Jon Kooley was doing frontboard pretzels on street rails while some of you were still being made fun of in Elementary School. Jon helped to mint not only the modern style of street snowboarding but also what's now being recognized as a related dresscode for an entire generation of snowboarders. Let's just say, Jon paid his dues.
After doing his time as a professional snowboarder with video parts in some of the greatest movies we know, Jon made the transition to the other side of the industry and was given the opportunity to design clothes for his former sponsor L1.
We caught up with Jon to talk about the new L1 movie AMERICANA, timeless clothes, Lizard King and more.
- What's a typical day in the life of the Creative Director at L1?
I would say a typical day for me starts around 7:30am with a pot of coffee and some emails. I work from home so I just sit in my office with my dog and work on whatever needs to be done for the day.
Lots of coffee, Spotify and the occasional break to take my dog for a walk.
- How did you make the transition from Pro to Designer?
It was kinda the right place at the right time type of thing. I was always interested in the design process when I was riding for L1 and I started out with some crude designs of my own for my signature outerwear.
The opportunity came up where I had to make a decision to pursue something new which was the Creative Director job or continue snowboarding for most likely a very limited time. It was scary but I had tons of help in the transition and understanding of my new position. For me I get the same feeling from designing as I did filming video parts. In the end it's a direct representation of the year, I can either look back and be proud or see things I need to work on and improve.
- Where do you draw influences from for your collection?
Everywhere really, my favorite and I think the most accurate is just people watching. Seeing what people are actually wearing and trying to incorporate the trends I see into outerwear the best I can.
- Where do you draw influences from for your collection?
Everywhere really, my favorite and I think the most accurate is just people watching. Seeing what people are actually wearing and trying to incorporate the trends I see into outerwear the best I can.
I’m also fortunate enough to get to go on a few inspiration trips every year to more fashion forward cities around the wold. This is a huge thing when you’re trying to design a line that won’t reach stores for roughly two years after its designed. Music, skateboarding, blogs and tumblr play a big role as well.
Fashion seems constantly changing. How to create something timeless?
You can’t go wrong with clean and classic. L1 as always been based on vintage military and classic workwear styles, and I try to stay true to that. In the end the idea behind L1 is to create outerwear with a duel function. Functional outerwear that meets the demand required for snowboarding as well as looking good enough to wear as your everyday jacket without looking like you just got off the hill.
- Are clothes more than a facade people put on? Is there a deeper meaning attached?
I think people choose clothing based on how it makes them feel and how they are perceived by other people. You can tell a lot about a person by the clothing they wear and I think people - conscious or subconscious - like to categorize and affiliate themselves with brands that they feel represents them the best.
- What was your first thought when you heard that Ed Hardy made snowboards (RIP)?
Haha! Ed Hardy made snowboards? That’s news to me, but I’m not surprised.
- What does it feel like if you see one of your riders rip a spot wearing your Jacket?
I would say I get more satisfaction when I see the team just wearing the jackets at the bar or around town. They have to wear the stuff snowboarding, but they make the choice to wear it out as a casual jacket.
- The L1 movie is set to drop this Fall. Is it going to be a full-length, full-on classic snowboard flick?
Absolutely, this will be the first full length L1 snowboard movie. It won’t be classic in the sense that it will just be part, part, part. We’ll break it up by showing some of the other interesting things that go on during filming trips as well as showcasing some of the interesting places that our team went this year to film.
- Are you gonna have a part in AMERICANA?
No, I really wanted to try to get out on at least one trip this year, but the busiest time for me is really from Oct - May. If people filmed snowboard videos in the summer I could probably get a clip or two.
I think it would also be pretty difficult for me to keep up with how good these kids are getting and its been 3 or 4 years since I’ve seriously snowboarded. I think I’ll just stay in the background making outerwear.
-How did Lizard King join the L1 team? Is he gonna ride a snowboard in the L1 movie?
I think he just got really exited about snowboarding this year. The fact the he’s friends with lots of our team riders as well as the KR3W collab happening it was kind of a no brainer.
Honestly that might be a better question for him haha! I can really only guess.
- Who else will we be able to see in AMERICANA?
I think right now you’ll be able to see Brandon Hammid, Dominik Wagner, Sam Taxwood, Blake Geis, Zebbe Landmark, Billy Mackey, Dan Vinzant and Justin Keniston in the movie.
- How much have you been involved in the whole movie-making process for AMERICANA?
I’ve been involved in stuff like the naming the movie, the esthetics of it and helping with the music choices. As far as making the movie goes I’ll give Cole as much input as I can, but in the end he’s the one filming and editing the movie so it’s really his project. I just try to make sure everything lines up with what L1 is and how we want the brand portrayed in the movie.
- Is making clothes something you want to keep on pursuing? Karl Kooley Lagerfeld?
Haha! I really enjoy what I’m doing right now and I plan on doing this for the rest of my life in one form or another.
Final wisdom?
I don’t really have anything wise to say… All I can say is if you do what you love you may never be rich but you’ll always be happy.