See Spot Go Philanthropic With 5 Crowning Achievements
As the head of Spot International--an empire composed of Spot Sport, Spot Swim, Spot Girl, Spot Kids and 26 Red--John Bernard already sits high among the reigning elite of the region’s active and street wear industry. Which, according to Bernard, 32, explains why he and pal Bryce Cole, 34, decided to return some of the good fortune to their favorite causes through their latest apparel venture, Fivecrown.
The new men’s line, which retails from $16 to $56, is touted as “easy livin’ good time threads.” Fivecrown’s theme fits fashion’s ongoing swing dance with anything retro and jazzy. But it also parlays the owners’ intention, says Cole, to ease the living of people in need. They donate 15% of the label’s profits to various causes.
“You hear about all the chaos and suffering in the world, and you want to do something,” says Cole, a graduate of the Art Institute of Houston, who left his position as graphic design director for Yaga Sportswear in Texas 10 months ago to come to California on Bernard’s bidding. The two met about three years ago through the industry.
As for Bernard, who founded the $20 million-strong Spot International eight years ago, Fivecrown is a logical next step in doing business. “Things have gone really well for me. It’s been profitable. I’ve got a great house, a great wife (Dana Bernard, who designs Spot Girl) and great people to work with. I thought, why not come up with a company that allows me to give back to the community?”
Fivecrown donates to five national and local nonprofit charities, each represented by a point on the company’s crown logo. The charities were chosen based on Bernard’s and Cole’s research and personal interests.
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They are the Surfrider Foundation, which Spot has long supported, and the Laguna Canyon Foundation, near to their environmental hearts and Laguna Beach homes. Although childless, they wanted to touch the future with the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation, a national advocacy group. They rounded off the crown with the Otis Parson’s Scholarship Fund, which benefits fashion-design students, and the Copred Peace Education Fund, a 25-year-old grass-roots network of educators, clergy and activists working for peaceful resolutions to conflict.
“It was important to us that the organizations we chose reached their goals through peaceful means,” Cole says.
“I’m stoked about helping a talented but disadvantaged kid go to Otis Parsons or saving our natural resources,” Bernard says.
Philanthropy is nothing new to the fashion industry, which, among other causes, has been at the forefront of raising money for AIDS research and education. But Fivecrown seems to be one of the first collections created to benefit charities.
And it’s one idea they hope is copied. “If we’re getting knocked off with this, that’s good,” Bernard says. “That means tons more people can get help.”
Fivecrown features soft, roomy, engineered knit shirts, such as the ones favored by stylish cats in the ‘50s and ‘60s; T-shirts with positive messages, such as a shovel with the words “Dig Life,” and below-the-knee walking shorts and driver’s caps cut from houndstooth, checks and other classic prints in weighty textured fabrics.
While the emphasis will always be menswear, they couldn’t resist doing a series of ringer Tees for women with tiny logos, such as a fat fish with the word “Flounder” over it or a butterfly with “Be Free.”
“Classic” and “quality” are words that come up repeatedly as the pair talk about the collection.
Details are an integral part of their design approach, such as the tiny curled wire for a zipper pull or the knit patterns used for shirts they call “Mambo King” and “Havana.” (Cole found inspiration for the shirts while living in Miami in 1993.) Other ideas were culled from the thrift shops and flea markets they visit every weekend from Laguna Beach to Pasadena.
Fivecrown is available at SoHo, Laguna Beach; Urban Outfitters at the Lab in Costa Mesa and Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade; Pacific Sunwear stores in Westminster and West Los Angeles; Fred Segal, Santa Monica, and 26 Red stores in Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and Los Angeles.
