28-year-old Geoff Dermer grew up in East Vancouver and learned how to skate at the legendary China Creek skatepark in 1989. "I went from being the littlest kid, to being one of the older guys who still skates every day," he says.

Dermer is well known in Canadian skateboarding circles and was featured on Concrete Skateboarding magazine's cover [#92] in April 2008. He currently rides for Informal Attire, C1RCA footwear, and Underworld skateshop. On top of that, he owns, operates, and is a Pro rider for Kitsch—a Vancouver-based Canadian skateboard brand.

I recently had a chance to chat with Dermer about the brand, which is seemingly a direct interpretation of the clean and precise style his technical street skating exudes.

What is Kitsch exactly?
It's kind of a play on words. Kitsch is art that's considered tacky by the majority of people, but my favourite part of the definition mentions that it's appreciated ironically by some people. To me, it was a direct synonym of skateboarding and all the troubles I dealt with growing up in the early ‘90s. I felt like I was always trying to break down the built-up stereotypes about skating to people. I realized that you just can't win, and they'll always write you off from a lack of understanding. To me, that's Kitsch—a way to just categorize skateboarding as cheap, crappy, imitation art in the public's eyes. And the select people that truly love skateboarding? Well, that's the same as the fewer people that appreciate kitsch art.

When did you start the company?
I went on a trip, in February 2006, to Argentina and met a lot of guys that had started their own brands and whatnot. When I came home, I realized I wanted to do a brand. At first I got together with my artist friend [Russ Morland from Nanaimo, BC] and he agreed to be my partner, graphic-wise. By June 2006 we came up with a name and logo, and last spring was the release of our first run of boards.

Who's on the team roster?
We've got some really old friends of mine, and it's funny how we sort of came back together for this. Arron Johnson, Mike Hastie and myself are the Pros. We did signature model boards for '08 and collaborated with Ben Tour for those graphics. We've also got two young up-and-comers on the team. Calgary's Sean MacAlister is a really amazing skater who has a lot going for himself—he's a writer and an artist. I'm also really happy that Cory Wilson's been down since the beginning. I see a lot of new people come to town and rip it up, but I could tell right away that good things would happen for Cory because he's got a great energy. After going on the C1RCA camping trip to the BC Okanagan this summer [featured in Concrete Skateboarding magazine's October issue: #96], MacAlister and I saw Kyle Desaulniers' skating first-hand. Kyle was down for Kitsch, and after meeting the rest of the crew, we're stoked that he's now on the team.

How has your family's business influenced you?
It's been very beneficial growing up with a home-based business where my parents started importing sheepskin products about 20 years ago. Ever since I was a little kid I was helping my Dad at trade shows, setting up booths and selling slippers and things. I never really knew how much that would benefit me until I decided to do a skateboard company. It's been great being able to get together with my parents' business in a little warehouse, and learning from all my Dad's experience with invoicing and shipping.

What's your experience with the business side of skateboarding?
Ever since I finished high school I've been doing sales and working for distributors; you just see how the blueprint works. That definitely played a big role in starting Kitsch. Another factor was all the years I've planned tours and demos, and filmed for videos. Without really knowing it, I've been a part of a natural evolution, and it was just time to do all of this under our own label. It's just like an artist collective traveling around and doing art shows, except it's skateboarding.

Push.ca's exclusive Inside Out: Kitsch company profile video.

For all things Kitsch—including news, team info, and videos—head over to their website.

--------------------------
Be sure to check out Frank's other Open House with Momentum Wheel Co.