Monthly Archives: November 2012

If you are reading this and you live in the greater Los Angeles area then chances are you have been to Fairfax Ave. or as the locals call it “the block”. This is a strip of store fronts starting at Rosewood and ending at Oakwood. It is the place to shop at for your street wear needs from some of the most notable brands out there today such as Supreme,Diamond,The Hundreds as well Flight Club for footwear,Odd Future,RVCA and Dope. But for the next month or so we are all in for a treat being that Huf has launched a pop up shop in the upper half of Hall of Fame. It has been a minute since they closed their doors to its Fairfax store to focus on growing the brand more as well as developing its footwear line. And when you stop by you will see they have been busy and doing a great job. Featuring some cool in store releases and collaborations you can also find some pieces that are only limited as a online purchase via their website as well as their new footwear offerings. But if you had to rate them on presentation they would get perfect 10′s easily. Putting forth a lot of effort and detail into the shop from security cameras to labeling their own 40′s these guys went all out and I must say job very well done. It is refreshing to see a brand having as much fun as they do,not only in their art work but in standing out and letting their presence be known. So do yourself a favor and stop by to get some cool gear and to see a awesome detailed pop up shop.

This is pure genius

Don’t think of trying to steal anything….

DBC is watching you

Hats and brews

These are sure to be a huge hit for the winter.

Hall of Fame has all of their new offerings as well.

Stop by 449 N. Fairfax Ave,Los Angeles,CA 90036

Meet Tianna Gregory. She had contacted me via the almighty instagram and inquired about shooting. At the time I was having a bit of a hectic work week and didn’t respond to her right away, but remembered seeing her e-mail and her comments on some of my photos. So when I finally had time to take a solid look through her profile I knew I definitely wanted to shoot with her. We moved beyond instagram to e-mail contact then to text. Gotta love technology right? We figured out a day that worked for both of us and luckily I scored a fun location via my buddy Scuba Steve’s house. I drove out to North Hollywood to link up with her and take some flicks,at the time she hadn’t done a ton of modeling but had a strong interest in it and wanted to pursue her passion which I dig. In this set I thought it would be fun to have her in something casual yet sexy, so what better then a bra and panty set,topped off with some socks and lounging on a comfy couch. I must say when she had her outfit on as a guy I just had to let her know good job on inheriting great genetics. Her body had curves in all the right places and mixed with those eyes her site was a deadly combo. So here is Tianna, I am sure you will be seeing a lot more of her soon!

Van Styles: How old are you?

Tianna Gregory: 22

VS: Where were you born?

TG: Carson City,NV

VS: Where are you currently residing?

TG: Los Angeles,CA

VS: What is your ethnicity?

TG: Hispanic & Italian

VS: Likes?

TG: Soccer,modeling,dancing and animals.

VS: Dislikes?

TG: Liars and being cold!

VS: Favorite music?

TG: I like all types of music but I love Lana Del Rey!

VS: What do you currently do for a living?

TG: I am currently a server at a restaurant.

VS: What do you want to be when you grow up?

TG: I want to do modeling and open up my own cafe.

Follow Tianna on instagram: @teenutty

Meet Darren Miller. Aside from being a all around nice guy and a pretty good skater he also is a videographer and editor. Currently he has been commissioned to edit the upcoming Primitive feature Pain is Beauty . I had stopped by their warehouse to say hello to the fellas and to also skate their newly acquired mini-ramp and got to meet Darren and check out his work on the project. Fortunately I caught him just as he was about to take a  editing break to and skate which meant I got to take my camera out and shoot some flicks which is just as good as skating to me these days. So if you happen to see Darren out say what’s up and I am sure after this video drops you will probably be congratulating him on a job well done.

Portrait time

Working in the lab over at the Primitive HQ

Over the summer I had the pleasure of discovering and photographing a girl by the name of Catherine Genevieve. Apparently my photos of her made a pretty big splash getting all types of attention from a lot of people. One of which was a friend of hers by the name of Chelsie Farah who had contacted me with a interest in photographing with me as well. We set up a day to meet and shoot some photos and now here I am to share them with you.

Van Styles: How old are you?

Chelsie Farah: 22

VS: Where are you currently living?

CF: Burbank,CA

VS: What do you do for work?

CF: Full time free lance model

VS: What are your interests?

CF:Fitness,sports and modeling

VS: Dislikes?

CF: L.A. traffic,meat and bugs

VS: What is your ethnicity?

CF: Syrian and Lebanese

VS: What do you want to be when you grow up?

CF: I would like to have a career in acting or modeling.

VS: Favorite music?

CF: Hip-Hop

VS: Favorite movie?

CF: Batman (The Christopher Nolan version)

VS: Instagram or Twitter?

CF: Instagram definitely but I still have fun with Twitter

Follow Chelsie on instagram/twitter @chelsiefarah

This past weekend was a fun one despite the bad weather. You see on friday the Girl and Chocolate skateboard families had a premier for new video Pretty Sweet at the famed Orpheum theater in downtown Los Angeles. Now in a day and age of disposable media and instant gratification I feel like when these companies put out a new skate video all of that is forgotten. It had been 5 years or so since Fully Flared and people were ready to see some new footage of their favorite skaters as well as a few coming out parts from some new additions to the teams.

The thing I have noticed about these special occasions from Girl and Chocolate is that they unite skateboarders. That night you see skaters from all walks of life in the industry from fresh to hesh,tech to big rail,old to new,etc. Everyone comes together for one night to remember why we all got into this lifestyle and these videos do a great job of just that. I feel like you don’t have too many moments like this these days, and not just a night of watching a amazing video production with amazing skating but more in the sense of the feeling in the air. The excitement, the anticipation and the fact that a room full of grown men get transformed into a bunch of 13 year olds is rad. As if this production magically transforms all of us into yesteryear when we first picked up a skateboard and watched Video Days or Questionable for the first time. Or maybe it’s the fact of watching a video were the pros we have admired for so many years are still at it. Innovating to the point where they can set the precedent in skating for the next 3-5 years. Regardless it is a amazing feeling that should not be forgotten, and with rumors that this might be their last big production or that Ty Evans was moving on to work with other brands I say please say it ain’t so. Maybe I am being selfish and nostalgic but I think skateboarding needs nights like these. Even if they are every 3-5 years. And Girl and Chocolate are one of the few brands that can create this type of atmosphere for everyone.

With that said the video is Pretty Sweet and after talking with some people afterwards one general feeling of it was a passing of the torch. With some new additions to both teams a lot of people felt a good amount of focus was on the newer skaters such as Vincent Alvarez,Stevie Perez,Elijah Berle and Raven Tershy and rightfully so. For some of them to have a coming out part in this video is a pretty big deal and if you have been around for skating the past 10 years or so you understand why. But you still had great parts from the everyone on both teams, and needless to say Guy Mariano does it again. The fact his talent keeps progressing beyond your imagination every video part is insane.

All in all it was a  really fun night which also included a after party with a performance by Snoop Dogg. I want to say thank you to Mike Carroll and Jason Callaway for the opportunity to be there to see another great video on premier night,to the Girl and Chocolate skaters for reminding me what skating is all about, and a big thank you to Ty Evans and Spike Jonze for showcasing skateboarding a way that only you guys can do. I will definitely be buying this on itunes when it comes out this week and I hope to be at another event like this in 5 years.

Pretty Sweet marquee

Jason Callaway was the gate keeper of the evening

Credentials

Jim and Mickey of Deluxe were there

So was Dakota and Lui

Dickies Daniel and Brian Anderson are ready for it

O.G. Chocolate rider Daniel Castillo let me snap this cool photo of him.

Jimmy Sweatpants and Scott Johnston looking stylish as ever.

Roger Bagely and his lady are ready for it

Kelly Hart was out there

Omar Salazar and Shane O’Neill

What up Boo Johnson

Chris Defarkis,Albie Rosario, and Kevin Stirdivant from LRG rolled through

Justin Eldridge and Kevin Baker

Waiting to get in

Jacob Rosenberg was there

Christian Hosoi…… enough said

They even gave the crowd a pretty sweet instagram moment along with Tyler the Creator introducing the flick

Standing ovation at the credits

Snapped a quick shot of another O.G. Chocolate rider Chico Brenes on my way out.

Young bloods of the crew Elijah Berle and Raven Tershy

Mike Mo and Talisa were pretty stoked on the video.

Just a few people attended… mellow crowd

Wes Kramer,DC, and some of the Sk8mafia boys with Paulo Diaz

After putting out the part he did I would be smiling if I were Guy Mariano too

Jubal Jones and Andy Netkin of Primitive were in attendance

Nicky Diamonds with Yousef and the rest of the Diamond squad

Greg Carroll,Mike Carroll and Nakel

Pretty fucking sweet premiere I would say.