Australian surfing brand The Critical Slide Society has designed a collaborative collection with Californian-based surfing brand Birdwell.
The collection consists of 10 pieces, including trunks, tees, and headwear. Birdwell's SurfNYl fabric, coupled with a lifetime warranty, is featured in both trunks.
The fixed waist option utilizes Birdwell's 301 fixed waist block, while the elastic waist option incorporates a Critical Slide 'Mixed Tape' panelling construction.
Critical Slide oversaw the collaboration's t-shirt design, using their 230gsm singles raw jersey and collaborating with artist Nick Curl.
To support the product release, both brands worked with Birdwell’s Hawaii-based ambassador Toots and with Hawaii-based photographer Arto Saari. The shoot took place in Waikiki.
“Birdwell is a brand that we’ve always had a huge amount of respect for,” Critical Slide founder Sam Coombes said. “They are the OGs within the boardshort/trunk space. They remain the go-to for the core logger guy.
“This is a really special collaboration for us to be part of and we’re stoked on how the product and the support campaign has been executed.”
Birdwell CEO Eric Crane said collaborations like this helps continue to the heritage of the Californian brand.
“We are fans of the design work the brand has been doing over the years, and especially proud of the work that Josh Davies has managed to accomplish using our heritage fabrics and colours,” Crane said. “Our shared audience has already been showing a lot of support, I am excited to see where this collaboration takes us.”
The distribution of the collection will be limited, and is currently available in stores and online in the Southern Hemisphere. It is expected to be released in the Northern Hemisphere in February 2024.
The Critical Slide Society has a flagship store in Bondi, with five stores in Thailand, one in China and one in Korea.