Coinciding with the cold snap that’s descended upon the UK, London’s own Palace Skateboards has revealed its Winter 25 lookbook, welcoming in “the most wonderful time of the year” — when big jackets, layering, and cosy headgear rule the streets.
Palace reconnects with Theo Sion to capture its latest collection in the usual settings, this time enlisting the Don of grime D Double E, alongside recurring cast members of the official Palace skate team to exhibit the standout themes from its Winter 25 lineup.
From start to finish, Palace toes the line between its innate disposition for whimsy and hallmarks of the wintertime wardrobe, finding harmony in reinvented classics, such as the denim and leather jackets painted with traditional Japanese imagery, or the military-inspired parkas, updated with new-age materials and striking colour choices.
Sportswear is key in Palace’s plans for Winter, and whether it’s the variety of front-and-centre branded sweats or tasteful imaginings of real-world sports kits, the brand seemingly covers all bases, including a series of nods to racing culture, sponsored by “Palasonic” and other shell corporations founded by the London brand.
The season ahead also signals the return of Palace’s perfectly proportioned puffer jackets, which appear in various configurations, ranging from built-in balaclava to grid-baffled versions, plus a hoodless “cracked glass” printed style.
Taking over feature collaborator responsibilities from last season’s Doraemon collection, Palace has teamed up with the estate of underground cartoonist Vaughn Bodē to honour his radical, psychedelic art style, honing in on his flagship series Cheech Wizard, which ran from 1967 to 1975.
Under the direction of Bodē’s son Mark, who followed in his father’s footsteps by keeping his trippy, fantastical art style alive, Palace honours the artist with a wildly graphical collection that spans varsity jackets, tees, trucker caps, and more that’s yet to be revealed — all decorated with imagery relating to the mushroom-shaped character Cheech Wizard, further cementing the artist as one of the more seminal cartoonists of the American countercultural scene.
The first drop from Palace’s Winter 25 collection arrives next Friday, October 3, available through Palace’s physical stores and website.