In Winter of 2012 Daniel Kretiem was tired of working in the Size? store in Covent Garden and, locked himself in his bedroom at his parents' house in South East London, where he dreamed of a more exciting life. The winning idea was to create a line of skate clothing named Yardsale. He reflects:
At the time, except for Palace and a few other brands, there was no one doing anything in the UK skate scene," he says. "No good videos, clothing, products; nothing you felt like you could be into.
With no money to invest in his project, Dan focused on video making and started filming his friends while they were skating wearing the circular logo with palm trees that was set to become the hallmark of his future brand in plain sight. These shorts movies full of tricks and striking metropolitan views proved to be the perfect promotional material to attract hype around his line that was formally launched the following year, in 2013.
The turning point came when Kretiem premiered at the Wayward Gallery a film called
LDN-LAX that highlighted not only the technical skills of the skaters' crew but, above all, Yardsale's style with its mix of graphics inspired by the 80s Los Angeles tropical culture and the vibrations of South London.
That video and others such as
Fantasy Island,
Softcore and
Hotel Romance, all filmed and edited by Dan, all underlined how the world of skateboarding was rooted in the brand, becoming not only a sort of signature but also making it known all over the world. Wherever short films were seen or where the crew travelled to make their tricks, from Japan to NYC, Yardsale gained popularity and in a few years became one of the most interesting brands in the UK, distributed only within skate shops to preserve its ''skate identity''.
The more streetwear infiltrates fashion, the more
Justin Bieber's images with a
Thrasher T-shirt or another star wearing the Palace tri-ferg multiply, the more successful Kretiem's creations are even among non-skaters. Helping this growing fame is the evolution of Yardsale which, in addition to T-shirts and boards, starts to produce complete collections of hoodies, tracksuits, pants and polo shirts.
Last year also saw the arrival of the first major collaboration with Vans and the reworking of two of its classic sneakers, Authentic Pro and Epoch Pro. Yardsale is authentic, cool, fresh and has all the skills to challenge giants like Palace in a market that is no longer reserved to skate-addicts.
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