OUTERWEAR

[Spenser]

I have never known any 32 outerwear to be good. Not sure how some people get away with it.. maybe they live in consistently dry areas.

[MFD]

Btw I posted this elsewhere on EZ, but Corey had zero involvement on his Spring break gear. He was basically awol and the brand manager basically said design something. The initial white colorway was inspired by the Spring Break Boot color for that season which was white. There was also a black colorway, but that never went to production. I love collaboration with riders- the best ideas come out of those types of relationships. Nothing irks the shit out of me more though than when a rider claims he designed something or takes credit without acknowledging the designers behind the design.

[MFD]

When I came on they literally used the cheapest fabrics available sourced from the factory. That is one brand that is def high on their own supply.

[Spenser]

Btw I posted this elsewhere on EZ, but Corey had zero involvement on his Spring break gear. He was basically awol and the brand manager basically said design something. The initial white colorway was inspired by the Spring Break Boot color for that season which was white. There was also a black colorway, but that never went to production. I love collaboration with riders- the best ideas come out of those types of relationships. Nothing irks the shit out of me more though than when a rider claims he designed something or takes credit without acknowledging the designers behind the design.

Especially wacky after his instagram rant about companies that make blank/plain boards. Like I said, seeking validation & sprinkled with hypocrisy.

[MFD]

Their lack of quality is driven by a dysfunctional infrastructure. The Factory I worked with during my time there also produced for The North Face and Norrona so the access to high quality manufacturing was available. Designing and building quality outerwear is a full time commitment for any brand. So is designing and building quality snowboard boots. Doing both at the same time is a monumental task and requires the proper internal product and design infrastructure.

[MFD]

he def rubbed a lot people the wrong way with his comments on blank boards. Again maybe a bit high on his own supply.

[kimchi]

I am back on. After the OG EZ shit the bed I lost track. Stoked its back. Hit me up with any outerwear questions.

YASSSSS. I was most sad about losing those in-depth outerwear conversations from the last EZL.

Not so much questions as random thoughts:

• I picked up an AK Cyclic this season. The fits seem MUCH improved. Not sure if they brought on new team or what, but the fit is comparable to the Arc'teryx fits I really enjoyed, but a bit more of a boarder cut.
• Feels like Burton's feeling the pressure for Arc'teryx, Norrøna, and Jones muscling in on its turf (plus existing pressure from Volcom). In past 18 months or so, Norrøna signed Torstein and Arc picked up Haight, van Gyn, and Big Air Jare-- also saw Torgeir rocking Arc in the last Peace Park edit. Plus Jones spinning up its entire program basically.

Man I tried my best to get 32 outerwear legit. It was like pushing an Ice cube uphill. The brand manager loves his 32 logos. The new gear looks like a nascar explosion of 32 branding. They moved production to a cheaper factory because they owed the previous factory a million plus change. Even after they payed up, the OG factory would not move forward with future development so they had to find a new factory. I would not trust 32 if my life depended on it.

Curious since you seem comfortable being candid: what're your thoughts on 32 generally? I really want to like them because they are probably the most core endemic major snowboard brand left that isn't owned by Burton, the Nidecker brothers, or private equity (maybe Nitro?)... but holy crap just feels like their product is garbage. I owned a set of TM2 XLT Jones variants ... I snapped 3 of the d-rings on those shitty power straps until I just replaced them with a heavy duty key ring. Had some wear and borderline delam issues on the liner. And they're bulky as fuck and took like 12 days to meaningfully break in. They don't seem quite as bad as back in the old "32 boots last 32 days..." era, but they just generally seem subpar to me. Adidas is a faceless megacorp but I'm saddened how much better my experience has been with faceless megacorp boots.

[MFD]

Hey Kimchi. Stoked the EZ is back in biz. I can only speculate that Burton is feeling pressure on the technical side from Arcteryx and Norrona. There are so many similarities between the Higher brands like Arc and snowboard brands like AK that any difference is becoming more and more indiscernible. Jones has a bit to go to live in the same world as Arc and AK. Concerning your thoughts on 32. I grew up a fan of 32 because of there skate heritage. Working there and seeing behind the curtain was a harsh dose of reality. To be honest I am surprised they are still in business. Rider owned is a tricky line of verbage, when you find out the owners don't quite stack up to the claim. The only brand in my opinion that is truly a rider owned brand is Mervin/Lib/Gnu. Mike and Pete are the real deal and have a solid sense of integrity.

[AyAyRon]

he def rubbed a lot people the wrong way with his comments on blank boards. Again maybe a bit high on his own supply.

An art guy who hates blank boards? Weird.

[kimchi]

Rider owned is a tricky line of verbage, when you find out the owners don't quite stack up to the claim. The only brand in my opinion that is truly a rider owned brand is Mervin/Lib/Gnu. Mike and Pete are the real deal and have a solid sense of integrity.

Sadly this about aligns with my expectations. "Rider owned" has its limits in appeal-- Salty Peaks is "rider owned" lmao.

And sadly even as dope as Mike and Pete might be personally, they're ultimately beholden to Altamont Capital Partners...