Vans x Alex Kopps Surfjitsu Shoe Release Party at Vans by Thalia Surf Shop

Vans and Thalia Surf Shop came away with another successful event last night celebrating the Vans x Alex Kopps Surf Sider collaboration. Over 200 friends joined the party, which featured San Francisco-based artist Alex Kopps’ original selection of artwork entitled “Psychic Swimming Pool.” Beer and pizza were served just before Vans surfer Alex Knost closed out the night with his rock band, Tomorrow’s Tulips. Rumor has it, the elusive Kopps himself drifted amongst the crowd incognito.

Alex Kopps’ work ranges from mixed media installations, film, and Polaroid photography, as well as art and video collaborations with Vans surf team riders Alex Knost and Dane Reynolds . Hitting shelves this month, the Vans x Alex Kopps project includes the slim, all-black, slip-on style Surfjitsu with tonal prints and hand-drawn logos designed by the artist.

Vans by Thalia Surf Shop, adjacent to Thalia’s South Coast Highway store, melds Vans’ heritage with Thalia’s bohemian brand of beach culture in what is Vans’ first ever boutique surf partnership. The shop showcases a continuously evolving mix of Vans surf footwear and apparel including limited releases in shoes and signature Joel Tudor apparel. Vans by Thalia Surf Shop is located at 911 South Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, CA.

About Vans Surf
Vans supports and promotes surfing through a full line of surf footwear and apparel, events such as the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing™ and through sponsorship of many of the world’s top surfers such as Nathan Fletcher, Joel Tudor, Pat, Dane and Tanner Gudauskas, Timmy Reyes, and Dylan Graves including Hawaiian standouts John Florence, Reef McIntosh, Kalani Chapman, Kai “Borg” Garcia and Leila Hurst.
For more information on Vans Surf, visit vanssurf.com.

About Thalia Surf Shop
Established in 2001, Thalia Surf Shop has been at the forefront of an underground movement in the surf industry. Focused on creative arts and alternative surfboard designs, they’ve been able to help support a growing need for individuality and less commercialism. By dealing directly with the artists and small, independent companies, they’re able to showcase this movement better than any other surf shop around. “We believe that a surfing lifestyle is one that goes past big logos and senseless graphics that pander to the norm, so instead we’ve searched high and low for those companies that agree with us and focus more on art, real graphic design, and the true surf culture. These are the creators, not imitators, and they help to define what our surf shop is all about: style, originality, and soul.”
For more information, please visit thaliasurf.com.

Photos by Seth Barnhard

/ kathy miranda
vans public relations coordinator
www.vans.com / kathy_miranda@vfc.com / 714.889.6183