Northwest Boarder | Portland Oregon Mt. Hood Snowboarding Skateboarding Surfing

Catching up with Northwest Apparel

Posted on Mar 17, 2010 by Landon in Interviews, Snowboarding

I recently met these 2 energetic kids named Jake Southard and Bryce Yamasaki. They are motivated individuals that are extremely creative, have multiple talents… and they rip big time on a snowboard and wakeboard. They are 2 of the finest up and coming local guys around and they represent everything that is the Northwest. So I decided to catch up with the youngsters and learn a little bit more about what they are up to.

First off, how old are you guys?
Well I (Jake Southard) am 19 and Bryce Yamasaki is 18.

Where did you grow up?
Camas, Washington! Mill town
Jake Southhard / Indy / Photo: Drew Smalley

Bryce Yamasaki / Death drop / Photo: Drew Smalley

And you both are still residing in Camas?
Yeah were still living the dream and ride at Timberline quite often. Lately we’ve been trying to hit some more urban stuff though when there’s snow to allow it. That last dump was perfect for doing some wall rides and balcony drops off our friends place. Timberline isn’t too far of a drive and is always well worth it. They have a great crew up there and the park is aggressive.

Who do you ride with mostly these days?
Our main crew consists of Cole Schoendorf, Alex Lovell, Mike Janes, Emily Smith, Bryce Yamasaki, and myself). Lately though we’ve been riding with quite a few different people.

You guys started a clothing company together right?
Yeah, it’s called NorthWest Apparel. It started in Camas, Washington on April 20th of last year. It started out as Bryce Yamasaki’s senior project, and then we decided to take it further. We started out with just a couple stickers and basic logos. As of now we have 8 shirts and a couple stickers on our online store. http://northwestapparel.blogspot.com/

Here’s 2 of our design’s…

Are you only going to make t-shirts? What about Hat’s, beanies, accessories?
As of right now our beanies are in China and we should be getting samples back in the next couple weeks. Were pretty new at this and it’s a grassroots effort, but were growing fast. Our main goal is to make a more diverse range of shirts. We are working on the summer line now and will release a bunch of new stuff then. Several people have asked about tall tee-shirts (they are coming soon). As we make more money there will be more to come. We promise.
Jake Southhard / Tree Jib / Photo: Drew Smalley
What other plans do you have for the company as you grow?
We would love to expand our team and hopefully bring on some skaters and wakeboarders in the near future. There’s so many sick riders here in the Northwest that we want to support. It’s all on the way very soon…
Jake Southhard / Tree Jib / Photo: Drew Smalley
Any last words for everyone out there?
Thanks to everyone who’s supporting us, thanks to Drew for all the awesome shots dsimagery.com, and timberlineparks.com.
ONE LOVE!