Dane Reynolds to start new brand!

Welcome to 2015, to be known henceforth as the year that one of surfing’s most notable characters parted ways with Quiksilver, and helped launch a clothing company. Dane Reynolds split from Quiksilver one month ago, after the company’s post-bankruptcy restructuring meant renegotiated contracts. After 12 awesome years of partnership with Quik, many of which were on a $3m-annually deal (and lived on a very quiet budget), Dane will have the freedom to pour a lot of energy and resources into the new project, and make it sing. Biz only works when you live and breathe it! Dane is one of surfing’s more sartorially-aware, and has dipped his toes into the clothing production pool before, via his cute Summer Teeth project (RIP 2011-2012, we hardly knew ye). But, this will work. Here’s why: Dane is one of surfing’s most influential surfers ever, with a serious point of view. Let’s examine some history. Web clips used to be B-sides, with A-clips held off for sponsor films. Then came Marine Layer Productions. All of a sudden, web edits were the creme. MLP changed URLs everywhere: Every surfer had their own first-name-last-name-dot-com, but after Marine Layer, we started seeing trickier blog names. Stickers used to be jammed up in the nose, but Dane moved them closer to the front foot. He also changed what everyone rides, making step-downs trend via the Dumpster Diver. He made it cool to shape boards with no templates. He changed the sound of surfing clips. He also came along after Mick Fanning, when surfing was getting very jock-y, and made the non-gym life cool. Yeah, Dane Reynolds can make it work. Those of you who co-exist in the skate world will know that historically, some of the best skate brands are pro skater-owned (think: Girl, Palace, HUF, Bianca Chandôn). There’s no reason why this shouldn’t be true of surfing and surfer-owned brands. Epokhe, owned by Dion Agius, Mitch Coleborn and Kai Neville, has been on the constant up since its 2012 inception. Dylan Rieder and Austyn Gillette are confirmed to bring skate edge – but Dylan’s love of surfing, and Dane’s influence, will mean you can expect a serious heritage surf kink in the design direction. While there’s still a lot of mystery around the new project, which’ll no doubt linger for some time, this news does land clear and correct with one thing: Optimism!