By Samantha Goretski

In a chill, relaxed bar in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn I sat down with Amongst Friends owner, Mikol Stambaugh.  Before we made our way to a back patio to conduct our interview, I was introduced to his brother, some close friends and was offered a beer. Those first initial minutes of our meeting, it was abundantly clear as to why the brand is called Amongst Friends. Mikol doesn’t claim streetwear royalty nor does he pretend to know it all. He simply aims to make quality gear and to fit in some golf time.

Where does your love of golf come from?
My dad. He used to take my brothers and I all the time when we were young. It used to be like fuck, we have to play golf again? It was almost like a chore for us to play, but it was my dad’s way of spending time with us. But as I got older, I started to develop a respect for the game, and looked at it as a personal challenge.

Why was it important to incorporate golf into your streetwear brand?
My goal was to offer something that wasn’t available and to fill a void. The style of golf is so prep and so performance based which are aspects I like, but I also wanted to have it be appropriate for the market I know which is street wear. In street wear, everyone was making crazy graphic tees and hoodies, but my personal style was a little more cleaner, a little more prep than that. I figured fuck it, if I can make something that you can wear on the golf course and at the bar, it would be awesome to cross those lines.

Is there an AF rule of thumb?
When we started the design and creative process, we wanted to make clothes that weren’t season specific.
We wanted to avoid hearing, “Oh, that’s that Amongst Friends Fall 2008 tee.” We really try to create timeless pieces.

Does AF have signature staple item(s)?
We will always do belts, polos, cut and sew and headwear.

Does AF have a target consumer/market?
The original target market was a broader market. We initially launched the brand thinking we could have two brands; an official golf brand to sell at country clubs or pro shop sand also, a mature streetwear brand. We wanted to utilize the same line but with two extremes. We actually went to PGA tradeshows and also had a booth at MAGIC, trying to do both hustles. I mean, we were the new jacks in golf apparel, the country club dude with his trophy wife wasn’t exactly receptive. We definitely learned from that experience and are now solely focusing on the streetwear consumer.

Has the economy affected business and/or have you scaled back on production?

Yes and no. We are fortunate enough to where each season, we are growing as a company and establishing more accounts. On the other side of that coin, we are still a small company,  so we have plenty of room to grow. Since we are growing in a slow economy, I think when the economy does turn around, we’ll be in a good position. We have scaled back though and concentrate more on what is working.

Would you ever open up a store?
Absolutely. Hopefully one day we will be at that level.

Do you think your collaboration with New Era catapulted your brand?
Most definitely. It absolutely brought credibility to AF right out the box because with our first season, we already had a New Era and continue to do so with every season.

Do you guys look to do collaborations outside of New Era?
As far as a collaboration with another brand, we are more than anything waiting for the right opportunity. Right now, we are making hats for some hip hop artists; a hat for Bun B’s and N.O.R.E’s album release and doing some special make-ups for some of our top tier accounts for fall /holiday.

Anything for the ladies?
I get asked this all the time but my answer is,  I have to get the men’s stuff on point before I can even think about ladies. But definitely down the line, women’s and kids.

By Summer Durand

The formula behind leather goods company, BillyKirk, is simple yet effective: utility, quality, and Function. Conceptualized in 1998 by brothers Chris Bray and William Kirkland, the pair’s original muse was a wide strapped, leather watch that was made in the 1970s. Bought at a pawn shop in Santa Monica, California, the timepiece became the topic of many a conversation, and the light bulb went off. With a background in design and an innate desire to create a company called “Billykirk” (a play on William Kirkland’s full name), the luxury leather project was well on its way.

The beginning of Billykirk was well researched and humble. According to their website’s bio, “We worked under a third generation leather maker in Los Angeles for three years.  We eventually bought some of his antique machinery and opened our own studio a couple of miles away. It was like going back to the early 1900s. Our mentor was very understanding and a great teacher. He literally showed us how to put a rivet on a belt. We had this incredible space to go to each day for free! We were surrounded by all of his grandfather’s tools and machines and had nothing stopping us for exploring and creating. We owe him a lot.”

Fast forward to today. The Billykirk label now consists of belts, wallets, satchels and housewares. Utilizing domestic as well as Italian leathers, each product is vegetable dyed in the “tradition of the old west.” It is then hand treated with beeswax and natural oils to achieve a beautiful patina that develops over time. Much like a fine wine, the product becomes better with age.
Originally designed as unisex, the brand began attracting a predominantly male audience. However, they recently started working with J.Crew on a women’s-only collection named (appropriately) “Billykirk for J.Crew. The brothers are also anticipating a project with Opening Ceremony that will offer looks for both men and women. In addition, they’ll soon create a line of eco-friendly leather items.

By Summer Durand

The art of revamping is at times, an arduous task. The transformation from one identity to the next is either well received by the masses or completely forgotten. Enter French footwear purveyor, Palladium Boots. A brief history:

Founded in 1920, The Palladium Company originally produced tires for a new concept NOW known as the aviation industry. After the second world war, the brand decided to create footwear as durable and long wearing as their tires.

With the early 90’s came the obsession with UTILITARIAN CHIC: Flannel, Marc Jacobs’ grunge movement; and waif models in Doc Martens. It was then that Palladium experienced a boom in sales. But as seasons change, so does mass appeal. Fast forward to TODAY.

It’s not often that something can be called classic right off the bat. For something to truly be called classic, it needs to stand the test of time. This applies to everything from cars to clothing to music to movies. Problem is you don’t have a Delorean to go back in time and get bags of classic vintage gear. Thankfully, For All to Envy’s Kirk has got your back. His eBay store has almost a thousand vintage pieces and his blog schools you as it acts like a vintage history book. One of the best things about his blog is that he’ll post current pictures of a vintage piece and vintage pictures of people/athletes rocking that item back in the day. Seriously, check it out and you’ll be hooked: ForAllToEnvy.com.
Read more after the jump!…

How long have you had For All To Envy?

The actual name came to be in 2005 but I’ve been in the vintage business since 2001. I started off by selling only on eBay, then after four years I had accumulated such a vast inventory that I needed another outlet. In 2005 I started the website to give people a chance to shop my entire inventory. The website was an eclectic mix of rare vintage clothing, sneakers and streetwear. When I went live with the website I decided to expand the company and create my own t-shirt line as another creative outlet.

What’s your plan for your next line of t-shirts?

In ‘09 I’m trying to expand the brand…right now I do mostly t-shirts, with a few hats and sweatshirts here and there. My goal in the near future is to create a complete clothing line. It will be much more than just t-shirts, while still sticking with the themes I’ve used in the past which are vintage, sports and music-inspired pieces.

How did you get started with this? Were you always collecting older stuff?

After high school I started going to the thrift stores just to try and find some cool t-shirts and stuff. After going for a while and buying some vintage clothes, people started to ask me where I got my stuff like vintage Lacoste polos, for example. Back then, Lacoste hadn’t made their comeback yet and everyone was going crazy for polos with that little alligator on them. One day I decided to go on eBay and search for Lacoste polo and to my surprise they were selling for $50–$100. I thought to myself, wow, I could make a lot of money selling these on eBay and so that’s exactly what I did. I slowly started selling as a part-time gig but it eventually turned into a fulltime job. One thing lead to another from selling a couple shirts on eBay to creating a website to starting a clothing line and now I’m sitting here talking to you… With all that being said, this snowball effect all came from my love of going to thrift stores and finding cool, unique clothes.

Is it like going digging for records and finding that original that you’re not going to find every day?

To me, it’s a rush. I always say it’s like playing the Megabucks when I go out hunting or digging for vintage. When you buy a Megabucks ticket you instantly start thinking what you would buy if you won. For me it’s the same feeling when I go digging for vintage, I start thinking what if there’s a pair of OG Jordan Is new in box or what if I find a vintage 1986 Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill tour shirt. You never know what you’re going to find and that’s one of the best things about what I do.

You describe your stuff as vintage; compare a piece of clothing that’s just old to a piece of clothing that’s vintage. What would you say the difference is?

When I think about it, vintage has more of a positive connotation and if something is old, it’s just old. The word vintage is thrown around so often these days that it gets confusing. I guess it depends who you ask; some people say vintage is 30-plus years old but I believe it’s anything 10 years or older. The reason I say that is I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s so clothing from those eras are vintage to me. I personally specialize in ’70s–’90s because that’s what I know and what I like. However if you ask the next guy, he might tell you vintage is from the ’30s–’60s because that’s his generation. When you use the word old, you could be referring to an old pair of pants from last year that you don’t wear anymore, so I guess the word old doesn’t really have the same connotation as vintage.

How do you feel about vintage-inspired and all the new clothes that are made to look retro?

Me personally, I really don’t care for retro just because my business is selling authentic vintage. If I have a rare vintage t-shirt that I’m charging a good amount for and then a company comes along and retros it, that just cuts down the value of my tee. These companies just mass produce these shirts and sell them for cheap which in turn makes my product not as sought after as it was before. Another thing about retro tees is their is NO history behind them, which is one of the reasons I love vintage so much. Every vintage t-shirt I come across has a story behind it: How did it get so worn? Who wore it? Why did they give it away? And how did it end up in my possession?

What type of stuff do you find people wanting the most?

Sports. Sports is my biggest market. Because sports will never go out of style; you’ll always like your favorite team. You’ll always be a fan. You don’t just switch teams because you feel like it. Every year, every sport plays. It will always be there. It’s a constant. So that’s the best seller. Always has been, always will be, at least in my opinion.

Do you ever debate between keeping something for yourself and selling it?

Actually, yeah. All the time. And it’s hard because I’m in business first. So it’s hard for me because I want to have a successful company and have rare items for sale. So if I get a piece and I have to sit there and weigh the options. It’s hard for me, but I keep my fair share. I have plenty of vintage wear. I keep it if I really want it.

What’s one of your best finds?

Well, I could probably write a book on this….I would say, it was actually this year. I found a spot that this guy had and it was chock full of sneakers from floor to ceiling. Old sneakers, old vintage Ewings, there was vintage Nikes, Asics, Adidas Streetball, Converse Aero Jams, everything from the the early ’90s—it was stocked with that. And he also had thousands of snapback hats, t-shirts and sweatshirts. It was just like walking into a time warp and I was back in the early ’90s. And that was my biggest and best score that I’ve had to date.

Text by: Bernardo DiGirolamo