Danny Dipp and Brian Reid for Grand Collection
Ben Oleynik of Grand Collection
Tell us a little about yourself, Ben. What’s your background?
I grew up in a super small town in Canada called Wawa, Ontario. The population was 3,000 people. I was obsessed with skating: I read every skate magazine I could get my hands on, watched every video. I would borrow my friend’s parent’s video camera and spend all my time skating and making videos of me and my friends.
I moved to Vancouver for a few years just to skate and eventually went to university there. I had never been to Vancouver before I moved there, but skating there looked so good, I just moved. I found a studio apartment online for $600 a month and took the Greyhound bus 3 days to get there. I ended up having two homies come and live with me, so the three of us all lived in the apartment and split the $600 rent. It was the best, full skate lifestyle. No furniture, just three mattresses on the floor and a pile of skate magazines and videos. We did nothing but skate all day and work random jobs, just enough to pay our $200 rent each and be able to eat.
But you live in New York now?
Yeah, I’ve been living in New York for the last 18 years. I had never been to New York before the day I moved here either. But my wife Marianne always wanted to move here, so I just followed her. She was just like, “If we don’t love it there, we’ll move somewhere else.” She has the best perspective on things like this: don’t make decisions seem bigger than they really are. It doesn’t have to be permanent.
Why did you start Grand?
I say it like this: what better way to spend your life than doing things you love with people you love? We all need to work, so I think it’s best to try and figure out how to make your work something you’re obsessed with and fascinated by. Making videos, designing clothes, going on trips, shooting photos, hosting events, all with people I genuinely care about. These are the things I’ve always done and wanted to do since being a teenager, so starting a brand became a natural part of that.
What were some of your influences when you started Grand Collection? What influences the designs today?
My influences today are very similar as when we first started: I look at what me and my friends want to wear. I look at every aspect of our lives and try to design based on those things: what do we want to wear when travelling, at home, skating, at dinner, at a jazz club, just being outside, everything. There’s other influences too, like growing up all my favorite skaters like [Rob] Welsh, Stevie [Williams], [Josh] Kalis, Richard Mulder, Wade DesArmo, Kevin Taylor, Mike Carroll, Torey Goodall, Rod Ferens and Travis Stenger all wore grey sweat pants and track pants, so those are always some of my favourite pieces to design for Grand. I like to think of Grand designs like a Rob Welsh noseslide haha. It’s a familiar and simplistic trick. But he brings a nuance and refinement and thoroughness to the way he does it, so it feels elevated and new. Same with Grand, I’m not trying to invent a new way of making clothes. I just want to make really nice things that last a long, long time. Timeless, like a Rob Welsh noseslide.
In relation to the other skate clothing brands out there, what makes Grand Collection different?
We’ve never focused on being different. We do things we’re passionate about whether they are traditional things for a skate brand to do or not. I’m just really grateful that that has resonated with people. We’re the first skate brand to host a runway show. Our next one is this month.
Seeing all the homies in a runway show context is amazing. It makes people look at them differently and in a new light. We do made-to-order outerwear in New York’s garment district using Italian fabrics. We host showrooms at Paris Fashion Week to show our collections to shops. Our first showroom at Paris Fashion Week we actually hosted in a skate shop, Arrow and Beast. We’ve also done an annual holiday food drive for the last 6 years to feed New Yorkers in need…
Wow, epic. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Over the years, my family has always tried to do food donations during the holidays, so I wanted to expand that with Grand in the hope that we could impact more people. So every year, a portion of the proceeds from our holiday collection gets donated to feeding New Yorkers in need, and we do a food drive. This past year, we partnered with Star Team and held the food drive at their shop. As brands, we have the ability to help lead and shape culture, right. So that’s what our food drive is about. Giving to people that need it, but also showing the next generation that having a brand isn’t just about clothes or Instagram followers. You really can have a positive impact on someone’s life.
What other brands have you collaborated with?
Umbro is one of my all time favorite brands. I’m obsessed with tracksuits, so to be able to do some with Umbro, a legendary sportswear brand that I grew up wearing and loving, was a dream come true. Another one was, we collaborated with my favourite magazine shop, Iconic Magazines, in New York. We did a tee and zine and threw the launch event right in the magazine shop, which is half all magazines and half a bodega. So we were serving champagne in a bodega, DJ set up right in a bodega. Everyone came out and ended up spilling out onto the entire block and the cops came and broke it up.
Sick… Can you talk about who is on the team and why you chose them to ride for Grand?
We don’t have a standard team, but I get so much support from so many incredible people.
People I’ve been close with for years and years. Spencer Hamilton, Diego Najera, Wade DesArmo, Connor Champion, BuggyTalls, Brian Reid, Ben Tenner, Bri Delaney, Pedro Munoz, Danny Dipp, Dana Ericson, Brandon James. It’s all family. Each one of them has something really special about them from the way they talk, skate, dress, their perspective on the world. I really can’t tell you how grateful I am for all of them.
Before I ever saw the clothing, I first heard about Grand Collection through your edits. How involved are you with putting those together?
Super involved. Jp (Blair), who films and edits almost all of our videos, might say I’m too involved haha. Usually, it starts with me coming up with a direction or concept for a video and then I take that to JP and whoever else is involved and it builds from there. We’ll decide on the vibe, music, flow of the clips, etc. I’ve edited some of the videos when JP has too much going on. Me and Jp work really well together, he’s the best. He’s another person I feel so fortunate to have involved with Grand. We always travel together and just sit on the flights talking about how we still can’t believe we get to do all these things together and for so many years.
Any memorable stories from working on these various Grand video releases?
Pavilion was big for us because it was our first big trip as a brand. A lot of people told me that that video was what made them really start to pay attention to us. Spenny starts it off so strong and then Buggy closes it. We went to Barcelona for like 10 days to film. We all stayed in an airbnb. I bought a used acoustic guitar from a music shop. We would skate all day then come back and cook big pasta dinners together and play guitar and sing and drink red wine. That trip made us all really feel a part of something.
Connor Champion’s Pro Board video is one of my favourite projects I’ve been involved in. Connor and I have a really special relationship. He’s immensely passionate and thoughtful about the things he does. Everyone, including me, always said he should have had a pro board forever ago, so I decided to surprise him with one for Grand. He thought he was just coming to Supreme to have a small screening of his video with the homies, but instead, we surprised him with the board and took over the whole board wall. His childhood friends flew in from North Carolina and other places. We went for a big dinner afterwards, smoked cigars. Just a perfect night.
The Tokyo video we did with Diego and JP meant a lot to me because it’s a video that the three of us have wanted to make for years. We love Tokyo, we love the people there, we love Lost in Translation, we love travelling there together. The video is very obvious and on the nose, but we like it that way. It honours a time and place in our lives that we will always cherish.
I’m hyped on the new clip we just put out of Danny Dipp and BReid. They’ve both supported me and Grand for so long. I love to see them thriving now, getting to skate and travel the world.
That’s amazing. So what’s your take on the skate industry in 2025?
I know it’s hard for everyone right now, but I think there’s a real opportunity. It’s on us as brands to make something more compelling, to make things that have real meaning. Also to support the shops that have supported all of us. People are going to be careful with how they spend their time and money. That’s good. They should. It’s on us as brands to make things that are actually worthwhile and add value to their lives.
