Around 1989 some suits in Detroit awarded a license deal on the Carhartt name and opened their archives to some Scandinavian designers, leading to the emergence of Carhartt Work In Progress in 1994. In the time since the streetwear-focused iteration has grown close to the evolving creative community rooted in art, music, and most notably, skateboarding. They’ve done some genuinely rad collabs with the likes of A.P.C. etc, have brick and mortar shops around Europe (and one in NYC, thankfully), and sponsor some of the rawest skaters in Europe, and more recently, the USA as well. Cataloging a year’s worth of WIP brand activations, team skate trips, and much more is the brand’s newest print release, “A Skateboard Annual 2”.
At 175 pages, the full color publication (it’s really more of a magazine than a book but call it what you want) does well to capture the clean, Scandinavian-informed aesthetic the brand carries, mixed with the style-focused, powerful skating of their skaters. The mag’s main features include an interview and art showcase with noted weirdo Chris Milic, interviews with new team additions—including NYC standout Aaron Herrington—a photo essay of Tokyo, a historical breakdown of the significance of benches in skating by Quartersnacks (your favorite skaters favorite skate blog), and plenty more.
In short, it’s $25, and well worth it. I mean, you’re probably gonna spend that on drinks tonight anyways. Why not put it to better use and impress your friends when they see this sitting on your coffee table? And while you're at it, pick up "From Dust to Dirt," another recent skate-centric release from WIP.
