Orsman's Greg Finch Talks Slam City, Palace and London Skate Culture

With a portfolio that includes Slam City Skates, Palace, and a stint at Pointer, there are few people more qualified than Orsman’s Greg Finch to discuss the growth of London’s skate scene. The South African did just that when he sat down with British website The Reference Council, for a chat about the differences between Johannesburg and London, skateboarding as a form of escapism, and the growth of his own label Orsman.

“So, I moved to London with Gareth (Skewis, PALACE). We started skating and working at Slam City Skates together. It was a totally different lifestyle – skating every day and drinking every night,” he tells TRC’s Calum Gordon, “you’d see skate clothing come in  and it was so shoddy. “I was going up to GAP and buying like chinos and plain white shirts, because that whole skate thing… a lot of it’s really badly made and overpriced.”

Finch goes on to describe how he “looked to kind of combine Berghaus with ’70s Hang Ten” for Orsman and how the brand’s Spring/Summer 2015 offering is ’90s-influenced: “In the mid 90s, loads of people wore striped polos or striped shirts – it’s just what you did,” he says. “So we did those colour block stripes in reference to that. It’s subtle.” Check out the full interview over on The Reference Council and shop Orsman at The Great Divide.