James (revolution): Who are those involved with UCON? When was UCON started?

Jochen: UCON is my brother Steffen Smuda, Martin Fussenegger, who also works for Be-Mag, and myself. We founded UCON over 3 1/2 years ago.

James (revolution): What makes UCON unique? What is the philosphy behind UCON?

Jochen: I think it's just that we try to do different stuff. We experiment with a lot of materials and we always search for new ideas. Every single UCON cut is designed by us, and we have the opportunity to do everything that we want. I think that it is very important for a company, not to just buy shirts, print them, then sell them.

James (revolution): The clothing items reflect quality, and are very unique. What are your main influences for creating the clothing?

Jochen: For me, I can say I get influences everywhere. Is it the bicycle trikot from my father, or the shopping bags from my mother. I just try to see everything with different eyes. You are able to design stuff with cloths you never thought that they look cool. We come up with a lot of different materials for the next collections. If you walk around with open eyes, I think you get tons of influences. I also buy fashion magazines, and view other companies, but I think the best influence is the life itself. I mean look at what your friends wear, view other people....

James (revolution): Along with being visually attractive, certain items also contain features that serve a purpose also. They include features that reflect that they are skater influenced. For example, the Hooded Sweatshirt has slits in the cuff area for your thumb for those cold days, an elastic key chain holder in the pocket, a visor in the hood, etc. Can you explain how being a skater yourself has influenced how you design the clothing?

Jochen: We just try to improve everything that you can improve with a clothing item. Make it more comfortable, make the cut better, add the extras you mentioned. Just when the product is perfect for us, we start producing it. As a skater, I also see clothing different, so I think it helped us a lot in the past designing the clothes. But, generally, we just try to combine the function with style, and this will also stay our goal for further productions.

James (revolution): Who are the skaters on the team? Tell us about them.

Jochen: It's Jona Messerli from Switzerland, he's one of the most talented, and underrated skaters. He is not only a skater, he's a perfectionist, and is totally into UCON. Then, it's Abdiel Colberg. I think the skating speaks for itself. He was the skater Martin and I wanted to have on the team since day one. Also my favorite skater! And me.

James (revolution): UCON has been established in Europe for a few years now, you have a solid following of skaters supporting UCON. Tell us how the European skate scene has helped you grow over the years?

Jochen: The European skate scene helped us a lot. We can't thank them enough. Without the people supporting us, we can't run a company like this. We try to get respected from the skaters, hear them, and take it serious if they mention our mistakes. Nobody is perfect, and we also did a lot of mistakes in the past. I think it's more that we try to work together with them to create something cool.

James (revolution): You held a fashion show to release the new line, I've never heard of a rollerblade company doing that before. How did that go? Give us some highlights from it?

Jochen: Haha, I think a lot of people saw the pictures on be-mag.com. It was hella funny, and we really had a lot of people there. It was just a nice party with some cool music, and a small fashion show. We will repeat that in the future, so come and check it out.

James (revolution): Now, UCON is spreading into the US. So far, Revolution has had an amazing response from skaters with the new line. We're down to support UCON for sure, and offer skaters the clothing line in the states. Are there any plans for setting up US Distribution in the future?

Jochen: I hope we will find some way to distribute it also in America. You have to know, clothing is more expensive in Europe, so if we export it to the US, we also have to pay tax, and a lot of shipping costs. Then additionally, the prices are lower, so it is really hard for us to bring it over. We will work on that, and we really want to do that, so we will see how that will work out.

James (revolution): UCON is on a level of it's own, setting a new standard for quality and design. What are your plans for this year? What are some projects you're working on now?

Jochen: Thanks a lot. We will come up with a new crazy and big X-mas line, with really amazing stuff. Ahh, I love it. And we're already working on new products for next year, so it's rolling, and we are motivated to do this!

James (revolution): Thank you Jochen for your time, UCON is growing more and more. Who do you want to thank for getting you to the point you're at today?

Jochen: Easy to say! The skater itself, and the shops who carry our stuff!