About four years ago, in hopes of doing something a little different from the norm, Austyn Gillette and Dylan Rieder (before his untimely passing) teamed up with their big-name surfer friends Dane Reynolds and Craig Anderson to start their own clothing brand. Walking away from traditional big-time clothing deals, this crew of friends decided to take matters into their own hands and do things their way while not having to answer to anyone. I reached out to Austyn to break down the back-story of the brand and to see what’s in store for the future and to see how things have been going for him after starting his first company. —JAIME OWENS
Well, we’ve been working on it for about three years or so and it’s only actually been in production for about six months. But Jake and I went to Mexico City to start filming for our video parts that we’re putting together for the brand.
Rad, you guys working on individual parts or a little Former team video?
Yeah, individual parts. The way we’re doing it is to have a video part drop for every line. When we put out our first line the Luxury 29.99, people were a bit confused on the name because we couldn’t get the Instagram handle for Former and attempted to buy it off some Russian guy, later to find out it was a scam. So we had to use the name of the line for our Instagram handle. But we finally got the Former handle after some time. But yeah, each line will have a video part to go along with it.
Give me the rundown of who all is involved and the backstory?
This story is from the November/ December 2017 edition of TransWorld Skateboarding.
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This story is from the November/ December 2017 edition of TransWorld Skateboarding.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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Bones Europe
Waking up to a text from Jaime Owens about going to Europe with the Bones Wheels team was not a bad way to start my day; especially considering it would be my first time going overseas. And what a better time to go than during the Copenhagen Open? Two weeks later the squad and I met at LAX and prepared to get on the ten-hour flight we were all dreading. But with help from a little bit of booze, a few movies, and occasional sleep it wasn’t too bad. I even heard someone singing. To my surprise, I looked over and it was Dakota [Servold] singing in his sleep!
Mason Silva
Life is good for Mason. Since being lured into the useless wooden toy game by his brother Dayton, and the weird European videos he would watch in the basement, Silva stopped surfing long enough to win a skate contest he didn’t even plan to attend, got sponsored by Element as a result, then had Eric Koston walk up to him unannounced at the Berrics to offer him free shoes from Nike. Some people just have it that way.
waiting for hurricanes
ben gore’s first experiences on a skateboard all occurred during hurricane warnings on the southeast coast of florida.
alex lawton
the hand of god.
Torey Pudwill Flatbar Frenzy
Basing an entire video project around only skating flatbars might sound like a shot in the dark. How many flatbar spots do you even know of? Surprisingly, there are a lot more of them out there in the wild than we could’ve imagined—in all shapes and sizes—and lucky for us, our boy Torey Pudwill took it upon himself to hunt them down. From coast-to-coast and country-to-country, welcome to Torey’s Flatbar Frenzy. This ain’t your average front yard flatbar sesh! —BRIAN BLAKELY
Weedmaps
You’ve probably caught the buzz about Weedmaps and its endeavors in the skate community. You may be asking yourself, “What are they doing in skating?” or else you’ve realized what a dream sponsor it is for its lucky team riders.
Chima
Fresh off a four-year bachelor’s degree in Propeller production, Chima Ferguson finds himself back home in Sydney, Australia, for a pregnant pause between chapters.
Jimmy Cao
Where you’re from influences who you are. Growing up skating with Jamie Palmore, then being mentored by Willy Santos, and for most of your adult life absorbing the other-worldly talent and laid back vibes of Wes Kremer, Tyler Surrey and Marius Syvanen, it’s no surprise Jimmy Cao blossomed into a versatile powerhouse on four wheels. He’s beyond past due for this—his first magazine interview. Find out why Vietnam will be the next big skate destination, how Finesse Skateboards and Hubba Wheels’ ads factored into his career path, how he avoided Scandinavian boat jail and more. Get ‘em Chippy.
Riddles in Mathematics
Our 29th full-length, 21 years since Uno (TWS Video 1, 1996) will have premiered in downtown LA by the time you read this. Once again wrapped in the skilled supernatural vision of Christopher Thiessen—Riddles in Mathematics marks the second video in our catalogue, after last year’s Substance—under his signature VX-centric “in the trenches” style. Starring Yaje Popson, Ben Gore, Leo Valls, and Bobby De Keyzer Riddles also co-stars Stevie Perez and Bobby Worrest. Shot worldwide in Paris, Bordeaux, New York, San Francisco, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Barcelona, we pulled Chris from his intensive editing binge on the eve of judgment day for a quick Q & A covering his latest masterpiece. —MACKENZIE EISENHOUR
Josh Pall
Turn and face the strange. Ch-ch-Changes. Already away from home since leaving Brisbane for Sydney, Australia six years ago—PASS~PORT’s and Nike SB’s rookie pro—Josh Pall (also fittingly the holder of multiple real world passports) is pondering some imminent further moves. Wherever he decides to call home over the next year (LA, NYC, EU, or elsewhere), said locale will also serve as the backdrop for his part in the upcoming PASS~PORT full-length— tentatively scheduled for winter 2018. Raised on the wholesome/not-so-wholesome videographic trio of Jump Offa Building (’98), The Storm (’99), and This is Skateboarding (’03)—Josh sat down for a phone interview to discuss severing his working class safety net/side gig to jump headlong into skateboarding for a living, and the truths and fallacies of “lucky yellow shirt” theory, Come on in. The water’s great. —MACKENZIE EISENHOUR
