686 and Crooks & Castles are proud to announce their first collaborative efforts creating the 686 X Crooks & Castles Collection. The two Los Angeles-based companies have come together to create specialty-designed winter outwear product that incorporates the best of what each company has to offer.

686 and Crooks & Castles both started their run in Los Angeles and built themselves from the ground up by being innovators and producing distinguishable gear in their respective field. The 686 X Crooks & Castles Collection showcases the street wear design that Crooks and Castles hasbeen known for, for the past 10 years while applying the technically advanced construction techniques that 686 has been creating for the last 20 years.
The 686 X Crooks & Castles Collection has everything you need on and off the snow technically and fashionably. 


Michael Akira West, President and Creative Director at 686, and Emil Soriano, Design Director for Crooks & Castles, answered a few questions about how this collaboration came to be:

How did the collaboration come to be?
Mike: I’ve known Dennis Calvero, Emil, and Lewds (RIP) for quite some time now and we’ve talked about creating something with each other for a while. For the past twenty years, 686® has been known for making the best technically advanced products in winter apparel, while working with brands such as Levis and Dickies. I wanted to pay homage to our Los Angeles roots and do something cool with our homies at Crooks & Castles.
Emil: Knowing Mike for sometime, we had always talked about creating something cool together. As a lot of our boys in the click snowboard, it would only seem right to do it with 686.

What’s the inspiration of the line?
Mike: The inspiration was Emil’s thing. He can probably explain it better, but I think we wanted to make it casual and raw, something along the “Sons of Anarchy” vibe. What we do at 686® is make this idea into something that performs in winter and rain conditions, but still looks ill.
Emil: We felt that if we were to create an outfit for the snow, we wanted to give it thatstreet approach. Being big fans of the show "Sons of Anarchy" and how they show the comradery amongst each other, is really similar to ourselves,which is why it only made sense. Plus I think it would be unique to have that member’s club style jacket killin' it on the snow.

Can we expect anything else coming in the future from both camps?
Mike: We made a very limited run of 686® X Crooks & Castles jackets and pants this winter season. A lot of people have already tried to hit us up, but wedon’t have enough to go around to everyone. We’ll see what happens in the future…
Emil: I will say that it was a pleasure to work with a heritage snow brand like 686 on their20th year in business, as it is our 10th year repping in the streets. We'llhave to see how the reaction will be for this collaboration and possibly see something new for the coming seasons..... #cantstopthecrooks.
This exclusive line is the perfect outerwear to have that will keep you warm and looking fresh whether it be worn on the streets on acold day or on your favorite slope.

You can find these items at 686.com and crooksncastles.com