General Admission Drops A New Clothing Line

General Admission is the kind of men’s lifestyle store that we’re not allowed to call a surf shop. It’s a California menswear store in Venice Beach that also stocks a few surfboards. Conflicting as it may be, GA has their own wax blend – it’s rather sticky and it’s not for sale, only given as a gift. Similarly, the store has House Beer stocked in the fridge. You can’t buy it either but you’ll be handed one when you walk through the door, morning or night. We dig the vibe of the General Admission store and we approve of the brands that inflate its shelf space: The limited Vans Vault collection, Shawn Stussy’s S Double and their best-seller, which is of course, Kelly Slater’s OuterKnown label. “More than half the people who walk in the store don’t know of the Kelly link to OuterKnown,” says Dooma Fahrenfort, store owner. “They buy it because it’s great product. Great product wins every day of the week.”

52 Brooks, Venice Beach. Photo: Daniel Regan

You’ll be familiar with Damien; He’s the guy whose writing you’ve seen on Stab, and he’s also a former pro surfer. He owns the store with a couple of South African pals. He says the store represents the old school Venice, the days before it became Silicon Beach when Snapchat and Google moved in, wrote cheques and bought up all the real estate. “We’ve banned Snapchat employees,” he jokes.

Anyways, these guys have just launched their new self-titled General Admission range, releasing the campaign using locals from around Venice, from talent to photographers, the most notable being photog Daniel Regan who recently shot the pre-fall campaign for Gucci.

In the dead heat of summer. Photo: Daniel Regan

Some Stab readers care nothing for clothing and much for message boards. They will detest everything the store stands for. They will be especially sickened by $90 tees and surfboards that feature matte and gloss sprays. The other 8499 people who read this piece – and fail to comment – should look the store up here, or check it out next time you’re in Los Angeles.

Check the summer line, right here.