Very proud to share the making of this year's new design with you!

Hey,

I hope you are doing all right as we’re already hitting the second half of the second unexpected and hard-to-believe year in a row. Alex and I are already back in his home in the Highlands of Virginia after what has been one of the most tremendous and overdue trips we've made in our entire existence. In the ancient world, we used to fly to Europe, Asia, and Africa a few times a year each, spending more time in the air than at home sometimes, trading one suitcase for another in a heartbeat upon arrival, leaving the next day for another inspiring destination.

Traveling was in our DNA, the airports were our secondary homes, all those travelers around us seemed familiar, all happy to be going somewhere important whether it was for work, vacations, or going back home to their loved ones after a long journey. The smell of duty-free perfumes reminded us we were at the right place every time, this place where the entire planet harmonizes, where every culture walks side by side, exchanging smiles and looks, each one trying to guess where the other one is from or where they were going. 

Those sports bars with huge flat screens broadcasting old games of numerous sports always captured my attention, and the amazing smell of beer and french fries is quite convincing, right?! Those bars were usually just beside a tourist souvenir shop, where all the local clichés and delights were cool to buy all of a sudden!

No need to tell you how much we had missed this! This is one of the reasons we were like kids the evening before our departure for Tangier, Morocco. But in all honesty, it was also far from being the main one; it was five years ago, almost to this day, that Alex decided to leave by himself for this iconic city located in the heart of the world!

Tangier is where the Atlantic Ocean becomes the Mediterranean Sea. It’s the door to Africa or Europe, depending on which side you stand, at only 15km from the coast of Spain. It’s been the home of so many great artists, revolutionaries, and criminals, all attracted by its paradoxes but mostly by its unique social characteristics, where you can be your true self without playing any sort of social codes and theatrical games, like William Burroughs said himself:

Tangier is one of the few places left in the world where, so long as you don't proceed to robbery, violence, or some form of crude, antisocial behavior, you can do exactly what you want.

Tangier, as Alex generously shared in his recent journal, has been a place for redemption for him and us all in The Long Shadows, as I previously wrote to you last fall! It just felt incredible to be back there, especially after 15 months of government-imposed incarceration of some sort...! During this very short 6-day trip, we took everything Tangier had to offer us and it felt wholesome, a rehabilitation with freedom and peace, but also chaos through the loudness of this city no matter what time of the day or night. It was also a reconciliation with our punk spirits and lifestyle, which have always guided our every step since Alex and I started working together back in 2006! A true love mending hope journey to the heart of the world! 

For now, it really is good to be back in the mountains of Virginia and to prepare ourselves for the astonishing live event around the skate deck contest, but most importantly, the long-awaited Old School package bombshell celebration! I truly can’t wait for you to see what Alex and his friend Joe came up with this time! 

A WORD FROM JOE MRUK, THE ARTIST 

I used the fortune-telling theme Alex mentioned when we discussed the Love Mending Hope meaning and came up with this gypsy woman crouched by a tattered vintage machine that raccoons have made a home out of. Three tarot cards suggest possibility, and the new growth of flowers on the girl's back is to represent a regenerative spirit, or cosmic springtime. Strange shapes whirl in the crystal ball, and the hummingbird returns to feed on nectar.

I contacted a friend of mine who knows a lot about tarot, and she offered some cards that if drawn were likely to signify hope, change and transformation. She suggested the wheel of fortune, the six of pentacles and the sun, in that particular order. The cool thing is that the growth and change that the cards suggest are reflected in the natural growth coming out of the girl's back. 

It felt a little bit like a personal reading when she was giving it to me, which was very cool following my numerous conversations with Alex, The Club new theme and what we all went through since March 2020.

VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER

Please Read Carefully

The year X packages will be shipped to you very soon, around the end of this month. I truly can’t wait! But please, confirm your address and t-shirt size with the HTR Store, just to make sure we send you the right things at the right place! We want your SFCC experience to be optimal! If you haven’t done it already, or aren’t sure, please, feel free to get in touch with us at this email address: info@htrstore.com

Just as a reminder of what I sent you last week! Alex and I will be live from his house in Virginia on Sunday, July 18, starting at 9am Eastern Time for a very unique Love Mending Hope New School and Old School packages presentation! We will also have a great contest, a draw, as most of you are accustomed to now, for one lucky member to win a very cool and one-of-a-kind skate deck!

Speaking of which, I truly enjoyed your comebacks and comments! We thought this could be such an original embellishment for your creative space or even at work, why not! :) Skateboarding has always been an important inspiration for Alex, and it’s a great way to remind ourselves how everything is possible to those who simply have faith and believe in the impossible without being fearful of their own limitations! 

More news and colors to come next week...! Stay close! 

Your Host and Friend,
Jeff