Roark

Some brands make clothes. Roark makes excuses to leave. Founded in 2010 by Ryan Hitzel — a restless artist, former Volcom creative and the kind of bloke who'd rather be digging through a back-alley market in Oaxaca than sitting behind a desk — Roark was born out of a road trip from San Francisco to the Mexican border and a deep frustration with an outdoor industry that had lost its sense of story. Ryan wanted something that wasn't just a surf brand, or a skate brand, or an outdoor brand — he wanted a brand built around the lifestyle of adventurism itself. The kind that sees every trip as a chance to discover something worth telling people about.

Each season, Roark's crew picks a destination somewhere on the map and heads out to test their gear across surfing, climbing, skating, running and whatever else the road throws at them. That real-world thrashing is what shapes the collection — purpose-built pieces that work just as well on a Himalayan motorcycle expedition as they do in a pub in the Lakes. It's gear designed for people who never quite know where they'll end up, and wouldn't have it any other way.