Questioning the very nature of pornography seems right on brand for one of the most famous skater-turned-entrepreneurs on the globe. We can hang with that.
The Penthouse World According to Keith Hufnagel
Keith Hufnagel’s skateboarding days go back to 1990s New York City, when skaters created their own counterculture. After years as a pro, Huf echoed that vibe by creating his own street-wear company, HUF. That one-time post-injury backup plan has grown into the premier street-wear label, and turned pot-leaf socks into the go-to accessory. Now Huf brings his vision to these pages, with a photo shoot of Jenna Sativa.
You’ve been so busy lately that I’m surprised you found time for this.
Yeah. I’ve really been working on the HUF brand and opening up the Los Angeles retail store. We are also opening a store in Tokyo. This will be our second one. We’re not trying to open up too many of them. We want to open one in New York as well. We’ve been scouting locations. We want to get that one open as soon as possible, but these things take time.
It’s pretty amazing that you were able to parlay your career as a pro skater into launching one of the most successful skate-apparel brands.
In the beginning, I was always juggling being a professional skateboarder and building the brand. I always had help, though. I had a creative director supporting me. I had a team and some sort of structure, but there was never enough time. I was always skating, then coming in and working. I had some injuries that really plagued me, so I pushed my professional career to the side and really focused on the brand. I had to retire from skateboarding to some degree. And now we’ve actually built the brand big enough that we have a very well-structured professional team behind us. So for me, I’ve just been focusing on how the brand looks, how the skate team looks, and what we’re making.
You layered a few key visuals from your brand into the shoot. What motivated you to blend your brand with your personal vision?
Having the HUF stuff in there is my personal touch … and having the green and having the chairs. That’s me putting my personal Keith Hufnagel touches on this project.
What is it about the color green?
That green has been our color since day one. It’s a lime green, but we call it HUF green. For us, it’s just an accent and it’s always been there in the background. It’s a color that is extremely hard to use on apparel, but we’ve brought it into furniture, we’ve brought it into tape, to art pieces like the middle finger. It’s our go-to color. But we won’t make a jacket that color or anything like that.
