Franco Shade Interview on slamxhype.com
I recently sat down with Joe Navran from Franco Shade to do a little interview. The interview itself is a pretty interesting read about how they started, where they are headed, and the vibes in todays street wear culture. Interview and pics after the jump.
1.What was your inspiration behind Franco Shade, and what’s the idea behind it?
My background is filmmaking so I’ve always wanted to do things to entertain people. With more and more technology coming out making every PC and Mac come with programs that allow 11 year olds to make broadcast quality motion pictures, I got a little less motivated to stay the course and continue in that field. I have always had a distant attraction to style and the fashion world since it often crossed over into my daily life anyway. […]
Read the full interview + more pictures
Tags: franco shade
April 13th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
I especially liked how rollerblading isn’t mentioned in one word. Good job joe with keeping true to your roots
April 13th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
In his head, Joe must have been thinking “please don’t ask about rollerblading…please, just don’t ask about rollerblading”. There is nothing wrong with tiptoeing around the truth of franco’s inception. Just saying the word rollerblading causes instant confusion. I own franco shirts because I like Arlo’s designs and enjoy his ideas. I also have a lot of respect for Joe Navran and all of his videos. Everyone has to realize that it’s not a rollerblading company and doesn’t strive to be one. Streetwear is was cooler than rollerblading! At least until 2020 or something like that.
FRSH
HATES
RLRBLDRS
April 13th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
I’m not buying their shit, even though I like the designs, i dislike the attitude.
god hates rollerblading. now that’s a logo.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
An 11 year should make broadcast quality motion picture called “god hates rollerblading”.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
It is too late kiddies…..rollerblading already supported this cake boy enough to not depend on us to buy into his shit….if and when rollerblading becomes “cool” these guys will start saying how much they love it….fucking closet rollerbladers…mark my words….they will jump back on the bandwagon if rollerblading ever became “coool”
April 13th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Ha, I know so many closet rollerbladers.
April 13th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I don’t know what I think about this. It’s cool though I suppose, they’re doing their own shit, and streetwear has a market, whereas rollerblading doesn’t NEED clothing companies. Why should people be judged for making decisions like this, they’re business people as well as skaters.
The only part I didn’t like too much was :
“This whole year, for us is about promoting the brand as much as we can, and harder than we ever have before. We really just started getting noticed by people last year, before that it was just random people here and there picking it up. We have held out on doing a million collabs, waiting for a couple that we are working on right now that we will be releasing very soon. Check the site for that info, I can’t really talk about it too much yet.”
April 13th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Discussion aside, Arlo’s shorts(and stance) are amazing. He is making a mockery of that whole picture and everyone in it.
April 13th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
i like some of the designs, but it makes me sad and almost angry that joe totally AVOIDS to mention rollerblading at all. any statement from frsh about this?!?
April 13th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
i am disappointed and feeling betrayed by them
April 13th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
i disliked franco as a rolling company,as a stand alone ’streetwear’ brand i fuking dispise them its just second rate crap,biit they quote about originality etc is uttter utter crap so what if arlos creating original graphics if your then channeling those graphics through generic asethetic your no better than any of the other shitty american so called streetwear labels.shit is so dry i wish arlo would get out of it and stop letting his art be cheapened by franco.
April 13th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Im happy for franco. Sick clothing. Finally they are starting to get what they deserve. They are in it to make a living, make a mark. Obviously there is no money in rollerblading. Do you want them to struggle in life JUST being a rollerblading company, and not following their ambitions? Give me a break. A lot of you people are ridiculous and selfish. Keep up the good work Joe and everyone else at Franco.
April 13th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Fucking sell out. It’s fine to go out and market your products to a larger audience, but to then turn around when the brand has found its legs and be like, peace rollerblading? Fags.
We need to be more discerning when it comes to the brands we choose to rep. I can see B Unique going the same way. These dudes see our industry as a relatively low risk test market for their products, but at the end of the day theyre just out for the paper.
Fuck Joe Navran.
April 14th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
good for them if they’re doing alright. most of all i hope Arlo is seeing the benefits of it. I love that guy. but yeah, as for FRSH clothes, they’re not that fresh and they’re far too expensive for what they are.
April 14th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
prick,.. as if rollerblading means nothing to franco… Ive been buying all there shirts since the first designs, but no more… u cant expect me to support something that doesnt support me (rollerblading)!!!! shame, at up until 5 mins ago, i thought it was the best clothing co.
btw, it is good that there making money by getting into other industries, but u cant ignore your roots, wat created u, and expect to remain in it!!
April 14th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Quote from Joe Navran from exclusivestm.com/2006/08/15/new-franco-gear-is-coming-soon/ :
”
First off I would like to say that this is Joe Navran, not Daveee Blair. It’s the middle of the night and I cant remember my pw to log in here. Just as a basic response to angry guy#4352. For years and years now (it has been almost 5) since Franco has been around people haven’t paid much attention to it. It was always that brand that people liked to completely label with me, or F.P. , or my videos, my crew. So if you were a fan of those things before you might just be a fan of Franco.
For the most part though, you continued to buy grey/white masterpieces, cheap garage made denim, or just flat out cheesy shit. I am not going to name names, cause there really isnt going to be any good in that, but a MAJORITY of rolling clothing is HORRIBLE. There I said it, its just bad. Franco hasn’t in my opinion always been great either, but we have continued to try and get better each and every line. We didn’t invent all over print, we didn’t invent cut and sew, we didnt invent the color green either.
You want me to say our shit is cutting edge, and completely original than I wont. Please however show me who is completely cutting edge with every piece, who is doing things with gear that has never been done before. You have no idea what we have done other than rolling because all you focus on is rolling. You haven’t seen the album covers, parties, television shows we have had our line featured on as far back as 3 years ago. Now however, we are starting to get a little steam outside and actually have a chance to become a real company, and the same guys who never even bought anything Franco, or would ever think of buying anything Franco, come out on these boards and cry foul.
Here is a big newsflash to all you guys who think we are not supporting rollerblading or arent down “for the cause”. We are only carried in FIVE stores in the United States of America. 5, cinco, 4 1. Yet we are in 5 different boutique/streetwear stores in Orange county alone. Put yourself in my shoes, what would you do. There is no point hiding what our roots are, because in case you haven’t noticed skateboarders, bikers, average people dont even think or really hate on rollerblading anymore, because to them its dead, its a non-issue.
How easy would it have been (and sometimes honestly I wish I would have) to have just started a new brand and made a different name, none of you guys would know it was me or had anything to do with rollerblading. What is the point of that though, I personally am not ashamed of rollerblading one bit. Whenever I meet someone new in the scene, and I introduce someone like Rachard, they find out RIGHT AWAY that he is a rollerblader… and they always think its cool. People in the “Streetwear” scene instant message me and ask me for the link to one of his YOU TUBE videos. From there they always ask if I have anything else.
Now why dont I put people alleyoop topsiding handrails on the cover of my site? Lets think as a smart business, who are we advertising and marketing to? People who are buying our stuff (mainstream-streetwear-art culture) or to the 5 shops who after this line will be 2 shops that carry us right now in rolling. Every single time a new person finds out about Franco and they google it, you see pages upon pages of rolling. You arent going to be able to cover something that is so rooted up.
I have given over ten years of my life to the industry, and by given I dont mean I have skated a whole bunch. I have literally changed the course of my life because I fell in love with the sport. My goal has always been the improvement of life for my friends and crewmates. Thats it… If you dont believe me go back and ask the people I have worked with or been friends with, and see if one of them tells you I have ever fucked one of them over, or not over extended myself wether financially or emotionally for their cause.
I am now almost 27, when I was 16 none of the realities of gas and electricity bills had hit. Girlfriends bday presents weren’t that serious. Now I have a chance, nothing more than a chance to succeed at something I truly enjoy and if a few people online want to call me or anyone from Franco a sellout… well thats fine, it really is, its fine. I dont need to impress anyone anymore, I dont owe anybody or any industry a God Damn thing. I mean that, I wont ever back track on that. I know this industry as good as anyone, and it sniffs out phonies real quickly. When the industry as a whole feels like Franco is no longer credible enough to fit in or be a part of its roots then the consumers will stop buying it. (the few that still do)
I will tell you though, that for the few people who post online like seenmy, i get 2-3 emails a day, or a myspace hit saying something like “really proud that a rolling brand finally made it into the mainstream, good luck with everything”. I dont know what else to say, its late and this topic has really run its course with me and I think this may officially be the last time I talk about it.
Joe Navran
“FRSH” “
April 14th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Right on man. Right fucking on.
April 15th, 2007 at 2:37 am
Damn “shot through the heart….”
Way to flow the words, Joe
April 15th, 2007 at 4:46 am
all i have to say is i am 32 and i go way back in the day with rolling. i remember the days of F.P. and all the videos and all that you put into rolling. i mean all of your videos were “the” videos to get outside of VG. I know where you come from about branching out and expanding. i honestly know that you will never forget your roots and how it all started - i never forget mine and i am proud to have that over the new breed of rollers today. i have seen rolling transform into what it is today from the start of it all for myself back in 1991 (16 years ago) when i strapped on my forst RB lightnings. i also remember senate trying to branch out into the mainstream markets of pacific sunwear and eventually fail. now, you have that shot and it is working because it is based more on just rolling - but deep down we know it came from that and it has a tie to it. so do your thing and blow it up. hope it all works out for you all -
April 15th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
what about Feinberg by the way … is he still on Franco?
April 15th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Rachard Johnson is in the picture but is never mentioned. even in the shout outs.
RACHARD IS THE SOLE REASON THAT GAY COMPANY MADE ANY MONEY. haha and Joe Navran has made nothing but shitty videos and any kid with a gl1 can make a better video so he quit.
way to sell out on rollerblading. the only reaon you have acompany
April 16th, 2007 at 9:13 am
I read the interview 2 days ago, and all I have to say is that I was really impressed about what Jow said. Ok, yeah he never really mentioned rollerblading, that’s true. But what I liked so much about that interview is that you could feel the motivation and the hunger of pushing Franco as while reading through the question. This is the passion I miss when I read interviews in ONE, Be-mag or wherever. After I read this interview, I just though, damn those guys really take it serious, the have a plan, they have the ideas and most important they have the balls to move something. And by the way I personally think they really did. Franco changed from a 3 shirts company into a serious clothing brand, and for me that’s the only matter that’s count. They did a great job and nobody can say the opposite.
For sure, I would love to see Franco around in rollerblading, for sure I do. Although you might say that they are in business competition with us and Ucon. But we all here totally think the other way. We need companys like that in rollerblading, we need guys like Joe and Arlo in our industry to keep the good things alive. That’s really the most important thin I really care about. I am afraid that Franco goes the same way like Artysm back in the days. It was in my eyes one of the best clothing companys back in the day, but quit because of earning money. And believe me I know how it all goes down. We are also trying to survive with Ucon since over 6 years in the rollerblading business. And yeah it is not possible, or hardly not possible.
BUT.
The only point I write all this is the fact that I think you should never stop supporting those guys who support you since the beginning. We also try to reach the “fashion, hip hop, street” stores, or however you want to call it. But just for the one reason. To put the money from outside the industry in the rollerblading industry. We have to let the people know that we also have cool brands to represent. What would be snowboarding without Burton, Skatebourding without DC. You need brands to represent your sport. A sport defines itself though brands. And all those major brands also sell at Macys, JC, etc. Sure, just for one reason, to strenghten their industry and take the money back there.
That’s in my opinion how it should work, and i really hope Joe won’t fade away too much from rollerblading, because that would mean that we lost one more great company.
jochen.
ucon
April 16th, 2007 at 9:18 am
FRSH isn’t a rollerblading company. They don’t owe us shit. Same with Artysm. Evolution is part of the process of making good clothes.