INTRODUCTION: THE DUCT TAPE YEARS

In 2019 the once subterranean world of skateboarding is so integral to fashion, streetwear and youth culture as a whole, it’s hard to imagine a time when it wasn’t.

A time before Odd Future

before Supreme was a household name

before Jackass and Viva La Bam

before Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater

before Blink-182 and the Warped Tour...

..a time when the nascent skate scene persevered after its initial boom and bust driven exclusively by the love of skating with no promise of fame or fortune. A bittersweet nostalgia for this era brings us The Duct Tape Years -a love letter to this era and the music that fueled it- by streetwear originator Scott Nelson who’s career in streetwear has its roots in the halcyon days of the 80s skate scene.

Nelson draws inspiration from the aesthetics and ethos of this era. When stark DIY graphics were both a necessity and a statement. Zines, album art, t-shirts and stickers all printed with one color achieved maximum effect in both cost and expression. This influence is palpable in the Duct Tape Years catalog where the aesthetics of punk, reggae, hip-hop & hardcore create a rich background that is as essential to the the brand as it was to the skaters and artists who created a visual vocabulary that would go on to dominate the globe.