For anyone who has aspirations of starting a label but thinks success can only be found with a Kanye co-sign or angel investor, Rip N Dip is the brand that will keep your dreams alive. The brand started out as just a group of friends at skate camp who wanted to shred in something else than the wack camp-issued gear. Today, it's a serious label churning out full collections with a legitimate presence in the skate world, but there's nothing flashy about how founder Ryan O'Connor found the level of success Rip N Dip is currently enjoying.
O'Connor and his crew developed Rip N Dip the old-fashioned way, which in pre-Internet times meant screen-printing tees in his mom's garage, driving around the country giving away shirts to kids at skate parks, and storing the brand's inventory in his cramped apartment. But most importantly, O'Connor and crew were having a blast during these lean times.
What's even more rare than the success Rip N Dip currently enjoys is that the people behind the label are still having as much fun as when they started. It's pretty tough for any sort of business to scale up while maintaining the original ethos that made it resonate with others, but Rip N Dip knows the secret. The label started to ensure a group of buds were having as much fun as possible, and this still holds true, which you can tell in the gear's aesthetic and message. The above video, produced and directed by Tom Carter, shows that, despite the fancy L.A. office and prosperity, the Rip N Dip team is still always down to put work on hold for a few hours to squeeze in a session during office hours.
