Laurus Interview

New York City-based Laurus is a manufacturer of premium hand-made face wraps for snowboarding that caters to the frigid conditions of the Ice Coast. RadCollector familia and founder of the Hoods to Woods movement, Brian “Deka” Paupaw, connected with Laurus’ Darell Abrams at a jib session in Fort Greene Park last year and the two recently sat down for an interview to talk about the background as well as the future direction of the brand. This is local DIY NYC shred at its finest. Read the whole interview and check out some product shots after the jump.

Interview with Darell Abrams
By Brian Deka Paupaw

When and how was Laurus founded?
The company officially started in summer of ‘07, I had made a few face wraps for myself in the winter 06-07 season and my friends were asking me for them, it just grew from there.

Who are the partners?
Darell Abrams, Amaury Piantini, Katiah Lunn, and Shatiff Conyers

What are your goals as a brand?
Our goal is to make product for ourselves and the community. We want to make products we are proud of. We want to market our products right by being pure and honest in the whole process. We wouldn’t be proud of making product in a sweatshop, so we don’t.

What makes your product special?
The function of the product, simple it keeps you warm and looking good. It’s limited edition ’cause we hate to see everyone on the hill rocking the same stuff. It works on the hill and in the street. It’s handmade and the quality of it, seriously we’ve never had a single return! People are still rocking face wraps from 07! The company, our ideals and the people behind the product.

Any new projects or calabos?
We are all about collabos! But, only with the right people. People and companies with the same mindset that supports snowboarding and positive things. It’s gotta be unique, It’s more than a dollar, we gotta be excited about whatever we do. So we’re aligned with BLK OPS, Hoods to Woods Foundation and Stoked mentoring. We’ve got some co-branded products with Kanvas Apparel that we’re working on.

Who is on your team of shredders?
Our team is different. We don’t have the big names, but we work with people who are out there riding, that love it and support what we do. Kat Miller in the UK, Brian Deka Paupaw, John Callahan of Launch Snowboards, Jason Anderson. We support the See team out of Hunter Mountain, NY.

Where do you plan to position your brand?
We don’t do competitive analysis and all that stuff, we just try to create the products that we want and that our friends want. We don’t follow trends or watch what other people are doing. We just want to make more stuff that’s hot and at the same time its functional for riding and everyday life.