O c t o b e r 2016
tricky Mag
DYLAN 1988 - 2016
DYLAN RIEDER Photographed by James Wright
HEaven is A halfpipe
Skateboarding, Fashion and the Death of Dylan Rieder
DYLAN RIEDER Photographed by James Wright
Video still of Dylan Rieder from the Monster Children ‘Team Average’ trip. Filmed by Riley Blakeway
On October 12th, after a two-year battle with Leukemia, we lost one of the best, if not the greatest skateboarder of this generation. I am talking about none other than Dylan Rieder. The Californian native was the master of style in all walks of life. His reserved almost shy nature; casual coolness, incredible talent and general carelessness for what others thought of him made Dylan Rieder the ultimate skateboarding icon. Skating since he was nine years old, touring with Quicksilver at twelve and going pro at just eighteen, Rieder was a glowing beckon of young talent, even among seasoned professionals. His epic parts in videos like A Time to Shine for Transworld and Alien Workshop’s Mind Field saw his popularity soar and (pop) shove him to the forefront of the skate scene. His success wasn’t without its battles and Dylan’s personal struggles began to effect his skating during filming for Alien Workshop. The dark side of the street scene began to affect him and he found his coping mechanism in for the form of narcotics. Through an ultimatum given to him by his sponsors, Rieder refused to go to rehab and kicked his addiction on his own. Pushing through this dark time, he was able to stay true to himself
and come out of it like a racehorse out of the gates. His skate style was stronger than ever and he shred even harder than he did before. It’s no secret that Dylan Rieder was one hell of a good looking man but this opened him up a floodgate of negativity from other skaters, despite his skills on the deck. He was always getting heat for being a pretty boy and many skaters who didn’t know him well were still bitter about his antics at the Alien Workshop premier. (In the height of his pill addiction, Rieder had walked out after his part played which was basically like giving the middle finger to his own team and everyone who attended the film). Frequently donning all black or all white outfits or a basic singlet tucked into some nice trousers and some slick loafers, all with a casual ‘50s flare; it took absolutely zero fucks to rock that look at the skate park and more so to boycott wearing his own sponsor’s logos. On top of his handsomeness, Dylan received constant criticism for wearing ‘nice’ clothing while he skated but it just never seemed to bother him. He became the black sheep among the herd of typical skateboarding fashion. Videographer and friend, Greg Hunt said this about Dylan’s style in an Epicly Later’d episode for Vice. “What it really comes
down to is skating. He’s like a full skate rat… yeah, he may sometimes wear nice clothes but it’s not keeping him from trying something insane and slamming for five hours until he gets it”. In the land of bulky DC shoes, Vans and Half Cabs, Dylan’s style and ethos of just doing you and doing what you like was soon materialized in the form of his signature shoe. In 2010, he designed a loafer skate shoe through Gravis, simply titled, ‘Dylan’. He used to get annoyed that he couldn’t go for a skate and then go straight to dinner and there was nothing like this on the market in the skate world. The slip-on, dance-skate hybrid was certainly something different and despite some trash talk after the release, once some skaters actually tried them, the shoe was a huge hit. Dylan said this of his signature shoe, “I definitely got some shit for them, but I fucking dig them”. If you want to be technical, Dylan started modeling career began when he was twelve years old as the poster boy for Quicksilver’s Youth campaign but being the face of his signature shoe for Gravis gave him exposure in more worlds than skateboarding. In 2012, his gorgeous mug was featured in September Vogue, alongside Zoe Kravitz and A$AP Rocky in the “Untamed Youth” feature about Alexander Wang. Rieder created this bridge between the fashion world and the skate world that just wasn’t prominent before. With his discrete nature and flawless style, he drew attention to skateboarding as more than just a street sub-culture, but a hub of inspiration and style. If the world didn’t already know he was a pro skater, Dylan would have fit into the fashion world with total ease. 2014 saw him cement his place by modeling in DKNY’s spring campaign with fashion big names, Cara Delevingne and Jourdan Dunn. Despite his new connections in the fashion game, Dylan remained Dylan and in an interview with The Skateboard Mag, said this about the occuring transition for skateboarding and fashion.
“If you could look up the words ‘cool breeze’ online, that’s like the perfect
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explaination for Dylan –Bill Strobeck
“I appreciate everything Adidas and Nike do for skateboarding, and they pay some of these dudes really good money where they’ll be retiring off it, but how long is that going to last? Now is the time to be supporting skateboarding companies again.” Proving to already be a huge year for Rieder, he then joined forces with sponsor, HUF to release his second shoe and signature design for the brand. Opposed to the slip-on he designed for Gravis, this shoe was lace-up, slim and had a wing tipped silhouette but still screamed that classic Dylan Rieder style. The campaign clip itself was a black and white dream; a montage that transported you into a poetic Dylan daze backed by David Bowie’s Some Are. Dreamy shots of Dylan in his classic tucked in white singlet and white button up, just doing what he does best on the board and looking totally cool and at ease with a cigarette in his mouth, is nothing short of mesmerizing. This then alternated with shots of him sitting on the ground with the shoes by his side and looking down, no eye contact and smoking, always smoking. A naked model does some sexy sways out of his vision and he never looks at her. Despite the latter description, the clip wasn’t at all pretentious but rather the style of the video emulated Dylan’s casual, quite, almost shy nature.Videographer and friend, Bill Strobeck once said of Dylan’s nature that “if you look up the words ‘cool breeze’ online, that’s the perfect explanation for Dylan”. The video is the visual aid to that explanation.
Rest in Peace Dylan. You will be missed.
DYLAN
2014 was also a huge year for Rieder in a different way. In July, Dylan was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. He battled the disease in private, receiving two bone marrow transplants from his sister, Makenna but went into remission after both transplants. The reality of his disease was that the cancer had begun to worsen and develop at a rate that outpaced his body’s ability to deal with treatment. On Wednesday, October 12th 2016, surrounded by his loved ones, Dylan lost his battle. At just 28 years old, Dylan Rieder has left a legacy that will continue to inspire for generations. His lone wolf originality, fast and raw style and explosive talent have solidified him as a style icon and a total legend of skateboarding. Rieder was taken under the wings of mentors, Jason Dill and Mark Oblow since he was a kid so now its just time for his to spread his own wings within those pearly gates.
meet the cool cats uno skate Co. Known for their raw style and talented team, their brand has gained incredible popularity and has been well received in the skate community. Meet Melbourne’s own, UNO Limited. UNO was founded by friends James Robertson, Louie Dodd and Ben Hermans. While living in a share house in Northcote a few years ago, the boys were spending their days at university and skating and filming a lot in their free time. Culminating their skills and similar interests, UNO was a project born from organic progression. Louie was studying graphic design, James business and Ben photography; this trifecta of talents in combination with their rad skating style brought their clothing label and now skate company into the material world. All three bring different strengths to the brand. Louie deals with all things design, with input from James and Ben in regard to creative direction, ideas and concepts, Louie then translates into artwork and designs to be used. Aside from some very sweet skate apparel, UNO is well known for their stylish skate vids with James constantly working on new film projects. “(The video’s) have been really important to the development of UNO as a company, and its reputation” says Louie of James work. With wicked soundtracks and sweet footage (fisheye, super 8 and the likes) of tricks, landings and epics stacks (shout out to Steve Jeffers car wipe-out in UNO’s aptly named, Risky Business circa 2014), their vids are a must watch for a good time. Recently, UNO’s Ben Hermans, alongside Adam Anderson, have established The Collective Community, which aims to develop DIY skate parks in disadvantaged communities. This non-profit organisation has already raised money and executed builds in India, Palestine and Mayanmar. It would be crazy not to mention the amazing dedication, hardwork and incredible outcome of their World Build projects. Back in September last year, in collaboration with UK’s Skatepal, these boys lead the construction of Palestines largest skate park and then just two months later, travelled to Mayanmar and with the help of volunteers, built Yangon’s first and only public skate park in three weeks. My hat goes off to you gentleman, it really does.
Stills from UNO’s Banana Massage Tour Filmed by James Robertson
UNO is currently available at Fast Times (Melbourne CBD, Fountain Gate and Frankston stores), Nowhere Special (Brunswick East) and U.P.S. Skateshop (Chippendale, NSW) or via their website, www.unolimited.com
COTTON MAGIC: Skate tees So, I’ve been seeing a lot of girls reppin’ skate brands like crazy lately. Seeing skateboarding apparel styled to the max in full fash mode is quite cool, but sometimes I feel a little uneasy seeing a really dolled up girl, boarderline basic bitch, getting around in a Thrasher tee. It almost feels like when someone rocks an awesome band tee and you get excited so you ask them about their favourite album or song and to your disappointment, they reveal they don’t actually know who it is and just thought it looked “cool”.
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Anyway, here’s some cool skate tees you probably won’t be seeing in pictures of off-duty models anytime soon.
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1 1. Vans Loon Society T-shirt $59.95 2. Call Me 917 Music to my Ears T-shirt $59.95 3. UNO Limited Pool Sharks T-shirt $44.95 4. ASanta Cruz Wave Dot T-shirt $39.955.
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5. Passport Plug-in T-Shirt $49.95
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Photo by Jerome Chrome
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Melbourne skaters, Ben Hermans and Joel Crowe. Photographed by James Robertson
the Fear factor-: Retail edition It should be simple, right? You want something, you go to the shop that has the thing, and you buy it. Supply and demand baby. I bought a new skate deck not long ago; a white Lurkville board with some cool logo typography on it. My mate gave me some new grip tape and I got creative with UNO, Vans and We the Loons stickers. The board is looking so fresh now, inticing and once I get some new trucks and wheels I’ll be set. That is where I hit a bump in the road. I don’t know too much about the different types of wheels and all the bits and bobs that you need to put a deck together from scratch but for the life of me, I just can’t bring myself to go into the skate shop and ask what ones I should buy. It seems so silly, (I know this), but I am honestly scared to do it. I get this crimpling anxiety about going in and just going “hey, I got a new deck and I want new wheels but am not sure what to get. Help me!” It is hard to pinpoint whether this ‘fear’ is because I am a generally not that confident a person, because I’m a girl who skates or because I’m not a freakin’ pro skater and I don’t want to feel judged. Probably all of the above. The skate community is pretty tight and as a subculture, outsiders aren’t always welcomed with open arms. (Skate or die sound familiar?) I’ve been skating off and on for a few years but I don’t skate everyday or anything like that. I still can’t always nail tricks but am pretty lucky to have coincidently become mates with boys who totally shred. I have a (weird) advantage being a girl with skater friends, being actually able to skate and being a girl who doesn’t skate a stupid long board. (Don’t get me started on those kinds of girls). I never thought of myself as being ‘cool’ for it, but I think it did help my rep a little when I met some of my now friends for the first time. Despite this, the feeble act of going to the skate shop alone freakin’ terrifies me. Last time I did go, I was with a good friend of mine and being a skater in Melbourne and a well known videographer, the guy in the store new him straight away and chatted for a while. I think I’m afraid that if I go in, alone, I’ll feel like a loser, a legit non-skater. If someone relayed this ‘dilemma’ to me, I would most likely think they were being silly and give them lousy advice like, “just do it”. There is something though to be said about the exclusivity that still exists in the community and I think I desperately want to be apart of that club that I’m paranoid I’m going to jeopardize it somehow (yes, even just by going into a skate shop), like a wolf in sheeps clothing so to speak. I’ll probably try to take my own advice and “just do it”... or I’ll make my friend come with me again instead :)
THE FITZY BOWEL
FITZROY SKATE PARK Photographed by Jack Bleasdale
RORY
Nick
ORION
ALADIN
CHENNY
ALADIN
Joel +*&+and dusty`
GARY
CHENNY