Let’s start with your design background. Can you give us a little bit of your history and influences?

I got into it all through skateboarding. I went to art college just because they had a better skate scene than my hometown. When I got there I fell in love with art and realized that there was more to it than just drawing.

Where did you go to school?

I went to school in Savannah Georgia. I picked the school because I had a Savannah Slamma video. I studied graphic design. I went in as an Illustration major.

When did you make the move to San Francisco?

I moved out here at the end of ’98. I came here for skateboarding and art. I graduated from college and I had always wanted to move to San Francisco. I figured it was killing two birds with one stone.

When you first moved to the city, what did you do for work to get yourself established?

My first job was an intern at Pentagram which is a pretty well-known design firm. From there I moved over to a branding firm called Cook Sherman and just kept it going. I started doing more and more freelance and was eventually able to strike out on my own.

When did you officially start the Benny Gold line? Originally it was call Stay Gold, right?

Stay Gold started while I was in school as just a side project for myself to put out random shirts and stickers and just have something to do. As it went on the Stay Gold thing just seemed a little too generic for me because more brands and people were starting to use it. I always liked the whole punk rock thing of taking your band’s name as a last name, so I kind of just moved on to something more personal with doing it. That way it could only be mine, no one else could use it as much.

The method to the madness.

You really started getting out there as a designer in the whole streetwear culture when you started working with Huf.  How did that come together?

Huf opened up so many doors for me, I’m forever thankful. I met Keith through skating in San Francisco in 2002. He moved back to SF from LA to open his store. They were looking for a logo for the shop and my friend Kyle was helping Keith with that. He told him that I do logos and all that and he asked me to do a couple. They picked one and it went from there.

Keith saw that I was always doing little bits of clothing on my own, so he offered to fund the first couple rounds of my clothing line. A year and a half later I broke off because it needed more time and attention, so I started doing it on my own.  I was feeling a little spread too thin. It’s been growing, but it’s still manageable enough that I can do it all myself. I’m at a crossroads on weather I’m gonna keep it that way or make it bigger. 

A look into the archives, that’s an impressive body of work.

You’ve done some pretty big collabs recently with brands like The Hundreds. What other projects have you worked on in the past year?

I did the Hundreds collab. I just had this watch come out with Live Athletics in Japan. I did the Real Remix project with Real skateboards. Collabs are interesting things because it broadens your audience. It’s your own and the person you’re working with.  I’m working on a bag with Sag right now and I’m working on a shoe project with Gravis.

What influences you artistically?

As much as I hate say it, it’s always skateboarding. That could be the stock answer for everything. Growing up skating, you’re looking at the graphics and t-shirts and you’re recreating those on your griptape. It was just a major inspiration for me for my whole life.

You’re also heavily involved in the bike scene and are a part of the Mash SF crew. Tell us a little bit about that.

The Mash project started as me helping out a couple friends who were making a little local SF video and never knew it was gonna be as big as it is. They needed a logo for the project and I offered to help them out. The project got bigger than anyone ever thought it was gonna be and we got to travel to Japan twice for it. I pretty much just help them out if they need anything.

The Doughboy Fitteds are dropping this week, we grabbed a prerelease!

What’s youre time breakdown these days as far as skating, biking, and working on projects?

The schedule’s thin. It’s filled with the bike, the skateboard, the wife, work, and walking the dog. I stay on the board two to three times a week. The bike is easier to get around for longer distance and errands.

How many shops carry the Benny Gold line?

I’m in a little more than fifty shops.

What’s the hardest part about filling all those orders?

Dealing with production hang-ups that slow your delivery dates down, that’s always a headache. The worst part is when you have to switch from being a friend to the collection agency and tell people that they owe you money. Most people are pretty good with it, but there’s always a couple that you have to harass. It’s just that if you do it all yourself, you gotta do it all yourself.

Are there plans to expand beyond just doing it yourself?

At the rate it’s going I’m gonna definitely need some help soon, but I’m kind of a control freak so I like to do it all. It’s going to be hard for me to give up any part of it.

Benny handles a front board transfer at the fountain in Golden Gate Park

What advice would you give to someone who has aspirations to do their own line independently?

My advice to everyone is to do everything honestly and put the time into necessary to make it as good as you can. I think a lot of  people just throw it out there and don’t put the effort into it to make it the best it can be. It takes time.

What signficance to you personally does the Gold moniker have?

Gold to me has always symbolized the youth in you and all the possibilities. So the Stay gold was about staying youthful as you grow. So there’s that and also to me gold symbolizes success and achievement. Those are the themes that I constantly expand on with the line – youth, success, and achievement.

www.bennygold.com

 

-StyzED