You've definately become involved in the streetwear market, have you guys always been fans of streetwear? What pulled you in?
Skateboarding in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia in the late 80's was a major influence on my life and also opened the doorway into the streetwear market. Brands such as the late Shred Threads, Vision Street Wear and Stussy always inspired and provoked me. Strong Proactive local retailers such as Mocean, Snake Pit and Cheapskates always stocked really cool threads and hard-wear. Actually I noticed on Slam X Hype a week ago my all time favorite Australia street wear labels Blank has just colabed with HUF from SF, thats so cool! It brought back all kinds of great memories hanging on the bay-side Melbourne trains with my friends.
There are alot of Eyewear companies now, and you've hit an industry heavily controlled by big hitters, as an independant company what have been the biggest challenges and the biggest advantages? The challenges are similar with any new brands, spreading brand awareness and gaining the confidence from the conservative retailers to place your brand in their stores, and for all those kids out there thinking it's easy I'm still driving a 98' Honda Odyssey....The big advantages are that we have no corporate suits holding us back with our brand's direction or decisions, and I think thats the main problem with most of these 'big hitters' today.
Based out of LA, but carried all over the world, do you find the markets in Europe etc very different from the US?
I think the internet has made the world very small over the last few years, like back in the 50's European fashion was so exotic and sheik, but now the world is so up-to date and constantly informed with trends and fads it's almost an international look. Don't get me wrong, each corner of the world has unique looks, but not like the 50's. So to answer the question the brand has been strongly accepted across the world, with countries like Japan and Sweden really relating to Sabre.
When looking at the design aspects of your business, where do you take the most inspiration?
It's a culmination of many influences that once upon a time could never be mentioned in the same sentence, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, Skateboarding, Rock N Roll, Graffiti, Punk music, Hot Rods and Politics. I know it's a broad answer but I'm sure many will relate.