Discovery: Alex Dymond

PHOTO BY CURTIS KULIG

Clothing and accessory designer Alex Dymond (yes, it’s his real name) knows that skateboarding is about details. Dymond grew up in downtown Manhattan, which is where he fell in with the skateboarding scene. After getting his degree in Menswear and Marketing from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, the young designer founded Starks, a footwear accessory brand—an untapped niche, you must admit. Dymond calls it “a creative outlet to collaborate on unique projects with like-minded individuals and companies I appreciate.”

That appreciation took him, impressively, to Marc Jacobs. Dymond just released an exclusive shoelace with Marc by Marc Jacobs that reads “Jacobs by Marc Jacobs for Marc by Marc Jacobs in Collaboration with Marc Jacobs for Marc by Marc Jacobs.” The tongue twister treads across a classic black and white design and is anything but mystifying. “It was a collaboration that made sense, with the Marc by Marc Jacobs line being rooted in progressive accessories, which is the same cloth that Starks is cut from.”

As a buyer for Supreme, the iconic global brand and local skater hangout, Dymond focuses the legendary skate company’s aesthetic. He helps run the Soho store and has freelanced on  graphics, accessories and shoes, serving the brand’s cult following with unique concepts which graced lighters, flashlights and key chains.

He also recently worked on some laces with artist KAWS‘ OriginalFake line, an opposite in sensibility from the two-tone of the Jacobs sort but inherently Starks nonetheless. Dymond has also worked with the likes of Nike, Timberland and Colette; and last year, Burton hired the designer to create an entirely new outerwear collection called “Heritage”, making its debut this Fall/Winter season; he’ll design the next season’s collection as well. But he won’t say more: “It’s always too early to reveal your hand and mention projects in the making. But yes, we have some unique footwear projects on deck, to say the least.” Did we hear deck?