Photos by Douglas Cringean

A myriad of flannel-clad dudes carrying skate decks, a circle of hipster food trucks and thumping hip hop can only mean one thing: it’s Agenda time again the city of Long Beach. Agenda trade show is the biggest thing since neoprene-free wet suits in the world of surf, skate and action sports. The show, with its roots in Southern Cali, now hosts over 1000 brands, branching out into various sections and themes including: The Berrics skate only section, The Woods curated lifestyle section, Agenda WMNS female-centered platform, The Point surf section, Enclave premium wear, a thorough footwear section, Agenda Resource dedicated to manufacturing and, last but not least, Agenda Emerge which includes conferences, networking and entrepreneurial resources.

Agenda proves fertile ground for the biggest names in the business including Vans, which is celebrating its 50^th year on the planet, Billabong, Hurley, Levis, Adidas, Nike, Alpinestars, Converse and yesterday’s new guys who are now today’s giants such as Obey, RVCA, Crooks & Castles, Zoo York and Brixton, to name a mere few. Scattered among the heroes are the coolest decks, sunglasses, socks, underwear, surf apps and haircut booths.

Highlights this season included a little company called Tattly, which incorporates great tattoo art into incredibly cool, unapologetically kitsch temporary tattoos like the kind you remember from the gumball machine. Hoonigan brought their Ford Escort fresh of the European racing circuit, driven and designed by Ken Block. A little gallery displayed the assembled photographs by director and all around cool guy Spike Jonze and the resulting art deck collections for his skate brand, Girl. Locally based KASE made history as the first real estate folks to show at Agenda. They have made their mark selling modern and mid century homes to CEOs and significant names within the surf and skate industry, bringing sports lifestyle truly full circle. And one couldn’t help but get a delightful whiff of the Van’s waffle stand, complete with syrup sampling. It’s yet another great success for Agenda, which seems to be enjoying growth right along with its staple brands.