Although establishing itself as a leader in the skateboarding community, Elwood partially disbanded from its skate roots in 2011 by dropping its skate team. The brand wanted to adapt to the changing times and fully set its sights on apparel. Because they’re driven by a love for design and skateboarding, Elwood couldn’t completely abandon its foundation and much of their products still their former aesthetic. We had the pleasure of connecting with Elwood to discuss their 2014 feats.
Who is the creative director for your brand?
I guess that would be me, Brock Seylar. Maybe I’ll add that to my official title: President/Creative Director of Elwood? Sounds fancy and less stiff than just President. But really, our creative direction comes from the world and its influences around us. I just happen to be the person capturing this stuff and translating it into clothing. So, we don’t have a “Creative Director,” or designers as much as artists and business people working together to build Elwood.
What was your brand’s most successful release in 2014?
We release it at the tail end of 2013, but the black/white bandana jogger really gained traction in early 2014. Being the leader of the printed jogger, we were able to build on this success and really create a market for printed joggers. At the start of 2014, Elwood was one of, if not the only major brand hazily pushing printed jogger sweatpants. By the end of the year, everyone had printed joggers and most major retailers even have a dedicated “jogger” section on their sites. 2014 will go down as the year of the jogger, and as Leandrew Robinson of Karmaloop/PLNDR put it, “Elwood probably sold more joggers than anyone else this year.”
What was you brand’s top collaborative release in 2014?
Tilly’s was a great partner for exclusive/collaborative releases in 2014. We ended the year with a SVRF exclusive collection at Tilly’s. It’s meant to be an outside-the-box way of looking at surf, from a brand more heavily rooted in street/skate. Keep a look out for the upcoming Elwood SVRF releases, as there’s some cool stuff that really blurs the traditional lines surf and street brands are afraid to cross.
What was your brand’s best limited edition release in 2014?
It was a wild year. Hard to say what the best release was, but our limited printed jogger styles were all hits. We just dropped the gold and silver metallic joggers at the very end of the year there’s nothing like these in the market. Metallic printed men’s pants aren’t really a thing yet, but who knows, maybe by the end of 2015 everyone will be wearing them.
What was your best collaboration with an artist in 2014?
We partnered with a local Los Angeles artist, Cameron Helm, to do a paint splatter collection. The way we printed it actually felt like each garment had paint on the surface. This was my favorite, as it was our only collar with an artist in 2014. We are planning to do another artist collab later in 2015.
