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S U MME R 2 0 1 4
Decentralized communication: no towers, no routers, no networks
heres something rebellious about the idea of
communicating outside of a central networkno IP
address, no badge or identication number. Maybe we ll never
escape the NSA, but in a world where privacy exists at odds with
interconnectivity, people are embracing technologies that make the
individual stronger and less dependent on central services.
But even though we carry super-computers with us at all times,
we cant communicate unless a cell signal or wi router is available,
the type of network connectivity which tends to fail when we need it
most - in emergencies or on backcountry excursions.
This was the problem Daniela Perdomo, CEO and Co-founder of
goTenna, sought to solve as she sat in the darkness--both metaphorical
and literal--during Hurricane Sandy. This was a time when all electric-
ity and cell towers were down in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York.
I wanted to know if my brother was okay or if my neighbors
needed help.
Afer the storm cleared, she and her brother, Jorge Perdermo,
architected a de-centralized, entirely of-the-grid means of
communication. The result was goTenna.
The technology itself is a small, rugged device that ts in a pocket
or attaches to a piece of gear. It pairs wirelessly with your phone
enabling users to send and receive text messages, images and GPS
data for free via a phone app. Additionally, the application allows
you to contextualize GPS data on an ofine map. This is a means
of communication anyone can use anywhere on the planet or even
other planets--there is no dependence on wi or cell signals.
You can send messages to an individual,
a group or even a shout-out blast to any-
one in range. You can also pin-point each
active user on a map. There are countless
headlines of hikers, backpackers, day-time
adventures--even really experienced peo-
ple--who get separated from the pack and
lost in the wilderness.
With that in mind, the outdoor or emer-
gency-use case for goTenna is the most
compelling, but the technologys applica-
tions are far reaching. By taking communication of-grid, you are
giving new functionality to a device thats already so powerful as a
social connector.
You can be two people in Yosemite, a group of friends traveling
in a foreign city or hundreds of people at Coachella. Maybe it will
become a public chatroom, I have no idea, said Perdomo.
The best part is, its a network on your own terms. If you dont
want to be discovered; if you only want to send and receive messages
from specic people; then its up to you, for better or for worse.
While the ultimate success of goTenna depends on the number of
users, it represents a powerful shif in thinking. Within the last decade
we have become cable-cutters, le sharers, 3D printers, etc. And now,
the less connected we are, the more connected we can be.
Walking the oor at Outdoor Retailer, the premier
outdoor tradeshow in the worldyeah, we said it
feels a lot different today than it felt a decade ago
when we started visiting Salt Lake City. Not only is
it packed to capacity with a boatload of new com-
panies queued up for the opportunity to exhibit, but
there are also city folk and OR hipsters roaming
the halls dressed, well, well. OR has taken note of
this movement that is ushering outdoor out of the
backcountry and into the spotlight, and decided to
launch a new area of the show called Venture Out.
It will be home to like-minded brands that repre-
sent the growing urban and lifestyle trend that has
inuenced and invigorated the modern outdoor
movement, according to Margie Lelvis, Director of
Marketing at Outdoor Retailer. Located in Pavilion
2, Venture Out will feature a mix of brand presenta-
tions, media, design, common space, food and cul-
ture to help showcase this burgeoning outdoor trend.
We sat down with Scott McGuire, President of
The Mountain Lab, to pick his brain about just how
the new area came to light since he and his team
have been enlisted to make Venture Out a reality and
not just a conversation.

R A N G E When did OR decide to
launch Venture Out?
S C O T T M C G U I R E There had been a
conversation brewing between me, Outdoor
Retailer and several other people within the
industry. We were really asking OR how they
were going to address this emerging trend.
We met in the spring and started discussing
working on the concept for the next 12-18
months, and maybe do it for Winter Market
in 2016, but the reality was that the time was
now. The trend was happening now and it
was important to respond to it right away.
Why do you think there has been a
shift in the traditional outdoor sector?
The short version of that answer is I
think that customers have become more ur-
ban and as a result, they are always engaged
in their own version of an outdoor environ-
ment, but are equally seeking an analog expe-
rience. There is a general interest in returning
to basic fundamentals. This idea of the ur-
ban woodsman or the lumberjack trend
just seems a bit complicated. I just think that
people really like the idea of connecting with
something simple. Sitting on the ground in
front of the campre, toes in the dirt, drinking
a beer, playing games, and being outside in the
trees with your friends is pretty humanizing.
The challenge is that there is a whole
group of consumers coming into the market
that arent having that experience the same
way the previous traditional outdoor gener-
ations have done it. Theyre bringing in their
urban aesthetic, capturing images on a digi-
tal device, and sharing them through Tumblr.
Theyre not necessarily just going of trying to
be Thoreau, taking a long walk in the woods.
Their trips tend to be shorter. They are not
going for weeks or months at a time, they are
going for weekends or shorter periods.
Why is it important to engage with
this younger/influencer audience?
I dont think modern customers are only
subscribing to being just an outdoors per-
son. 20 years ago, someone may have iden-
tied as being a strictly outdoors person
and that was their thing. Now their thing is
being into multiple activities. I am into road
biking, yoga, skateboarding, bouldering and
camping, and by the way, I have my own Etsy
site. That is the new norm. The new norm
is a really subversive set of experiences that
people want to have, and so they are bringing
that mindset with them to the outdoor in-
dustry. The younger audience today is more
interested in self-creation. They pick and
choose, build for themselves, and put their
own spin on it. They dont want to be handed
some pre-packaged outdoors experience.
Who are some of the key players/
brands on deck?
Brands that have signed on to partici-
pate include Poler, SeaVees, Pendleton, Iron
& Resin, Sanuk, Teva, Stanley, Timberland,
Coalatree, Parks Project, Mad Hueys, Duck-
worth, tentree, Zeal Optics and Topo Designs.
There are also brands that have been at the
show previously and have committed to being
in the main hall already that we see as being
part of the Venture Out mindset, whether they
are physically in the space or not. I look at a
brand like Snow Peak, Nau or Alite and think
theyre part of Venture Out, but they did it at
Outdoor Retailer. They have been oating on
their own island and carrying this torch for a
while. Outdoor Retailer has an obligation to
grow the outdoor industry. If youre a retailer
and you want to be relevant in the next 20 or
30 years, proper exposure to what is happen-
ing with this trend is what is going to allow
you to grow in that space.
So it is a mutually beneficial
opportunity for everyone?
Exactly. Its not just we need a brand to
come in and buy space to validate the reality
of the show, or the brand needs us to create
a space for them to come in and be validat-
ed. Its more symbiotic than that. It is really
about connecting the
retailers, the brands, and
the entire event concept
of what Venture Out
stands for because that
is what is good for the
entire outdoor industry,
not just a little niche.
Who is the target con-
sumer? Will all the
buyers be invited over?
The space is located in
The Pavilions. Origi-
nally, the pavillion was
the back 40, where no
one wanted to be, but over the last couple
of years, especially with what the paddling
community has done, some of the new buy-
ers have made it their rst destination and it
has become a little more fun and energetic.
There is a little bit of a more rebellious nature
out in the pavilions, which suits the concept
of the show really well. All of the retailers and
the attendees are invited, so there is no list
to get in. We are certainly targeting specic
retailers based both on their size and the po-
tential to grow, but the space is open to any-
one. Everyone can come in there.

What will the space look/feel like?
The space is as much about coming
in and engaging with those brands as it is
about wrapping your head around what is
this part of the industry. Certain retailers
really get it like Lizard Lounge in Portland.
They are aware of the trends, and really
know that this is something that needs to
be addressed. Still, there are a lot of re-
tailers that have a sense that maybe their
current buys are out of touch with the next
generation and they have to do something
about it, but it is pretty foreign to them, so
we are trying to make that engagement a
little easier. The layout is an open oorplan,
so they dont have to feel like theyre walk-
ing to the front of a booth and because they
dont know the rep or have an appointment,
its impossible to walk through.
Imagine going to a community artists
fair in the park, where everyone has their
space to present their creations, but it has
some ow. It is kind of linear and kind of
not, and there are places to go sit and have
meetings. There are trees. You get to wan-
der around and you dont feel like you have
to walk into a monolithic fortress of a booth
and gure out where you are. You can stand
there and poke around and look since all
these features are inside of the area. The in-
tent now and in the future is to make this
much more of a community experience. We
want it to be a place where if you are a PR
or media person, you can engage with the
brands. If you are a designer who is think-
ing about your portfolio before you go pitch
a company, this is a place where you can sit
down, get a decent cup of cofee, and clear
your head. We would like the space to be a
hub for creativity. The space will be activated
with movie screenings at night, there will be
a premium cofee shop inside the location,
and our events and seminar line-up is key.
Galleries and exhibits are something we will
work towards for the Winter Market.
What is the goal of Venture Out?
What we are trying to focus on with Ven-
ture Out is that the brands that are coming
in all have a legitimate functional story. They
are making good product. They are not just
some fashion brand that has said, Oh, there
is an outdoor trend going on, so we can slap
some rip-stop on it and call it a day. These
are brands that are very, very committed to
the function and the experience. The brands
that are going to motivate somebody to have
a great time in the outdoors, and come home
and want to do it again are the ones we want
to help grow and evolve.
T
E V E NT S & S E MI NA R S
D A Y 1
W E D N E S D A Y , A U G U S T 6 , 2 0 1 4
New Nowoutdoor trends in design,
marketing and social media.
W H E R E Venture Out, Pavillion 2
W H O Jeanine Pesce, founder of Range
W H E N 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm
VI P Happy Hourspecial select craft brews
from Sierra Nevada, free steel pints & music.
W H E R E Venture Out, Pavillion 2
W H O Media + Retailers, Invitation Only
W H E N 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm
RANGE Magazine Launch Partytunes,
trendz and friendz.
W H E R E Venture Out, Pavillion 2
W H O Everyone
W H E N 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Industry Partyfood trucks, tailgating, beer
garden & live music.
W H E R E Street SceneThe Pavilions @ OR
W H O Everyone
W H E N 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
D A Y 2
T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 7 , 2 0 1 4
The New Outdoorshow to engage with
emerging consumers by talking trend and
design, complete with qualitative data.
W H E R E New Product Zone in the Main Hall
W H O Christie Hickman, VP of Consumer
Insight at OIA; Jason Belaire,
Western District VP at I DSA;
Benji Wagner, Creative Director
& Co-Founder at Poler Stuff;
Gordon Seabury, CEO at Toad&Co/
Lizard Lounge, Andrea Westerlind,
Westerlind.US
W H E N 10:00 am to 11:00 am
Happy hour and live musicpresented by
Sanuk & Teva.
W H E R E Venture Out, Pavillion 2
W H O Everyone
W H E N 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm
D A Y 3
F R I D A Y , A U G U S T 8 , 2 0 1 4
Form & FunctionCreativity, Design and
Merchandising for the New Outdoors.
W H E R E Venture Out, Pavillion 2
W H O Michelle Rose & Sam Ward,
Founders of Struktur Creative Conference
W H E N 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Cocktail Happy Hourpresented by Stanley
& High West Distillery
W H E R E Venture Out, Pavillion 2
W H O Everyone
W H E N 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm
I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y A N D R E W G R O V E S
Weatherproof because summer
storms cant keep us indoors.
Did you get the memo? Baseball hats are on the
upswing, so if youre considering pulling the trig-
ger on a new hat, we suggest its the Fairends
Ripstop Ball Cap. Made in the USA from 100%
ripstop Nylon, this one-size-ts-all beauty boasts
a fancy Terrycloth sweatband with an adjustable
nylon webbing strap. Available in bold, bright
hues, including red, green and blue, its basically
like wearing a dome tent on your head, plus the
street cred and minus the guylines.
F I N D O U T M O R E A T
W W W . G O T E N N A . C O M
S U MME R 2 0 1 4
0 9 0 8
R A NG E
The day after the fourth of July was HOT. Our friends Emiliano
Granado and Daniel Wakefield Pasely of Yonder Journal had just
started their month-long journey across the country in search of
a little lady called leisure. She is the siren that calls to us in
the night. She is the voice of un-reason that reminds us there is
more to life than just work. There is play. There is recreation.

Ridin around and gettin it in a 1998 4runner, outfitted with a Yakima
Skybox 1, HoldUp bike hitch and LoadWarrior basket, a Poler Le Tente, and
two Shinola bikes, these incredibly talented photographers and self-pro-
claimed Cultural Anthropologists, were on a road trip to enlightenment.
Hoping to capture the many ways Americansspecifically those residing
in the Westare living life to the fullest, the Yung Yonder Boyz explored
everything from campgrounds to parks, bodies of water to deserts, and
mountains to valleys.
F O L L O W T H E I R J O U R N E Y A T
W W W . Y O N D E R J O U R N A L . C O M / W E S T E R N R E C R E A T I O N
Just for reference, prime examples of recreating, as stated by YJ, in-
clude Swapmeeting, LARPing, Mountain Man Rendezvousing and Arm
Wrestling. Ice Pop eating is also a highly-respectable form of recreating in
their book, so really, the definition is open to interpretation.
According to Granado, Most trips in the past have been about doing
one specific thing or just general road tripping. This one is really different
in that we are committed and focused on the concept of recreation. Its
incredibly important for us to produce work/projects that are focused. Too
much outdoor lifestyle stuff lacks any value to the greater human narra-
tive. Were not trying to get rad shots of people mountain biking. We are
just simply documenting what the state of recreation looks like. As long
as you are outside doing your thing or interacting with the land, it works.
Hashtag fun. Hashtag good times.
f you have ever walked the floor at
Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City,
there is a good chance you have been invited to
stop by the KEEN booth for a beer. Like visiting
Moab or Zion, when in Utah, making an ap-
pearance at the up-cycled universe that KEEN
has created is a rite of passage in the outdoor
industry. The walls are built out of used pal-
lets, the doors have been carefully rescued from
abandoned buildings, and old skateboard decks
double as display shelves. Local music fills the
convention center with sounds broadcasting
live from an elevated stage made from old sta-
dium bleachers. Like the pied piper of footwear,
they know what it takes to spearhead a move-
ment, amassing a cult-like following comprised
of newbies, oldies and outdoorsies from all
walks of life.
In 2003, KEEN began by asking a simple
question, which at the time, had yet to be an-
swered: Can a sandal protect your toes? By
adding a signature bumper to a simple silhou-
ette called the Newport, KEEN singlehandedly
created a new category of hybrid footwear that
would change the way outdoor enthusiasts in-
teracted with sandals forever.
Fast forward 11 years. KEEN has grown from 10
to 230 employees. They have six brick and mortar
stores called KEEN Garages and wholesale ac-
counts in over 60 countries at 5,000 retail loca-
tions. KEEN is no longer just a hybrid footwear
brand. It is a global force to be reckoned with on
a mission to make responsible, functional goods
bringing communities together around the world.
As a brand, we havent stood still at all in
our really short history, explains KEENs Brand
Marketing Director Linda Balfour. In addition
to producing footwear, accessories, socks, bags,
and most recently, apparel, KEEN is really
driven by making a positive diference for our
fans through our products, but also through
our business practices and the way that we act
as a company. By ofering grants and support
through their giving program Hybrid.Care,
KEEN partners with a range of nonprots and
DUCKWOR T H S U P P LY CHA I N
I
What is Made-in-USA? Is it a hang tag?
A premium price tag? Is it a heritage-
inspired fashion trend, where we make
new stuff look old-timey? Does it mean
that we source our materials overseas
and assemble at home? Is it worth it?
U.S. manufacturing is a story laden in rust
and gold. Little argument needs to be made for
the value of a strong industrial economy, and
the biggest, most damaging myth is that domes-
tic production is dead.
According to data from the World Bank, the
United States is still the third-largest manufac-
turer in the world in terms of total value, behind
the European Union, and of course, China. Its
a large gap, but the global economy is shifting
in a way that can accommodate a strong resur-
gence in Made-in-USA products. This is some-
thing the textile industrythe people who make
all of your swagis seeing with a rise in smaller,
localized movements.
But thats not why you should care. You should
care because we arent the best. The leading
technology, quality and capacity is overseas. Ask
yourself why Patagonia, The North Face, Nike--all
of the top active lifestyle brands--prefer to navigate
a logistical nightmare of sourcing, shipping and
producing thousands of miles away than to commit
to making their products at home. Its because its
easier. Theyll tell you we dont have the infrastructure,
the talent pool, and the service, but many will argue
(silently), its because weve lost the mentality.
Thats why the resilient, die-hards who continue
to go against the grain and manufacture in the U.S.
are the real rebels, the real American revolutionaries.
These are people like Robert Bernie Bernthal,
the president of Duckworth. Duckworth is a
maker of wool apparel that is owned by a fourth
generation ranching family, who has been raising
sheep in Montana for over 150 years. Every step of
Duckworths supply chain, from harvesting wool to
yarn spinning and cut-and-sew, is done right here
on American soil, employing American people.
Bernie really said it best:
There are so many of us out there; these in-
dustrious craftsmen trying to beat the system.
It takes a punk attitude to say, Okay well were
gonna prove it can be done. The challenge is
taking that spirit to massive multi-national busi-
nesses. You can grow a beard and act like you
started producing in the Civil War, but, we want
to make the most technically advanced garments
at a price that can compete on a global scale.
According to Bernie, the next chapter of
American manufacturing will depend on if we
actually believe in it. It cant just be a market-
ing message or a fashion trend. As producers,
it has to be prioritized and treated as a long
term investment thats just as much a part of
our culture as it is our economy. As consum-
ers, we have to ask ourselves if we want to
buy products from companies who arent up to
that challenge.
So what is Made-in-USA? Its what we choose
to make. Its also what we choose to buy.
S H E E P R A I S E D I N M O U N T A I N S
O F B O Z E M A N , M O N T A N A W H E R E
W O O L I S H A R V E S T E D .
W O O L S H I P P E D T O
N O R T H C A R O L I N A A N D T U R N E D
I N T O T O P ( W O R K A B L E F I B E R S )
S E N T T O Y A R N S P I N N E R
I N N O R T H C A R O L I N A
A N D C U T A N D S E W N
I N N O R T H C A R O L I N A
S H I P P E D F R O M T H E R E
T O R E T A I L / W A R E H O U S E
Problem solvers, inquisitive innovators, or whatever you want to call them, at KEEN, thoughtful,
meaningful design reigns supreme.
community organizations such as Leave No
Trace, The Conservation Alliance, and the Euro-
pean Outdoor Conservation Association to help
build strong communities across the globe.
Problem solvers, inquisitive innovators, or
whatever you want to call them, at KEEN,
thoughtful, meaningful design reigns supreme.
Everything has a purpose and a clear reason
for existing. Balflour also describes KEENs
obsession with fit: The big question we ask
ourselves is how do you make a shoe that fits
your foot unlike anything else out there? And
that doesn t just stop at footwear. They make
pants with no right angles for increased
range of movement, and socks specifically for
the left and right foot to avoid bunching at the
toes. This innovative ethos was even applied to
their headquarters in Portland, Oregon when
relocating from Alameda, California in 2005.
We stripped a lot of material out that didn t
need to be there, and then repurposed it into
areas that made more sense, Balfour said.
When it comes to color, silhouette and
materials, the designers and product line
managers at KEEN are definitely paying
attention to whats going on in fashion and
ironically enough, the it shoe of the moment
just happens to be the strappy sport sandal.
Functional footwear never goes out of style.
According to Balfour, Some of the models
have gotten lighter, brighter and faster, but
the essence of what they are hybridhasnt
changed. This movement towards design-
driven product is clear with the launch of
their newest open air shoe called UNEEK,
pronounced unique. The sandal-meets-shoe
cross-breed, comprised of two cords and a
sole, truly embodies the brands commitment
to progression, even if it meant going back
to the drawing board and literally forgetting
everything they knew about making footwear.
We kept focusing on this idea of combining
freedom of movement and support. We wanted
it to feel like you are wearing nothing. We wanted
it to feel like the absence of a shoe, explains
Balfour. To accompany the much-anticipated
release of UNEEK, KEEN shot a lifestyle look
book aimed at a non-endemic outdoor audience
to showcase all the places, from the city to the
coast, where the colorful shoe could be worn.
UNEEK really fits into all of those places and
makes a different kind of statement about the
person who is wearing it.
As the outdoor market continues to segue into
the lifestyle sector and redenes what it means
to be a traditional outdoors person, KEEN in-
tends to evolve the way it interacts with the mar-
ket. Speaking authentically to their ever-chang-
ing customer is incredibly important to the
team, not only in terms of connecting with their
community, but also in regard to grassroots sto-
rytelling. One of our main goals is to earn loyal
fans. When people cheer the brand on and are
excited when we roll things out, it allows us the
ability to take some risks. Weve be super fortu-
nate, and having these ongoing conversations
with our fans has really put our heads in a space
where we are looking for answers to problems
our fans face in their everyday lives. I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y L U C Y E N G L E M A N
S U MME R 2 0 1 4
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R A NG E
very major company in the world
uses some form of trend anal-
ysis to inform their design and
strategy, but are they using it the right
way? Are we forecasting so far ahead that
we are missing whats new right now?
Trend represents new-
ness within the market,
taking something that ex-
ists, whether it is a physi-
cal product or a marketing concept, and
reinterpreting it with a fresh, modern
perspective. The big question: how do
we make sense of something so intan-
gible? The irony is that many makers
of the outdoor gear we know and love
are in constant pursuit of the next big
thing. Its an obsession, and too often
the industry loses sight of what is actu-
ally happening right NOW. Its really rad
that at some point everything, including
personal hygiene products, will be 3D
printed to perfection, but why cant we
make a simple t-shirt that fits the right
way? Or a hardshell that doesnt make
you look like a thumb?
Buzzwords like luxe, minimal, natu-
ral and romantic are making the rounds
in every ofce, but are they really making
an impact on product, especially func-
tional product, at retail? The stories and
gear that dene the outdoors get more
technical and more complicated year afer
year. At what point are we solving prob-
lems that we dont even have yet? We want
something simple, something we dont
have to think about. The need should be
for better or for worse. A lot of articles pub-
lished recently ponder why kids arent
going outside, why they arent backpack-
ing, and why they dont relate to the way
things have always been done. We have to
keep in mind that this new generation of
users maybe isnt as legit as their prede-
cessors, but eventually they will be (ngers
crossed) if they dont get distracted by the
next cat meme. As a rule of thumb, there
is always a balance. The trend pendulum
must swing both ways, but at some point,
it always lands in the middle, so lets focus
on medium. Lets focus on now.
These kids are programmed diferent-
ly and theyve inherited an entirely difer-
ent set of socio-economic circumstances.
Yes, they want instant gratication from
the moment they wake up and grab their
smartphone to the moment they pass
out with that same smartphone less than
a foot away from their heads. However,
they are still human beings who respond
emotionally and have an innate connec-
tion to the outside world. Even so, brands
are obsessed with capturing millennials
with the Next Big Thing, forgetting that
nothing looks more pathetic than des-
perately trying to relate.
Here is some advice from an expert POV:
Pay attention to your surroundings. An
incredibly talented designer once told us
that he gets more inspiration out of go-
ing on a bike ride with his peers, talking
shop about product and gear than he gets
from a whole week at work. But dont take
our word for it. Go to a climbing gym, a
obvious, but simple isnt easy. In fact, its
one of the most challenging qualities to
achieve, especially from a design perspec-
tive. The solution to this, at least in our
opinion, is to be a now-ist. Instead of
trying to capture the next trend du jour,
take a snapshot and trim the fat. If we
were running for ofce, our slogan would
be designing better product now instead
of chasing trends tomorrow.
So whats everyones favorite trend to
chase? Its millennials by a landslide. Youve
got the purists, the loyal soldiers of the out-
doors that have shaped the foundation of
the industry for the last 20, 30, 50 years,
and then youve got this emerging young-
er generation. The youth, some of them
denitely posers, are co-opting an outdoor
look and forcing a more urbanized indus-
try shif. Not downstream, certainly not
upstream, but just plain old mainstream,
cofee shop, or a local surf break. Chanc-
es are you ll nd that these elusive young
people care less about products and more
about the places they can take them and
the moments they can share with friends.
And clearly they arent shy about shar-
ing those moments, but dont forget its
all grounded in real life, or #IRL. In
other words, social media or that new
app you just launched should inform,
not dene your brand. People respond to
a genuine connection, and smartphones
and seles havent changed that. Tumblr,
Instagram, Vine, etc. are great platforms
to experiment with new styles of photog-
raphy and storytelling, but talk is cheap,
and its even cheaper online. If you want
to grab young peoples attention, make
your values clear, take a stance, and be
clever about it. Being everything is the
same as being nothing.
There are no rules when it comes to cre-
ativity. We believe that if you are speaking
from the heart, you should be good to go.
Visionaries who start trends rarely do it in-
tentionally. Its a natural progression.
Youve got the purists, the loyal
soldiers of the outdoors that have
shaped the foundation of the
industry for the last 20, 30, 50 years,
and then youve got this emerging
younger generation. The youth, some
of them denitely posers, are co-
opting an outdoor look and forcing
a more urbanized industry shif. Not
downstream, certainly not upstream,
but just plain old mainstream.
Social media or that new app
you just launched should inform,
not dene your brand.
Visionaries who start trends
rarely do it intentionally.
Its a natural progression.