WHY PALACE SKATEBOARDS IS MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER HYPE BRAND
©S J Hockett
Palace Skateboards' tri-ferg logo has fast become one of the most instantly recognizable and highly-coveted emblems in the streetwear world. Much like Supreme's Box Logo and BAPE's Ape Head, the London brand's icon has made its way onto everything from tees to duffel bags.
Palace is a brand that is in it for the long haul. While its core skate roots and unmistakably gritty video style will no doubt ensure it retains a strong following among skaters, past seasons have seen the brand grow much bigger. The interior for their London flagship store is ostentatious and over-the-top. It is a brick-and-mortar embodiment of the Italian designer gear that the UK's garage scene was so fond of.
Comparisons to Supreme have come thick and fast; hardly surprising when both parties share a fondness for the ‘90s, unmistakable logos, cult followings and a crossover fashion appeal that most skate brands would die for. The tri-ferg logo has appeared in street style galleries across the globe and routinely sells out in a flash. Beneath the triangle lies a brand that is grown beyond the hype and carved out a niche of its own. Palace have been forging an identity that is true to their London roots while offering both fashion and streetwear worlds a fresh take on skate gear.
Just over ten years ago, Lev Tanju’s brand was relatively unheard of. Now, Palace Skateboards is one of the biggest and most sought-after brands. Before the pandemic hit, each Thursday at 11:00 on Soho’s Brewer Street, one would regularly see queues of eager fans lining up to cop the latest drops. Palace Skateboards’ modus operandi is to focus on sell-out collaborations. In the past the company has worked with the likes of Ralph Lauren, Adidas Originals, Reebok, Juventus FC, and Salomon, which in recent years has also evolved from being a slightly uncool trail running outlet to a go-to streetwear essential.
In a year full of the unexpected, Cannondale, Rapha and Palace Skateboards applied their joint innovative forces to create a unique and disruptive look for the EF Pro Cycling team to sport during 2020 Giro d’Italia. For a truly fresh perspective on the sport, Rapha teamed up with a company that is alien to cycling’s aesthetic, oblivious to its origins, and untrained in its traditions. Combining influences from early noughties club culture and video games with a flamboyant colour palette, Palace’s designs are sure to raise eyebrows in the peloton and far beyond. From Cannondale comes an entirely custom fleet of individually painted framesets. “When I think of Cannondale, I just think of my best mate’s brother we all looked up to’s bike! And how much I wanted one,” says Lev Tanju, Palace Skateboards’ founder.
After all, Palace has tapped into something special in the stylish consumer's psyche. It is, first and foremost, a skate brand—one that still does the staples you would associate with the parlance of contemporary streetwear better than almost anyone else. The brand has inserted itself into the broader sports narrative, lending its penchant for '90s-inspired silhouettes and zany graphics to their collaborations without diluting its signature irreverent wit. The brand's cheeky tone represents a breath of fresh air in an industry awash in overly earnest brands trumpeting their commitment to this cause. It is a formula the fashion industry should look to more often when it comes dreaming up smash-hit collaborations, instead of chasing brand synergies that sound like they would play well in a press release but look completely lifeless hanging in a mausoleum-like store.