A celebration, chronicle, and must-have for Vans sneakers fans, Vans: Off the Wall offers vivid photography and the compelling story of a casual canvas shoe and a DIY spirit that helped turn pop culture inside out. This updated edition, published to coincide with the brand’s 50th anniversary, brings to life the Vans community of boarders, bikers, artists, musicians, and street culture, and the iconic shoes its members love to wear. With oral histories from Tony Alva, Joel Tudor, Steve Caballero, Stacy Peralta, Oliver Peck, and others—as well as two new chapters of original material—Vans: Off the Wall provides an intimate, visually stunning account of how the company has changed the face of pop culture since its founding in 1966.
An endearing book of photographs of legendary skateboarding pioneer and Z-Boy Jay Adams during his childhood years, taken by Adams’s stepfather Kent Sherwood and now back in print for the first time since Adams’s passing. Skateboarding legend Jay Adams’s sudden and unexpected death at the age of fifty-three shocked the world. Media outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the Hollywood Reporter, ESPN, MTV, the Telegraph, and People magazine to name only a few, paid tribute to Jay Adams; the broad coverage he received speaks to the immense influence Adams had on the sport of skateboarding and the subsequent culture he helped grow and shape. Universe is pleased to bring back into print the little-known book of photographs of Jay Adams’s earliest days as a surfer and skateboarder, taken by his stepfather Kent Sherwood. Sherwood is directly responsible for unleashing Adams’s talent on the world: he introduced Adams at a very young age to surfing and skateboarding. Sherwood, a self-taught photographer, began shooting the young Jay Adams at play, surfing, and skating with his friends, including Tony Alva, Wentzle Ruml, and Shogo Kubo, among others. Jay Boy is an endearing, intimate look at the gifted Adams and his friends, and includes sweet and revealing thoughts about his past, written in his own hand before he passed away. It is certain to appeal to any fan of skateboarding.
In the tradition of bestsellers such as Shoe Dog, Authentic is a surprisingly candid, compelling memoir by a high school dropout who went on to establish one of the world's most iconic brands. You may not have known their creator, but you certainly know the shoes: for more than four generations, Vans shoes have been synonymous with cool. Now in Authentic, a memoir written by Paul Van Doren and published just before his May 2021 death, the charismatic founder of Vans shares his story of heading West and capturing the American dream. Authentic is a celebration of Van Doren's remarkable life and the iconic brand he built, beloved by skateboarders, creatives, and fans everywhere for its laid-back, colorful SoCal vibe, and famous for its people-oriented company culture. In Authentic, he shares his unlikely journey from high-school dropout to sneaker-industry legend. A blue-collar kid with no higher education and zero retail experience, Van Doren started out as a 16-year-old "service boy" at a local rubber factory. Over the next few decades, he leveraged a knack for numbers, a genius for efficiency, and the know-how to make a great canvas tennis shoe into an all-American success story. What began as a family shoe business has today evolved into a globally recognized brand with billions of dollars of annual revenue. Van Doren is not just an entrepreneur, he's an innovator. In 1966, when the first House of Vans store opened, there were no stand-alone retail stores just for sneakers. Paul's bold experiments in product design, distribution, and marketing (Why not sell custom shoes? Single shoes?), aided by legions of fans — skateboarders, surfers, even Sean Penn wearing Vans' famous checkerboard slip-on shoe in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High — made Vans a household name. But there was also back-breaking work, a shocking bankruptcy, family turmoil, and a profound shift in how customers think about athletic shoes. The book details Van Doren's personal life, but also hard-won business lessons learned over six turbulent decades in the shoe trade: the importance of deep-rooted values, of improvisation, of vision (and revision), and above all, of valuing people over profits. Authentic is Paul Van Doren's written legacy and his lessons for the innovators of tomorrow. Bracingly forthright and totally entertaining, Authentic is a business memoir by an American original.
The first monograph on the iconic independent New York street fashion label Supreme. In April 1994, Supreme opened its doors on Lafayette Street in downtown Manhattan and became the home of New York City skate culture. Challenging the dominance of the established Wes Coast skater scene and the new conservatism of 1990s New York, Supreme defined the aesthetic of an era of rebellious cool that reached from skaters to fashionistas and hip hop heads. Over the last sixteen years, the brand has stayed true to its roots while collaborating with some of the most groundbreaking artists and designers of its generation, and with stores in Los Angeles and Japan has become an international icon of independent counter-cultural style. This definitive monograph - with written contributions from contrasting arbiters of style, Aaron Bondaroff and Glenn O'Brien, and including an interview between founder James Jebbia and the artist KAWS - brings together the disparate elements of the brand's output, from legendary advertising campaigns to especially commissioned skateboard designs, photographs, and artworks, and a comprehensive index of their products to date. Including collaborations with Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Damien Hirst, Public Enemy, Lou Reed, and Futura 2000 among many others, this richly illustrated book is a survey of sixteen years of contemporary street fashion and culture reflected in the pioneering work of one of New York's most influential independent labels.
Expanded for the occasion of ZZ Top’s 50th anniversary, Billy F Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead throws wide Gibbons’ garage and studio doors for an exclusive look at his exquisite collection of cars and guitars. Love cars, guitars, and ZZ Top? This visually stunning tour through this Grade-A Texas gearhead's weird, wild life, vintage and way-out custom guitars, and influential hot rods and custom cars is mandatory education. From the near-mythical ’59 Les Paul sunburst known as “Pearly Gates” and the “Furry One” of MTV renown to cars like the Eliminator, CadZZilla, and Kopperhed, they’re all here—more than 60 guitars and 15 astounding vehicles, all expounded upon by BFG himself and shown in commissioned color and artistic black-and-white photography. Cars and guitars that have made their way to light since the book's first publication in 2005 are included: Cars: Mexican Blackbird 1958 Thunderbird Quintana ’50 Ford Custom El Camino Grocery-Getter custom Whiskey Runner '34 Ford Coupe ’51 Willys Wagon Guitars: Party Peelers John Bolin Customs Neiman Marcus BFG SG Nacho Telecaster John Bolin "Think Buck" T-style Mexican Blackbird solidbody Mojo Maker Tone Bender Zemaitis custom Marconi Lab Guitar 1929 Dixie Ukelele 1939 Rickenbacker Frying Pan …and more! While BFG’s cars ’n’ guitars are the stuff of legend, no less intriguing are the tales behind his incredible music career. From teenage Houston garage rocker to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the whole story is between these covers, told in the Good Reverend Willie G’s own words and illustrated with photos and memorabilia from his personal archive. As with many rockers, Billy F Gibbons' jones for hot rods and customs is the stuff of legend. But beyond this bona fide bluesman's mastery of the six-string and unrepentant love for internal combustion is a noted collector whose own designs have manifested themselves in hundreds of mind-bending cars and guitars. This is the definitive and official record of that genius.
How to make a solar system without headache, even if you don't know anything about electricity. More people are figuring out how to make off grid solar power work for them. In this book: Off-Grid Solar Power, you will discover: Energy units you didn't even know existed Formulas you can't live without when building a solar system A comprehensive list of tools that you absolutely need How to choose wire diameters the right way Step by step guide on sizing your off-grid solar system without painful mistakes Why not every wire is suited for solar energy installations The best way to protect your installation from catching fire Discover different batteries; maintenance, price, increase lifespan, configurations, ... Discover different solar panels; tilt, cleaning, optimizing solar input, ... Discover different types ofphotovoltaics What device is at the heart of any solar power system? Inverters; different types, different sine waves, efficiency, power ratings, ... Discover the best way to monitor the state of charge of your batteries The safest way to charge your solar battery from your car alternator. A step by step guide on how to build your system People can transform their RV, van, cabin, boat or tiny homes using these off-grid solar systems. This book is written by an electrical engineer who specializes in solar power design. A licensed electrician has reviewed it. This book has been written in a way to suit beginners to understand how an off-grid solar power system works and how to build one. If you want to learn about making your off-grid solar system, then scroll up and click the add to cart button.
This book explores the ways in which religion is observed, performed, and organised in skateboard culture. Drawing on scholarship from the sociology of religion and the cultural politics of lifestyle sports, this work combines ethnographic research with media analysis to argue that the rituals of skateboarding provide participants with a rich cultural canvas for emotional and spiritual engagement. Paul O’Connor contends that religious identification in skateboarding is set to increase as participants pursue ways to both control and engage meaningfully with an activity that has become an increasingly mainstream and institutionalised sport. Religion is explored through the themes of myth, celebrity, iconography, pilgrimage, evangelism, cults, and self-help.
Offers a collection of emotionally charged photographs that document a poignant day in American history. This title offers a photo-essay documenting the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom of August 28, 1963, the historic day on which Dr Martin Luther King Jr delivered his I Have a Dream speech at the base of the Lincoln Memorial.
