Interview by Anna Langer

I’m chaotic, always in creative disarray (in a positive way) and always gave a book with in which I draw or sketch.

I always knew that I wanted to work in fashion, but it took a long time until I dared to try. I’ve already been creative as a child and my parents surely supported that. My education went in the same direction too, from furniture and interior design to architecture and finally fashion design, but the direction has always been clear: I wanted to work creatively. And with Epic Wear I can live that 100% and go my own way!

Epic Wear came to me. Somehow. I was in the right place at the right time and just implement the ideas that have been accompanying me for a while. Everything just came along after the “beginning”. One thing led to the next, was carried out and here we are! “We”, that is the team behind epic, consisting of my sister Julia, in charge of communications and marketing, Joshi, responsible for production and sales, while my part is designing and everything related to that.

Style to me means to have an individual singularity, that makes you unique. So style is always coming from the inside and expresses part of the personality. Clothing, for example, is a way to communicate that to the outside. You should always feel good in what you wear and style will come on its own!

At the age of seven, I used skate through our local streets with my brother. That was my first contact with boardsports – and I still have that board today! Over the last couple of years I mainly went along with snowboarding and surfing, and I fully emerged into the whole scene when I worked for a snowboard brand as graphic and product designer. That gave me a chance to get to know this whole world from yet another angle.

Surfing, snowboarding and skating impress and inspire me because of their different requirements. Technique, confidence, overcoming, consequences, and the love for nature all play a big role, but in the end it’s always the pleasure of movement that’s decisive – for me as well! My biggest passion for years was BMX flatland though – love it!

We produce our stuff in Bali because of my boyfriend… He loves surfing and has been tavelling to Bali for years, he’s fluent in Indonesian and loves the Bali lifestyle. He introduced me to the island and the first steps were taken there – but not planned at all! In the beginning it was a jump into the deep in but over time we realised that the possibilities for a small label are really good actually. You can implement your ideas 100% and you’re in the middle of the whole thing – and can get a morning and evening surf in! Bali is epic.

…be epic!

epic-wear.com

After all the sneak peeking, the 2012 Volcom Swim line hasn’t only hit the shelves, it can also be taken outside and showcased to the world now! At least in some parts of Europe that summer has already hit but we’re sure it’s gonna be all over everywhere soon (thoughts do create reality, don’t they?!).

We’ve long been wondering at what point surf contests will take to the newly found consistency a wave pool offers and here we go, they already have! And so this contest in Germany organised a river surfing contest – with out even a river but a little standing wave in a pool. And although it’s obviously not even a compromise against all the impressions, emotions and inspiration the ocean offers, it does like quite fun if you ask us! And the girls definitely look like they’re enjoying themselves too…

Time is a precious good in these hectic times, so Angie Hohenwarter does well with her advise to “seize the time”. And what could be better than an after work ride on your bike? See, we thought so too. So get inspired and take your baby for a spin tonite!

While the weather keeps being so eggy, give your old deck a makeover with some beautiful skateboard stencils!

By Helen Lovelee

You will need:
*An image
*4x A4 sheets of transparency film
*4x different colours of spray paint
*Masking Tape
*Scalpel
*Newspaper/cardboard
*A dusk mask or scarf

Instructions:
This is a four colour stencil so you need a separate layer for each colour.

Making the stencil:
1. Place a sheet of transparency film over a copy of your image.
2. Tape both sheets down so they don’t move about while you’re cutting.
3. Cut along the outside edge of the shapes you want to be sprayed in one of your four colours. While doing this watch out for ‘islands’,  these are the shapes within the bigger shapes that need to remain part of the stencil. To attach these islands to the rest of the stencil cut a ‘bridge’ through the shape the island sits inside of. If you don’t like having bridges in your artwork when all the spraying is done, you can colour them in by hand in the same colour as the spray paint.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 for each of the four layers of transparency.
5. Discard all the loose shapes you cut out of the transparencies and what remains is your stencil.

Spraying your stencil:
1. Spread loads of cardboard over the area you’ll be working on to protect the surface from spray paint.
2. Position the stencil on your board where you want your artwork to sit.
3. Place a few pieces of masking tape underneath the stencil to stick it down well.
4. Cover the rest of your deck in newspaper so when spraying paint doesn’t get all over your board.
5. Spray thin layers of spray paint back and forth through the stencil. Obviously spray paint isn’t good to breathe in so make sure to spray your stencil in a well-ventilated area.
6. Remove the stencil and newspaper.
7. Repeat steps 1 to 6.
8. My illustration work is very detailed so I couldn’t resist finishing off my stencil by painting in further details with a fine brush.

photography by Britta Burger

Leticia Bufoni, Lacey Baker, Alexis Sablone, Jessica Florencio, Eliana Sosco and Ester Perussi went on a trip to Europe to check out our homeland’s skate-ability, starting off with the UK and the eternal city of Rome. Luckily for us they took picutre wizard Ana Paula Negrao with them, to capture everything in moving images for your viewing pleasure. And the best part – there is more goodness to come in the sequel! Happy Mondays.

Photo: Kirstin

Watch the lovely Sally Fitzgibbons fight for the title of the Women’s Billabong Rio Pro in Rio de Janeiro, that bumped her up to 2nd in the world ranking. But Coco Ho sure didn’t give up her first final of the season easily, so enjoy the action and get excited for the last stages of the title race!