I always feel curious about the designing process of sports, and specially, snowboard clothing, so I’m happy I can share some questions I asked to Laura Bentley, who has been a designer in many areas for 8 years and for the last one has been Head of Design for Westbeach. In her words “designing snowboarding outerwear is the best.”

What’s so special about Weastbeach?
Westbeach has going since 1979, so for a snowboarding brand it’s got a really rich heritage.  It’s been through a lot of changes over the years, but it’s has a special place in snowboarding culture, a lot of riders remember their first Westbeach jacket.  This brand endures because of its connection with the sport, its belief in what it does, and I think by being just way too stubborn not to exist!

If you could do anything, what would you like to design?
Wow- this is quite a hard question for me to answer!  How about a full Westbeach Chalet? I would design every thing in it, from your toothbrush, to the clothes in your walk in wardrobes and the full bar (obviously, there would be a bar).  I love trying anything new, so, I guess I’ve copped out of this question a bit by designing everything!!

What makes you tick? Where do you gain your inspiration?
People inspire me. Since doing this job, I have met so many amazing people who work in the snowboarding industry.  It’s really important for me to design with them in mind, I love that people will always tell me about their favorite hoody that they bought years ago, or the pants that they wore for a full season despite the fact that they were ripped to shreds.  People have such an emotional attachment to clothing, whether you realize it or not, it can really be an important part of the snowboarding experience.

The great thing about this industry is everyone is buying the product because they love it, they’re excited to get up the mountain and try it out, and you’re a part of that experience for them. I find that infinitely cool!

What’s your main focus when you design the outerwear: technical aspects, look and style, comfort…?
I start with the look and style in mind of what we want, and then add in the functional elements we need the garment to have (powder skirts / goggle pockets / fully adjustable hoods and cuffs etc), then we start sourcing fabrics.  Our fabric development is a really important part of the process, as we always have 10k waterproofing and 10k breathability as a minimum performance standard.

Then we start sampling- we always get our friends, & team riders to give them a road test, and give us any feedback.  If they don’t make the grade for technical or comfort reasons, then we either fix it or go back to the drawing board.  It can’t just look good but feel wrong- no way!

 Everyone who has been into boardsports for a while knows Westbeach from back in the day when it was still based in Canada. Now that is owned by an English company what are you doing to bring it back to the World?
We’re is a Canadian Brand at heart, in fact we still have almost as many staff in Canada as we do in the UK. (you’ve gotta love skype!)  Westbeach was originally founded in 1979, so it’s really been there from the start of the sport and has gone through many changes over the years.  We take feedback and direction  from our team riders from all over the globe, but I think the Brands soul will always be in Canada.  We are distributed in most of the markets we want to be in with the notable exception of USA, I think we’re just waiting for the right opportunity for that one.

Do you like designing sport oriented clothes or would you much rather be working in the fashion industry?
I much prefer designing sports oriented clothing.  Over my career I have worked for other brands doing more ‘fashion’ type product, but outerwear in particular is so much more challenging- there is so much to consider from a practical point of view, it can be like a puzzle getting all of the elements just right.  I actually love the complexity of it. Who wants an easy life anyway?

What new styles are coming for the next season?
For 12/13 we’ve got a great Women’s duffle jacket, which I can’t wait to get my hands on.

For men’s we’ve got the Garage Jacket which I’m really pleased with, it’s got a real street wear layered look about it, but great performance too- no compromises!  We’ve got some new t-shirts hitting the website next month too, for those who can’t wait for winter for their Westbeach hit!

THANK YOU LAURA!

How would you describe FD Wear?
FD is a small ski/snowboard outerwear company based in Boulder, CO that was founded in 2009 and has seen exponential growth over the last few years. We make some of the best outerwear and accessories in the world, and strive to provide only the best customer service and products. We also are the originators of customizable outerwear.

What makes First Drop different from other outerwear brands?
A number of things:
Fit- uur stuff fits pretty tall, but also has long sleeves so if you want it to fit more traditionally, the sleeves will allow you to wear a smaller size.
Materials- top quality name brand zippers and fabric.
Construction/features- 100% seam sealed, bar tacked and double stitched in critical areas, breathable liner, zip off sleeves and bib, 17 pockets, 8 vents, etc..

Regarding your marketing strategy, do you agree with the saying “any publicity is good publicity”?
To some extend yes. As long as people know you run a professional company with good customer service and products, I think some controversial publicity is exactly what we need.

How do you address the critiques of your latest videos “Last Friday” and “Lesh Apology”?
We made the “apology” video to address the reaction we got from “Last Friday”. I’ll let the videos speak for themselves.

If you haven’t watched them yet, here you have the videos!

“Just be free” is what you stand for. Explain yourself.
I try not to be too concerned with what others think about me. I live my life the way I want, without regrets, and if it’s not in line with what others view as “correct”, I really could care less.

Nowadays many people try to begin outerwear and clothing companies, but very few are successful. You are obviously one of the few. What does it take to make it work?
A lot of hard work, the right connections, a good vision, and the ability to take major risks.

You are not just running a successful company but you are still skiing professionally, how is that possible?
Although I guess I’m still a “pro skier”, I really don’t have any pressure to push myself as a skier. I just ski for fun, and if I’m still able to keep some sponsors, great! I try to set up my business so that it runs itself (to some extent) so I still have lots of free time to ski, snowmobile, etc.

What would you change about the ski industry?
I would like to see skiing become more like skateboarding or snowboarding. Skiers are a lot more conservative, and most are a bunch of pussies who are more concerned with talking about skiing than actually doing it. I’d like to see more creativity, more fun, and ultimately I think this will bring the industry more money and success.

Do you want to say anything else?
Just be free!

Thank you David!

2.- When was ASP snowparks born?
ASP snowparks was born in 2003 in Port Aine. There weren’t many snowparks in the Pyreenes, and they were mainly in France and in Andorra.  The thing is that we wanted to ride park, no matter what. So the only solution we could came up with was building it ourselves. My partner Oriol Carrasco hadn’t been a cat driver for a long time, but we managed to put few rails and a pyramid in our first snowpark. Then, the resort hired us to build the snowpark. Through the years we’ve learnt a lot and we’ve always had many ideas to try to improve. The continuous “war” is make the resorts realize that it’s an important part so they have to respect it and invest into it to have better facilities and services. We keep trying!

3.- You are a freestyle reference in southern Europe. What does it make ASP snowparks so special?
Actually, I don’t know what to say. We’ve always worked the same way and with the same enthusiasm. We’ve had to learn a lot of things that we would had never imagine they would be so important for a snowpark, and we still have a lot to learn.
On the other side, we’ve had a lot of people who have followed us through the different resorts we’ve been, and now, these people know our philosophy, and how we work, they are the people that form the ASP team!
The hard work, never giving up (the beginning was hard but also so much fun), and betting highly for our work it’s what brought us to this point where we have a big support from Vallnord.
4.- What are the shapers’ characteristics, those qualities and tasks that you can’t see at the first sight?
You have to be aggressive, know how to whistle super loud and shout a lot. (laughs). That’s what any gayper would tell you, but I’ll tell you that a shaper needs to be a hard worker, and must love the freestyle and has to be willing to do efforts to push the park forward, like missing powder days in order to reshape the kickers.
The best shaper’s quality, though, is being an excellent team worker and the passion for the project. Tasks that you do not see? Not every shaper has to do them but there are definitely many of them, like all the grooming and cat machine hours.

5.- Can you tell us the snowparks situation in the Spanish scene?
Nowadays the situation is complicated. There are different teams that have been working for several years and that have become better and better, but the economic situation doesn’t let the companies support all these initiatives as they should be supported.
The snowparks are super expensive facilities to maintain and without economic resources they can’t grow up. This is one of those jobs you can’t tell at first, but it’s basic and you have to put a lot effort to improve just a little.

6.- How do you see the Spanish freestyle evolution? What does a company like yours do about it?
The Pyrenees are the freestyle paradise!  We have ideal steep slopes, enough snow to build them, we have teams and technology to build spectacular features and we have more hours of sun than any other place in the world!
Every time there are better results in many levels: better park construction, better riding (it comes together with the improved parks), there is great communication as there are good video producers, and good photographers.  There is a lot of potential to make the freestyle grow in Spain and Andorra.
From ASP snowparks we try to improve our parks every day so everyone can develop their projects as riders, filmers, photographers, event organizers, instructors….

7.- What do you think is missing to reach the European level?
Oh… this is a good question. I think that in the Pyrenees we are in our own European level. Little mountains with not much snow compared to the rest of Europe. We do everything we can. Maybe a little bit more of support from the international brands European headquarters would help us to make the people see our resorts as an important freestyle destination.

8.- What are you plans for next season?
We are planning on keep working in Vallnord, we’ll try to make a bigger snowpark in Arinsal and to become a reference in southern Europe.

9.- What would you change about the snowboard industry?
I guess that I wouldn’t change anything from the industry, what I would change is the resources distribution.
Personally I think the brands don’t share out their resources correctly. However it’s just my personal opinion and I understand it all depends on how you look at it.

Founder of the very first cosmetic brand oriented to the boardsports consumers, Carmela has also given a boost, together with Daniela Meyer, to the Women in Boardsports retreats. Here you have the answers she gave me:

1.- You are considered one of the pushiest women in the snowboard industry. What have you been working on lately?
I’ve been taking a life-coach training course while funnily enough creating a life.

2.- You created Les Ettes, a non-alcoholic fragrances collection for active girls, what have been your main difficulties to introduce the product in such small niche?
The main difficulty was introducing a new girls specific product in a male dominated industry that never sold cosmetics before.

 3.- Do you think it is a bad moment to be enterprising into the boardsports industry due to the economic crisis?
Not at all. It’s never a perfect or a bad time. Throughout history, many companies and initiatives have succeeded without much capital, people, or resources and have succeeded. And the opposite is true too. I highly recommend watching : Simon Sinek’s TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html 

 4.- You are also the co-founder of the initiative Women in Boardsports. Why and how did you come up with this idea?
The intention with WIB was to create a platform that would bring women from different geographical and professional backgrounds in boardsports together so they could network, share their experiences and walk away inspired.
The idea actually came from Marika Borg from  “Girlie Camps.” Daniela from Popcorn in Saas-Fee, Marika and I met at ISPO and decided to make it happen. In the end Marika stepped off for personal reasons but nevertheless she planted the seed.

5.- What are your goals in WIB?
To keep putting on events and donating the funds raised to female initiatives who need it.

6.- Why do you never talk about your amazing projects and initiatives but support the others so much?
I’ll happily talk my face off about anything anyone is interested in hearing and I equally love supporting and hearing other women’s stories. Women relate by talking to each other. We are good at that! I find hearing older and wiser women is the best way to inspire younger generations.

7.- Do you have any muse, anyone who inspires you everyday?
Not really a muse- but women who inspire me to push and better myself.  I also draw inspiration from my supportive family members, husband, friends and colleagues.

8.- What do you think about mentorship programs? Are they common in boardsports, not just with the athletes but also in the industry in general?
Yes, boardsports is a young, fun, and international industry to be a part of. High executives are generally friendly, laidback and easy to reach so these mentorship relationships happen naturally.

9.- What would you change in the snowboard industry?
Nothing at all.

10.- What are your wishes for this year?
To give birth to a healthy child.

Thank you very much Carmela for your time, I wish you and your baby the best!

I still would like to share something else with the world, and it’s when Carmela wrote me back with the interview answers she also told me that the woman in the following video makes her think about me! Might just be the obsession of pregnant women with their vaginas, in any case the speech is worth watching:

Brain, owner and founder of Transform Gloves, Tom answered me some questions so I could share with the world something more about him and his company than just the fact he loves chocolate milk.

Kids: Tom is cool, but smoking is not.

1.- Create a slogan for Transform including these words: messy, to love, mountain.
Messy kids on the mountain love transform gloves. Kids are messy, mountains love transform gloves. Transform gloves loves messy mountains.
No, my final answer is: Messy kids on the mountains love Transform Gloves.

2.- What differentiates Transform form the other gloves company?
We don’t really look at what others are doing, we make what we think is good and see what happens

3.- In how many countries are Transform Gloves being sold?-
18: Pan, Europe, Canada, US, South Korea.

4.- You are the transform face and soul, how do you manage to run everything?
By drinking loads of coffee and developing square eyes and a huge phone bill.

 5.- What are Transform’s goals for the next season?
To keep on what we are doing now, producing the best products we can and building the hype. Pretty sure the end of the world is in December though so who knows?

6.- You are really close with many riders, how do you support or how would you like to support them from Transform?
Just by treating them as close friends, looking after them giving them as a brother type figure, making sure they are having fun , giving them love advice, working out their next move and just being there for them. In our team is all great people, not just great snowboarders.

7.- Who (riders) do you think will surprise us soon? Drop some names here!
You haven’t seen anything from Niklas Mattsson yet, he is warming up. Colin Frei is stacking some amazing footy for isenseven , Nutti Nimela and David Ditje are bossing it right now. Others I have my eye on are Brage Richenburg, Rowan Coultas, Kyle Mack, Katie Ormerod and… I could go on forever.

8.- What would you change about the snowboard industry?
Not too much, after close to 20 years I still love it and privileged to be a part from it, anyone in it that complains that hard about it needs a reality check.

Thank you Tom for such serious interview!