Stab Magazine | Jeff Ho Says "Keep Your Tools Clean, Sharp and Organised"

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

5 Views

Jeff Ho Says “Keep Your Tools Clean, Sharp and Organised”

And buy a t-shirt while you’re at it.

style // Jul 13, 2018
Words by Stab
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Artist collabs are often done and rarely done well. There’s no concrete rule stating that what looks good on a wall automatically transfers to wearable textiles with its dignity intact, and plenty have taken the cash and thrown their credibility out the window. Jeff Ho however, is an exception, as his recent Vissla capsule clearly demonstrates.

Jeff Ho should need no introduction, but if you get the majority of your information from a handheld device in your pocket, lightly irradiating your balls as you go, then here’s the great man’s accolades cut criminally short. Before Zephyr and Dog Town, polyurethane wheels and all the rest of it, there was (still is) Jeff Ho Surfboards. They say that Jay Adams was the spark that lit the fire. Well for years’ prior, Jeff was there quietly going about his business, meticulously setting the kindling, coal and paper to carry the blaze. Surfer, shaper, artist, Jeff’s influence is everywhere throughout surfing and skating. In short, Vissla were very lucky to have him.

237
238

“All the art is new,” Jeff says when asked how involved in the design process he was, pre-empting my cynicism. “Rob McCarty, the Vissla head designer, really got how I wanted to bring the late 60s and early 70s back in a modern way, and how important a good pair of surf trunks are to real surfers.”

Jeff’s style is distinctive and often imitated, and the man sure knows how to craft a logo – a true product of his environment. “God, they were everywhere…” Jeff says of those who influenced his style in the formative years. “In Ocean Park and Venice you had the car culture, street artists, and fine artists all in a tight area. And some of them surfed. As a kid, I was fascinated with Leonardo de Vinci, his composition and use of math. My shaping room shared a walkway with John Baldessari, the conceptual artist. I didn’t look-up to anyone, but I knew who was a worker and who was a bullshitter.”

239
240

Jeff goes onto mention that the catastrophic Vietnam War also played its part, casting its ugly shadow over his life and work. “They wanted to draft me, kept sending me letters, ‘You’re next,’” he says. “My surfing, my surfboard building, and art, is a product of that dark atmosphere.”

The range that Jeff’s come out with is rare in the collab ether in that every piece is totally wearable. The trunks are of a sensible length and colour palate with a classic Jeff touch, the coach jacket practical, with that bespoke, old school shaper apparel vibe. And the tee with an updated version of the iconic stormwater runoff drains? Well, it’s quite simply a thing of beauty; not something you often find in a t-shirt.

In keeping with the theme of reflection, I ask Jeff what the best piece of advice he’s ever been given is. A common, but always enlightening question.

“Keep your tools clean, sharp and organized,” his immaculate response.

And, if you dig the above collection, spend some shekels here

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 3, 2025

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025

Surfing’s 2025 Q2 Report

An assessment of surfing's vital signs throughout the second quarter of 2025.

Jul 2, 2025

What Actually Happened to Occy’s Mad Max Plunger Pool In Yeppoon?

Surf Lakes’ brass talks: internet hecklers, the unplugging of the plunger, and the Tom Curren…

Jul 2, 2025

Poor Goofy Foots 

Data shows that the world is stacked against goofs — they even make 15% less money than…

Jul 1, 2025

Britain’s First Wavepool Has Closed — What Really Happened?

Bankruptcy, social media hackings, debts unpaid — and yet, reopening looms.

Jul 1, 2025

Watch: Was Matt Meola’s Air Actually Better Than Hughie’s?

Watch the full Swatch Nines highlight reel and decide.

Jun 30, 2025

Houshmand Bludgeons Field To Win Second CT — Molly Picklum Tastes Blood, Snatches World #1 In Brazil

You can't argue with big surfing — that's Saquarema wrapped.

Jun 29, 2025

37 Years Old And World #1 — What’s Changed For Jordy Smith?

On rediscovering decades old surfboard templates, having a personality on the CT, and why this…

Jun 27, 2025

Tom Lowe Stars in ‘Let Me Live’

The wild, improbable ascent of Britain’s best big-wave surfer.

Jun 27, 2025

Saq Wrap: Italo Celebrates Mid-Heat, Griff Drops A Freestyle, Jordy + Yago Continue BBQing 20-YOs

Top seeds sow ruin, Final 5 starts to crystallize.

Jun 27, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 2

Our seven surviving surfers confront an oddly large California beach break.

Jun 26, 2025

SEOTY: The ‘Once-In-A-Decade’ Caribbean Swell That Kelly Slater Passed On

Michael Dunphy stars in Jimmicane's 'Blue Veil'

Jun 25, 2025

Who Owns Bingin? Legal Fight To Stop Demolition Begins

Eviction notices served for all businesses built on state land.

Jun 25, 2025

Tony Hawk Just Named Hughie Vaughan’s Internet-Breaking Air Because… No One Else Can

89% of our IG poll respondents claimed the 'stale fish flipper' was the best air…

Jun 25, 2025

German Surfers: AN INVESTIGATION

Truth is the light by which the world can see. 

Jun 24, 2025

“I Lost Everything I’ve Ever Owned, But This Board Came Back”

One month after the LA wildfires, a surfboard washed ashore.

Jun 24, 2025

Shock Therapy: World 1 & 2 Eliminated Early In Saquarema

Gabriela Bryan and Caity Simmers fall victim on Day 1 of the Vivo Rio Pro.

Jun 22, 2025
Advertisement