History of one brand: Palace
In the new rubric weWe tell the stories behind the labels of brands, the things of which many of us hang in the closet. This week we are talking about Palace - a manufacturer of skateboards and street clothes with a distinctive logo - a triangle, on each side of which a brand name is written.
More than rockers, girls love, it seems, only skaters. The Skateboards brand Palace, a brand entirely dedicated to the British thrash aesthetics of the 90s, which was founded four years ago by Leo Tanzhu, will quickly become your board in a skateboard company. Together with other pro-riders (among whom were Nick Jensen and Olli Todd), Lion lived in a squat on the south bank of the Thames, in the South Bank area. Once in a drunken stupor, someone suggested making everyone a tattoo with the name of their PWBC team, that is, the Palace Wayward Boys Choir. The next morning an enterprising Leo took to print a batch of T-shirts with the same logo, but then things didn't go further than T-shirts. Gradually, the team from the South Bank collapsed: someone found a permanent job, some serious sponsors took over. Leo did not despair and decided to organize his own brand for the production of skateboards. The only problem, as it seemed to him, was to assemble a new team. Who will risk to ride for an unknown brand? But there were volunteers. The first of them was Olli Todd, who at that time was a pro-driver from the Americans Stereo. Gradually caught up Lucien Clark, Blondie McCoy, Tori Goodall, Gabriel Plakrouz and Charlie Young.
For some two and a half years Palace Skateboards has become the coolest skatemark in London and one of the most successful in the world. "We are not just a company, we are a family, really. We are all real brothers," says Lev, with intonation inherent in skateboarders. He personally maintains the Palace blog, creates graphic prints with the participation of Fergus Purcell and artists Will Bankhead and Ben Drury, and also shoots video on a VHS-format camera. “The Internet is replete with records in HD, less often in VX, but VHS has become something new. Someone even thought that I had dug up ten-year-old recordings,” Leo laughs.
Aesthetics Palace is completely built on the British underground. The brand has much more in common with football fans than with the American West Coast, where the skate culture originated. “I have always ridden American boards,” says Tanju in an interview with Style.com. “And suddenly I thought ... I like English clothes and all kinds of strange jokes that happen only here, like gatherings of football hooligans. I wanted to do something very British. And, of course, collaborate with Umbro and Reebok - the brands I wore when I was a child. "
Dreams were destined to come true - both collaborations took place. In the summer of 2012, together with the Manchester brand Umbro, they released a limited line of T-shirts and jackets. “It’s unthinkable that Umbro allowed us to rework a bit of the history of English football, and also put the Palace triangle in the middle,” Lev Dazed & Confused said. One of the components of the brand’s success is the ironic attitude of its founder to the British mentality. In support of the joint with Umbro collection, he shot a video where the British are watching a football match and are actively pouring beer in a noisy pub. A year later, Palace created their own version of Reebok Workout FVS sneakers in four colors: black, white, burgundy and dark blue. Each Palace Skateboards x Reebok Classic Vulcanized Workout model is decorated with a joint emblem. In 2014, adidas released a series of six T-shirts, each of which was created in conjunction with skate brands. One of them was the Palace, who dedicated his white longsleep Benny Fairfax - the best rider of his team and, of course, a football fan.
This essentially street brand is directly related to high fashion. Palace graphic designer Fergus Purcell designs prints for Katie Hillier and Luell Bartley, who recently led Marc by Marc Jacobs. The girls are Palace Skateboards fans and are actively introducing street aesthetics into their brand, as can be seen in the latest Marc by Marc Jacobs collections, to which Purcell had a hand. Fergus stresses that, despite the fact that he likes the underground, the ability to do something for large corporations, to work for a wide audience, to be part of popular culture is great. He studied at Saint Martins in the 90s, when his favorite subcultures - skateboarding, amateur short films, comics - were everywhere. Fergus made the first graphic with the help of simple tools: a copier and a felt-tip pen influenced by the photographs of Jean-Baptiste Mondino and the advertising campaigns of Jean-Paul Good. Today, the graphics of the young Palace brand look as if it was founded in the 90s. In addition, the effect of striving and Marc by Marc Jacobs, trying to ensure that the elements of street style looked authentic.
Now interest in the Palace is growing around the world, and their T-shirts and sweatshirts with a recognizable logo began to appear even in women's gloss. Tanju is not at all embarrassed: "I like that people who are not related to skateboarding wear clothes from Palace. Not everyone can ride a board, but everyone can wear a T-shirt." And Fergus sees only positive moments in the confluence of street and high fashion. "The inscriptions on T-shirts and jackets can tell a lot about you. This is freedom of expression. It's great that it comes back. The main thing is that the choice of lettering or logo is conscious."