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Written by Quincy Morris

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Anti-Hero, art, bangles, Belts, colors, earrings, FASHION, go skate day, Handmade, Hands, holiday gift guide, hoops, iphone, jewelry, Jewels, Lindsay Jo Holmes, Makers, maplexo, portland, Portland Oregon, recycled, recycled skateboard bracelets, recycled skateboard jewelry, ring, silver, skate, skateboard, skateboarding, skateboards, Spencer Crimin, tumblr, wieden+kennedy

We Go Tandem! F/W 2013

Sep 19, 2013

Written by Quincy Morris

“We go tandem with the people around us. We share an idea, we congratulate, we push each other.
We share the stoke of landing our first kickflip with a high-five.
We gain courage to climb the cables of half-dome with a held hand.
We go tandem with Sheri the barista, Glenn the bartender, Sam the baker next door… In tandem we collaborate our minds and tap into ideas that come from our souls.
How do you go tandem?”

After many months of sore hands and much anticipation, we're proud to launch our brand new collection for Fall/Winter 2013, Tandem!

The line is inspired by the power of togetherness and how people in the MapleXO crew’s daily lives have impacted their designs.

Two of our favorite pieces from the collection are collaborations with some of our favorite local artisans and friends:

“Screw Turners” - A recycled skateboard handled screwdriver set made in collaboration with Portland woodworker Jim Haas.

“Machete Necklace” - A recycled skateboard handled mini-machete necklace made from brass or copper in collaboration with Portland artist Anna Evans.

“The same way we owe credit to skateboarding for each piece we make, we owe credit to the people who surround us for their influence in our designs,” says Lindsay Jo Holmes, “These people are catalysts, helping us turn our simple thoughts into incredible things.”

All 12 of the new pieces from Tandem are the product of everyday collaborations with our comrades and colleagues.

A full online version of the lookbook can be viewed HERE or on instagram @wegotandem

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MapleXO is a recycled skateboard jewelry & accessories company made up of skateboarders out of Portland, OR USA. Founded by Lindsay Jo Holmes in 2006, MapleXO is currently sold in over 50 stores worldwide. In 2010, MapleXO began working with PS Stix skateboard manufacturer to recycle the industrial waste of skateboard manufacturing in addition to the post consumer waste and is constantly adding to its line of products that now includes house wares and furniture.

Written by Quincy Morris

Filed under

bangles, colors, earrings, FASHION, Handmade, Hands, Lindsay Jo Holmes, magnets, Makers, maplexo, portland, Portland Oregon, recycled, recycled skateboard bracelets, recycled skateboard jewelry, schmitt

OMSI Maker's Faire: September 14th+15th

Aug 15, 2013

Written by Quincy Morris

The wonderful folks at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) asked us to scribble up a little blurb for their blog as their annual Maker's Faire approaches. It can be viewed HERE.

We are very excited to have been invited back for this year's event. Seeing all the excited youngsters is probably as motivating for us as it is for them. They're the future, and we're honored to be given the opportunity to inspire and push them toward a creative path in life. But don't let us forget the "grown ups" who'll be in attendance; they're the ones who were eagerly bouncing from booth to booth as a child at similar festivals ten, twenty, thirty years ago... the ones who helped ensure that these gatherings kept happening, generation after generation. Bottom line: Come out and say hi to us in our booth at the OMSI Maker's Faire this September 14th and 15th!

Written by Lindsay Holmes

Filed under

art, culturevulture., fashion, jeremyscott, jimbophillips, jimphillips, plagiarism, skateboarding, stolen, thief, vulture, vulturecouture

Vulture Couture 2013

Mar 18, 2013

Written by Lindsay Holmes

We hosted a fashion show as a statement against plagiarism.

Twenty models took the red carpet wearing skateboards as clothing (literally) to represent the influence of skateboarding in fashion and more directly to mock fashion designer, Jeremy Scott for sending stolen skateboard art down the runway.

The show came as a response to Jeremy Scott’s recent debut at NY Fashion week which included pieces that were direct rip offs of Jim and Jimbo Phillips' iconic Santa Cruz Skateboard art.

“It really struck a chord with us since our entire business is based off of turning skateboards into fashion. As skateboarders ourselves, we take a lot of pride in giving credit back to skateboarding for every piece we make,” says Lindsay Jo Holmes, owner of MapleXO. “We couldn’t just sit quietly with him pulling such a kook move on skateboarding, so we sent the original skateboard art down the red carpet.”

It’s not the first time the skateboard community has been affected by plagiarism. Skateboard artist Michael Sieben’s art was recently mimicked by Target to create an entire line of youth clothing. – Furthermore, the overall style of the skateboarding subculture is constantly exploited in fashion trends that often teeter the line of plagiarism.

“Inspiration is great. Plagiarism is just wrong. Artists and creators deserve credit for the ideas they bring into this world. Shameless rip offs of their work should be shunned,” says Holmes

We have been directly affected by plagiarism a few times. One example is the nearly identical copy of our recycled skateboard iPhone case that was mass distributed and portrayed as an original creative accessory by a larger company out of southern California.

“In our case, the more skateboards that are recycled the better, so we tend to just ignore the copy cats,” explains Holmes, “After seeing the plagiarized Jim and Jimbo Phillips art, however, we felt like a statement had to be made and since we bridge a gap between skateboarding and fashion, we felt compelled to take charge”

The Vulture Couture Fashion Show and installations pointed a middle finger to the copycats, fakers, and takers of the skateboard subculture by literally bringing the spotlight back to the original source of its influence in fashion, skateboarding.

For more information email: Press@MapleXO.com