Carve Wicked isn’t so much a skate crew as a state of mind. Or as Great Wall of China-poppin’ legend Danny Way once described it: “Carve Wicked is a way of life, not a dull blade but a sharp knife,” which pretty much sums up this gnarly Newport-born crew.
They may have been terrorising the Euro skate scene for years, but with their new Carhartt collab Carve Wicked – who put out a fun and fast seven-minute edit Portugoons at the end of 2013 featuring Alex Perelson, Tim Zom, Rob Smith, Phil Zwijsen, Sam Pulley, Jake Collins, Julien Benoliel, Sam Beckett, Fernando Bramsmark and Sox – are about to scale things up bigtime.
The four-piece collection, which includes the first-ever engraved camp knife-skateboard combo, is a woodland-inspired celebration of all things carveable and launches at Wayward Gallery tonight, February 13, in an interactive installation featuring product and a themed animation, created by illustrator Jon Horner and skater Rob Smith. We caught up with Rob to find out more.
What exactly is Carve Wicked?
Carve wicked is a crew of skaters with the same mindset: Skate, have fun, forget ability, just carve wicked!
How did the Crv Wkd x Carhartt collab come about?
Myself, Phil zwijsen and Joe Gavin are all part of the CRV WKD crew, and we all ride for Carhartt WIP too. It was kind of a natural progression to work with them on a like-mined concept and it worked out really well.
What was the thought behind the artwork/designs?
Our first thought was to make a knife that was engraved because it kind of fitted in with our name ‘Carve’ Wicked. We wanted the board to have a similar graphic to the knife so it we ended up having the board engraved as well. It took a lot of work to find the sources and to have the board engraved, I can’t think of anyone who has mass-produced this kind of thing before so I was stoked we got to do it! The t-shirt and socks were an added bonus to the project and an easy thing for Carhartt to source and take care of. All the artwork was done by our good friend Jon Horner. It has been amazing to work with him, he is full of ideas and works really quickly so it is easy to be productive. Jon and I worked together on creating an animation, which was new for me. It’s hard work but I am stoked on the end result – it was well worth the effort.
What’s in the collection altogether?
Knife, board, socks and a pocket t-shirt in two colours.
What’s your favourite piece and why?
The knife. I’ve always had a fascination with knives, and to produce one that goes hand-in-hand with a skateboard is awesome!
What can people expect from the launch on Thursday?
We want to try and make the launch a little more interactive, rather than people just stood with their backs to photographs on the wall drinking the free beers. We want to have fun and not for it to be a serious art show.
Where will the collab be available to buy?
So we have our favourite stores that have supported us since the beginning when we first started to produce products, which are Freestyle in Newport and the Black Sheep Store in Manchester. Plus some other skate stores in the UK and of course selected Carhartt WIP stores throughout Europe.
What’s the future for Carve Wicked?
Who knows?! Everyone in the crew is pretty loose and our main goal is to skate and have fun, so I’d expect more skate edits over product. But let’s see!
You can keep up with Carve Wicked happenings on their Facebook. The Carhartt x Crv Wkd collab launches at Wayward Gallery tonight, February 13.
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