Are you in the mood for painted leather?

There’s no denying that the Flying Tomato is the greatest halfpipe rider ever. Untouchable. Unrivaled. Also the sport’s highest paid, the most competitively dominant and easily the most famous. But since the now 30-year old pipe jock was a young teen-idol, he’s consistently distanced himself from the sport that made him. Why is irrelevant. He’s got his reasons. And skills haven’t seemed to suffer. But still.

When someone approaches me and says, ‘Dude, it’s snowing in Mammoth!’ I don’t know what to say, because I could really care less. I mean, I’m sure Slash doesn’t want to talk about guitars.

– Rolling Stone (2010) in Shaun White: Big Hair, Big Air & The Killer Inside

And, same article:

I think about what people will think in the future when they see my face too,” he says. “I don’t know what I want them to think of, but I definitely wouldn’t want it to be snowboarding, because there’s so much more to me than that.

So much more! The forgettable and now defunct rock band he fronted & paid people to play in. Which got more press for the sexual harassment suit brought against him by the drummer than they ever did for the music. Probably it was just locker room talk. But still.

The next transition, from rock star to fashion designer is a logical one, after all, his Target boy’s collection was a smash. So now: WHT SPACE for Macy’s. Fashion! Bespoke, sort of, even.

I guess lots of people saw Trouble Andrew painting on leather jackets last year before the Gucci partnership popped. Maybe even the team who designed Shaun’s mall-ready collection. By now those hand-painted pleather jackets are sold out but you can shop the rest of the collection here at deep discounts.

Aside from a passion for fashion, the crew here at LodgeGrit shares something else with Shaun—we too, are just trying to fill some white space. And why climb high when the low-hanging fruit tastes just as sweet?