PEELS TOOK OVER A PRIVATE CLUB TO CELEBRATE THEIR VANS SHOE

October 2, 2019/ / Photo Recap/ Comments: 2

If you don’t care about fashion, you may not have heard of Peels, a clothing brand that makes unisex-ish workwear stuff for people who fantasize about looking like U.S. Postal workers.

But unlike the struggling USPS, Peels has grown quickly over the past year. They went from making one-off shirts for the owners‘ father’s painting company, to being in hypebeast markets in NYC and Japan. They got the silent nod from The Boss, more overt endorsements from other actual celebrities, plus they opened their own office / pop-up and recently designed a slip-on with Vans.

To celebrate the launch of their shoe, Peels somehow got access to Ludlow House, a members-only club in Manhattan that used to be a gold-leaf factory, and jammed a floor-to-ceiling quarterpipe inside a room otherwise outfitted with crystal chandeliers. Then they let skaters ride through the room and see who could get closest to bashing through the drywall.

The next generation of NY skaters are unapologetically here. Kyota (top) has already grown half a foot since hanging out with us earlier this year and the homies on the side couldn’t contain their excitement any longer.

Remember that time period when the only thing people wore to skate events were flannels and flannels over sweatshirts? Glad we’re taking a break from that now.

Skaters always do everything the opposite. Here’s the perfect example: the ramp was barely wide enough for one person, so naturally people were skating it in pairs and almost knocking themselves out.

OK, so maybe this particular room wasn’t as swanky as the rest of the place or as “elite” as its partner club tries to be, SoHo House, but I promise putting a ramp inside here was NBD. If this is the kind of access the Olympics will get us then bring it on.

When I was a teenager, a “night out” for me consisted of trying to find a homeless person to buy me and my friends Parrot Bay rum, which tasted like Skittles dissolved in cough syrup. I feel confident all these kids are making better life choices.

I once saw Isaac (right) 50-50 a skatepark handrail in the rain, and Angel (left) is one of the dudes who shot our Google Earthers video recently, so I know these guys are going places. Even if that place is just a bar with free drinks.

Whoever convinced the venue that it was going to be a good idea to put two massive ramps in the middle of their floor, well done. We just threw a party at a bar to celebrate our shoe and the crowd ended up ripping the disco ball off the wall and mobbing a taxi cab outside the venue. Skate crowds once unleashed and filled with booze are ruthless, and I fucking love it.

They packed shoes at the top of the ramp as a little buffer between the ceiling, and as you can see by that one stray wheel mark, at least someone made it all the way to the top. Wonder if that was a condition for letting them use the space? If someone doesn’t reach the top, get the fuck out.

Bingo! This is the stuff we love to see: taking a reckless idea to its absolute extreme without actually causing any (longterm) damage. True respectable shit.

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