This is the first interview in our Garage Brands series for 2017. In this series, we will interview the owners of key Australian brands in the snowboard industry, stocked and supported by us here at The Mountain Garage.
Jeremy Burns, always radical. Photo: Phootstep Films
Jeremy owns and operates Rad Gloves, a glove and mitten company that has been gracing that hands of Aussie and International rippers since 2009. We'll let the man talk for himself:
BRAND: RAD Gloves
OWNER: Jeremy Burns
LOCATION: Newcastle/Melbourne/Falls Creek/Jindabyne
YEARS ESTABLISHED: Eight
Describe your brand in 3 words:
Rad. Fun. Fresh.
Give us a brief background on why you started the brand, and what products you currently manufacture:
I came home early from Colorado in 2009 to have surgery on an injured knee. I wanted to do something productive while I was recovering, and the only place I wanted to be for the foreseeable future was in the mountains going snowboarding. I thought having a little hobby brand as a side project while I was doing seasons would be fun, and a challenge to potentially build something over time that could eventually support me. We started with one pipe glove model that was basically a gardening glove, now we have a large range of gloves, mitts, clothing and accessories.
(L-R) Ripper mitten, Crew mitten, Ripper Pro mitten
What are you most proud of achieving in your business to date?
My favourite thing is getting on a charlift and you happen to be sitting with a stranger who’s wearing RAD Gloves. I like to drop the “Hey, cool gloves” and then ask what they think of them.. I love hearing the feedback and genuine stoke that they have on the gloves and the brand itself.
If you could have any snowboarder wearing or using your products, who would it be?
I’m just stoked to see the everyday guy or girl running our gloves on the hill.
Is it hard to keep up with trends?
Yes. What’s trendy to one person might be 3-5 years away for another person. It’s hard to find that middle ground and produce something in high quantity when you’re trying to please a lot of different people in the small world of snowboarding.
Have you been inspired by any other brands, past or present?
When developing products, I always think back to products I had or wanted when I started doing seasons. I remember having the perfect pair of gloves from one company, so the next year I’d go to buy the same model and they had changed them a heap, and they sucked. I never understood why they would do that? So I guess I just want to make things that tick all the boxes, and if they’re working well and people are stoked, don’t mess with that recipe too much.
Why do you think people connect with your brand?
The fact that we’re Australian/Local definitely helps here, and people are really backing small brands these days which is amazing.
Giving back to snowboarding. Photo from the annual Rad Gloves 'Sausage Fest' in 2016.
Everyone is always saying how hard it is for Australian brands in the snow industry. Do you agree with this?
It can definitely be tricky. Trying to establish the brand when there are so many other big time brands already being brought in by distributors is really tough. Getting shops on board to back an upcoming company can be a struggle at the start. Like why would the shop stock your relatively unproven stuff when they already have the same stuff from 5 other established brands and it always sells great?
We’re lucky that people are really getting behind local brands, and in turn the shops are supporting the homegrown things as well.
What do you personally use/wear the most from your product line?
Any of the mittens! And a few years ago we had some nice thermal tops.. I still have a stash of them and I wear them every day I go on the hill.
Tell us what’s in store for the future:
Quality is the most important thing on the list for us. For years we’ve sold fun, affordable handwear and the quality has sometimes been great, and other times not.
That last year has seen a huge improvement on the quality side of things, and it only gets better with our 2017 stock which is exciting!
I just want to say thank you to everyone out there who has helped grow RAD to where it is today. Honestly, we couldn’t do it without the support of our great customers and retailers!