Palace Skateboards
 | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (July 2020) |
| Founded | 2009 in London, England |
|---|---|
| Founder | Lev Tanju |
Number of locations | 4 |
| Products | Clothing, shoes, accessories, skateboards |
| Total equity | USD13 million (2018) |
| Website | https://www.palaceskateboards.com |
Palace Skateboards (or Palace) is a London-based skateboarding and clothing brand established in 2009. The brand was primarily heavily worn by founder Levent Tanju and his skate team, Palace Wayward Boys Choir.[1] Palace focuses on skate wear with heavy 1990s and pop culture influences alongside VHS style clothing advertisements, internet influencers and skateboard videos of their skate team. Their merchandise can be found online or at their stores in London, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Palace launches new products every Friday morning [2] during their five seasonal periods: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Ultimo. The rising brand has gained popularity within the streetwear community for its uniqueness and limited availability.
History
Founder Lev Tanju said in an interview with Glasscord Magazine: “I had a gap decade after college, just skating and doing fun shit. Then one day I decided that I was a bum and I had to do something. I started designing some board graphics for people I live with. Then half way through designing them I thought to myself that maybe I should just start a skate company,".[3]
Tanju wanted a triangular theme for his newly created brand. The Palace name references the group's ironic nicknames for the houses they resided in, which were usually worn down. The logo was created by Marc Jacobs design director, Fergus "Fergadelic" Purcell. Purcell stated in an interview with Dazed Digital that he wanted to make a logo that had connotations of the infinite and of constant flux and movement.[4] Purcell used a Penrose triangle with the word 'Palace' written on each side. The logo is referred to as the "Tri-Ferg Logo."
Early in the development of the brand, clothing and skateboards were sold in local skate shops and boutiques in the London area. As Palace business grew, they began to sell goods in Supreme stores in New York and Los Angeles. In 2012, The company received their first award as 'European Skate Brand of the Year' in Berlin[5] for growth and professionalism as a small brand.
After achieving some recognition, the brand went on to collaborate with Umbro in late 2012, Reebok in late 2013, and Adidas in late 2014.[6] Alongside these collaborations, Palace depended on the Dover Street Market, End Clothing and occasional pop-up shops around England to stock and distribute their merchandise.[6]
In 2015 Palace announced that they would open their first store in London. In 2017, they opened their second store in New York. The store's grand opening was announced in a promotional advert featuring Jonah Hill and Leo Fitzpatrick.[7] Late in 2018, Palace opened their third store in Tokyo, Japan.[8] Palace opened their fourth location in May 2019 on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.
Skate team
Palace's current team, as of 2021, includes:
- Lucien Clarke
- Rory Milanes
- Benny Fairfax
- Lucas Puig
- Chewy Cannon
- Danny Brady
- Olly Todd
- Heitor da Silva
- Jamal Smith
- Charlie Birch
- Kyle Wilson
- Jahmir Brown
Work and collaborations
Palace regularly collaborates with Adidas to produce clothing and footwear. These collections usually consist of casualwear, however, Adidas sometimes incorporate their sport-specific divisions into the collaborations. This includes collections for tennis (worn by Adidas-sponsored players at Wimbledon 2018) and golf. Whilst Adidas were the kit manufacturer for Juventus F.C., a fourth kit was released for the club, featuring Palace branding. The kit was worn by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala during matches. Palace has also collaborated multiple times with Reebok, of which Adidas is the parent company.
Palace have collaborated with clothing brands such as Avirex, Umbro, Salomon, Dover Street Market, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Ralph Lauren, Rapha, Evisu, Moschino[9] and Anarchic Adjustment.[10] However, collaborations have also been done with brands not usually associated with clothing. This can sometimes be to make specific non-clothing items, such as Cîroc Vodka and Winmau darts, but sometimes clothing collections are made, as was the case when Palace collaborated with Stella Artois in 2021.
Gore-Tex fabric has been licensed for use by Palace to make various waterproof jackets and trousers.
In pop culture
Notable people who have worn Palace clothing in public include Travis Scott, Jonah Hill, Drake, Kanye West, JV, Jay Z, ASAP Rocky, Asim Chaudhry, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Freddie Gibbs, Kylie Jenner, and The Weeknd.[11]
Awards
- The 2018 Fashion Awards Urban Luxe, category alongside street wear stalwart Supreme, Off-White, Alyx, and Marine Serre[citation needed]
- The 2012 'European Skate Brand of the Year' at the BRIGHT Tradeshow Award in Berlin.
References
- ^ "How Palace Skateboards Became Popular". Highsnobiety. 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- ^ Caramanica, Jon (12 June 2017). "The British Supreme Takes New York". The New York Times.
- ^ "Palace Skateboards | Glasschord". Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ^ Dazed (2016-02-02). "Fergus Purcell on Palace triangles and his design philosophy". Dazed. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ^ "Palace Skateboards Named 'Brand Of The Year'". Adventure Sports Network. 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
- ^ a b "Palace Skateboards: Everything You Need to Know". The Idle Man. November 13, 2018. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Palace Will Open a Store in New York City". HYPEBEAST. Apr 27, 2017. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Jonah Hill's Severed Head Announces Launch of Palace Store in Tokyo". HYPEBEAST. Oct 25, 2018. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Vouge article https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/gallery/moschino-palace-collaboration
- ^ Palace Skateboards Advice https://www.palaceskateboards.com/advice
- ^ Cochrane, Lauren (2016-05-03). "How cult label Palace went from UK skate kids to hip-hop royalty". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-01-31.