Interview by Jeff Carvalho and Frank the Butcher.
Now Greg, you have helped establish relations and partnerships with a lot of people; like Hiroshi or whatever artists/designers at the time... I guess it goes along the same lines as the family comment you made. How important is it to keep people involved and keep it like a melting pot of ideas and creativity. You still have your ear to the street. You're still ahead of the curve.
GD - If your not ahead of the game, you're behind and you have to be watching everything going on. Whatever it is: music, art, or street culture. I like to think its a strategic move for the business but more than that it keeps life interesting.. You just referred to Hiroshi. He's one of the most inspiring people to be around. His mind is always working... and same with everyone we work with. We've been working with emerging artists since the beginning of board graphics and its another part thats integral.. but it a great melting pot of letting kids in board sports culture see what is going on in the art, street, music culture. Its resulted not only in a great business for us but a great time.
We didn't necessarily call them collaborations in the past but we've been working with people... I've been great friends with Stash and the Supreme crew from way back. I guess we were doing what you call collaborations in the USA as far back as 10 years ago. They fell on death ears most of the time.... I do this for the love of the job more than anything. Working with friends and creating something thats truly better than you could have done on your own ... the other key is traveling the world and just keeping your eyes and ears open and being open to new ideas and meeting new friends. This is what keeps this job most fun for me.
Do you still get excited.. when Stash comes with that new next shit, do you still get that dinging in your stomach thats saying 'wow, this is crazy.'
GD - The day I am not excited is the day I should find a new job. I hope that day never comes... I was just stoked today looking at this jacket we finished with Kid Robot... once your a product person you're always a product person.. no one is as excited as me when the first set of samples come in and I can crack those boxes.
(laughs)
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