The Daily Guide Winter 2023 - 22

FEATURE
She believes spending time outside
provides a sense of comfort,
connection, and confi dence which
can be found at the park, trail,
beach, or garden - and New York
City boasts more than 500 community
gardens where neighbors
are farming and forming friendships.
CUSTOMER
CONNECTIONS
AND VINTAGE COLLECTIONS
FSP Outdoors is also taking
design cues from vintage styling
while minimizing environmental
impact. What started as a hobby
making bags for friends, it was
those friends that convinced
founder Blair Kemp to turn it
into a viable business. He now
handmakes every backpack,
waistpack, and chalkbag in his
Brooklyn studio.
Growing up outdoors climbing
and woodworking in Maine, then
later teaching himself how to sew,
Kemp uses ingenuity to build and
mend items. As a more holistic
approach to sustainability, he offers
a lifetime repair service and
constructs some of his bags out of
fabric scraps, creating fun color
combinations. " By repurposing,
we maintain the life of each
piece and get people back outside
sooner so they can continue using
that piece while creating more
memories with it. All of those
stories attached to the gear can
also stay with the gear, " says
Kemp. Although he typically sells
online, he enjoys live pop-ups at
Hatchet as a more intimate way
to communicate with consumers,
especially learning how his
products are used.
The loft Kemp shares with a
photography studio, where he
also works as an assistant, gave
him the tools to follow his other
passion - an outdoor fashion editorial
magazine. Heavily inspired
by publications that have been
circulating for years in Japan and
22
Korea, he saw an opportunity to
make it happen in the U.S. Amateurs
issue 1 was released in June
2023. The magazine illuminates
old and new products with ethereal
imagery that makes it hard
to tell they're decades apart. And
to support this venture, friends
from Hikerkind and William Ellery
have each taken out full page
ads while Hatchet and Outlandish
are selling copies.
One of the main spreads in
Amatuers features the notable
outdoor vintage collection Monroe
Garden. The grand treasurer
behind the collection is Kiyotaka
Shinoki, a restaurant curator
with a longtime admiration for
retro outdoor products. Over the
past 15 years Shinoki has turned
his fondness for collecting and archiving
into reselling, starting out
at fl ea markets then eventually
into a basement showroom space
where he schedules appointments
for anyone to peruse his extensive
library of 1970s-1990s vintage
gear.
Born and raised in Japan,
Shinoki was introduced to hiking,
fi shing, and snowboarding along
with the cultural commonality
for possessing a high appreciation
of classic outdoor products.
Many local brands and retailers
visit him to be inspired by
the nostalgia of old pieces from
Sierra Designs, Mountainsmith,
Caribou, Gregory Packs, Patagonia,
LL Bean, and The North
Face, along with classic volumes
ofSummit magazine. They also
come for his deep knowledge
of the details of each product,
which has infl uenced designs for
modern outdoor lifestyle brands,
including Battenwear.
While Shinoki is happy to sell
on consignment at Outlandish,
his true spirit shines through
during the yearly pop-ups at
Pilgrim Surf Supply. The
GUIDE / OUTDOOR RETAILER WINTER 2023
events bring together surfi ng,
climbing, and hiking communities
to mingle with some of his
Japanese culinary buddies. It's
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, so artsy
hipsters are also part of the mix.
Attendees enjoyed the party-like
atmosphere admiring the nostalgic
collection with vinyl records
spinning and Yaki Onigiri bites
cooking on grills provided by
neighborhood friends at Snow
Peak.
Shinoki compared the outdoor
to the restaurant industry, " We
all want and expect better quality,
less mass produced, more
local and sustainable. If all the
little businesses come together to
help and inspire each other, then
bigger things will fl ourish. This
will urge large companies to see
what's going on at the grassroots
level and join the movement. "
COMMUNITY CHALLENGE
The Hudson Valley Challenge,
an unsanctioned multisport
event developed by Chevaughn
Dixon, program director
at Hudson River Riders, off ers
free paddling programs for the
local community. Dixon is also
one of the fi rst Black instructors
in Level 4 Open Water Kayaking
across the USA.
For two straight weeks he
went out and back from New
York City to Mount Marcy, the
state's highest point located in
the Adirondacks - all humanpowered
by foot, bike, or kayak.
He persevered through bad air
quality days and torrential rain.
The 680-mile distance wasn't
about a fi nishing time or winner,
but simply about participating.
Dixon invited others to join any
portion, especially encouraging
novices and inner-city youth, to
get outside for local and sustainable
adventures. Many of the
The Daily Guide Winter 2023

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