Fatlace, Alphanumeric, Crooks & Castles - When Two Wo Rlds Collide

Fatlace: Fatlace was started in 1999 by Mark Arcenal, who had a blog in 1997 called Caffemocha, and in this blog, the word "fatlace" was a filter he used when he talked about sneakers, music, graffiti and hip hop. Two years later, Mark decided to focus on Fatlace as its own brand and today, Fatlace caters to many subcultures, whether it's anything on two wheels, cars, shopping, sneakers or gadgets. There are guest bloggers, a forum and the upcoming FatlaceTV, where everything will be brought together.

SS: Why are you getting involved with motorsports and/or the different facets of motorsports? How does your brand identify itself with or compliment the motorsports industry?

FL: We're not just getting involved in motorsports. We've been involved in motorsports and had a passion for cars for almost two decades now. We've been around and noticed that there wasn't any style in the scene. We wanted to help bring style to those guys that spent all their money on their cars. We don't compliment the industry by designing t-shirts with cars and the words 'Drift King' on them, but rather give them well thought-out designs that work well with their own style. Our next collaboration is coming out soon, too - it's a t-shirt that we designed with Volk Racing.

SS: Why should motorsport enthusiasts care about fashion? What would you like to see happen to motorsports because of fashion's affect/influence?

FL: Motorsport enthusiasts should care about fashion cause they spend tons of money on their cars. They should be 360 with everything they do. I'd love to see people actually caring about what they wear when they walk around the pit lanes or SEMA. You always see the same pit crew button ups. Someone needs to redesign it. Maybe we'll work on one next year.

SS: Are there any current project cars you're working on or sponsor? How about events? Why? What do you think of these cars/events?

FL: We sponsor a few drift cars and drivers, like Calvin Wan, Justin Pawlak and Bergenholtz Racing. We also coined the term "HELLAFLUSH" and created a show that's all about cars (no matter what make/model) having the correct wheel offset with the proper ride height. We do a few shows a year and possibly will be taking it on tour next year. We grew up going to all kinds of car shows so we enjoy the ones that aren't flashing booty in your face all day with 12 DJs competing against each other in the same venue.

Source: 415.409.3281 www.fatlace.com www.hellaflush.com

Alphanumeric
SS: Why are you getting involved with motorsports and/or the different facets of motorsports? How does your brand identify itself with or compliment the motorsports industry?

A#: "Getting"? When we started back in '98 we were HEAVILY involved in motorsports. Just seemed like the natural thing. For us, motorsports are the action sport that no one pays attention to or acknowledges and was another facet of the lifestyle that no one was catering to. The rush you get from skating, BMX, snowboarding or wakeboarding is much similar. How many tuners do you know that do any one of those sports? Tons! Granted there were brands that came from immediately inside motorsports that were doing stuff way before us. The difference here is that they were only focusing on motorsports.

SS: One of your first t-shirt designs (and a staff favorite) was a see-through diagram of a Honda B16 engine. Any chance of bringing that shirt back?

A#: There are no more B16 shirts. Honda put a cease and desist on that back in the day, so we can't sell that design anymore. We are sponsoring the Super Lap Battle finals, and we designed the t-shirt for the event using the OG B16 graphic. It will be a one-time only, re-release of that shirt since it is going to be for promo use only.