Retail is dead. Not everywhere.

I have a long and personal history with the brand. In 2009, I was responsible for the Dickies brand in Europe, and we did a limited bookzine called Love Your Work—featuring Lev Tanju and Palace. Actually, Lev even photographed a few images for it (some images of the book below): A Skater’s Work is Never Done.

I also got to know Lev’s two other co-founders, Gareth and Marshall—happy to still call Marshall a friend today. The three of them met at Slam City Skates, the legendary skate shop that Gareth and Marshall owned.

Around the launch of the booklet, Palace had just opened their first pop-up store. No crazy lines, nothing. You could just walk in and hang out with the gang. (I bought a shirt with a parrot on the left side—will never forget that.)

Fast forward to today, and the brand is stronger than ever, opening a new store in Seoul very soon.

So happy to see how they’ve built the brand and the company—and I still don’t feel too old to wear their stuff. 😊