Vi håller i skrivande stund på att fotografera Palace Skateboard´s nya kollektion. Grey Skateboard Magazine intervjuar Palace skaparen Lev Tanjo, och London-märket backar upp all sin hype hundra gånger om. Det är när man får arbeta med märken med samma vision och passion som Palace Skateboards, som jag gillar att jobba med Shelta extra mycket. Läs artikeln om ni vill få en mindre insikt i ett riktigt märke skapat av riktiga människor. Saxar lite från intervjun nedan, men ni hittar den i sin helhet här.
Missa inte heller PWBC på Don´tWatchThat.TV för skrock levererade av bl.a. Palace-familjen.
What can we expect from Palace in the near future?
I just want to press on your readers that I honestly, obviously do all this out of a real and real deep love for skateboarding. If you’re into skateboarding, you’re down with us, basically. It’s as simple as that. I’ve been obsessed with this shit forever; I can’t help it. I spent hours on end in an internet cafe making 40 odd episodes of a fuzzy news program just to drum into at least one kid’s head that Kareem Campbell is infinitely better than someone like Ryan Sheckler. Then I got to the stage where I realised that I could start up my own company sponsor my favourite skaters and make something better and realer and streeter than all the rest of the weak shit out there right now. I like nice clothes and I want to make nice clothes. If kids are into Palace then I say skate Palace boards. If they’re not, then don’t. We aren’t going anywhere. Palace is about real street skateboarding and it will be forever and ever and ever amen. There is nothing else.
Your clothing has received favourable press in the fashion media and the same fashion-conscious East London types you poked fun at through Global Skateboard News can be seen wearing Palace gear. How does this sit with you?
Oh man, I don’t really think about it. It sits with me kind of like this: HA HA HA HA HA. I’m just trying to grow my company and promote something REAL that we believe in. SKATE GANG SHIT: 100% British and skater-owned and run. I can’t sacrifice sales or decide who’s buying it. I like the fact it crosses over to other people anyway. When mad-pretty fashion girls wear the t-shirts it totally stokes me out.
What proportion of your clothing is sold in skate shops?
At a guess I would say about 97%. We have two stores In London that aren’t skate shops. One is Hideout in Soho, where they sell a lot of stuff like Nike and Supreme and it’s where my homeboy Nugget works. Then there’s Present in the East.
To what extent are you following the Supreme model? Will Palace always be a skate brand?
It’s kind of funny that people compare Palace and Supreme; I have no idea why. I’m certainly not following anything they do, or taking any pages out of their book. I’m just trying to make stuff I want to wear, and keep the team and my friends laced up in high-grade quality shit. Of course we will always be a skate brand, that’s what we are. A tiny percentage of people outside of skateboarding like the stuff we do and that’s fantastic because it helps us support our pros and our world-dominating team.
Läs hela intervjun här.