streetwear’s very
successful The Hundreds gave a speech at the recent Surf Industry
Manufacturers Association titled Can Surf Learn From
Streetwear? The entire thing is worth a read but let’s
read a passage together.
I had breakfast with Bob McKnight, founder of Quiksilver, a
few years ago, and he told me to exit the industry because the kids
didn’t care about clothing anymore. “They just want to buy
apps.” But Bob, with all due respect, was wrong. Since our breakfast
together, my sector of men’s fashion-STREETWEAR-exploded. There’s
Supreme, of course. The New York skate brand’s valuation topped a
billion dollars, thanks to global line-ups for limited items and
high-profile celebrity endorsements. Kanye’s adidas Yeezies are
this generation’s Air Jordan. Off-White’s Virgil Abloh and his
sneaker collaborations arguably put Nike back on the map. It’s not
unusual for me to look down at one of our customer’s receipts and
see that he’s spent hundreds of dollars on T-shirts and pants. Kids
aren’t spending hundreds of dollars in an afternoon on apps, but
they are tossing that kind of money on streetwear brands like Anti
Social Social Club, Pleasures, and Vetements. I can also give 10 speeches to outline why and how streetwear
has gotten so popular.
– It’s the limited edition thing. – It’s the collaborations and the high fashion
crossover. – It’s the meticulous attention to brand integrity.
Yet, today, I’m going to zero in on just one theory as to
streetwear’s resounding success in 2018. And, this hypothesis also
intersects with an obvious void that I see and feel in
surf. It’s the presence and power of racial diversity.
The case that Mr. Kim goes on to make is compelling because it
is about the bottom line more than moral integrity though I think
he should also speak to gender diversity. White men get blamed for
lots and lots but they deserve every ounce of blame for fucking the
surf industry up so badly. Maybe it’s time to give others a chance
to fuck it up too?