Introducing Abalone - Meet Your Maker

It's been two thrilling weeks since the official release of Abalone. Since October 10, when we dropped the preorder link for our three hats and the video we shot with the brilliant Connor Leeds, the support has been humbling to say the least. There's still one missing piece though. Us. We've spent so much time pouring into our hats and the brand, we forgot to introduce ourselves. And, you know, it's probably important that everyone knows who they are even shopping for their next hat from. 

Take a look at the picture near the top of this blog. That's us! From left to right we've got Thomas, Thad, Trip, Nick, Charlie and Will. Thomas, aka Tkinz, is Abalone's poster boy. The Santa Barbara-native has spent the last year or two collecting nearly 200,000 followers on TikTok. His always evolving style and devoted community of young, fashionable people was one of the inspirations for creating Abalone. Thad in a lot of ways has been Abalone's backbone. The valedictorian from Boise, Idaho is the epitome of hard work. On the days when the boys were lacking the motivation or creativity for Abalone, Thad was the one that got us back up and running. Not to mention, he knows his way around a website; he's the only reason any of us are able to read this blog right now. Next we have Trip. The life of the party hailing from the Volunteer State, Trip brings the personality to Abalone. The Nashville kid is going to make sure you East Coasters will eventually get your hands on one of these hats. Then there's me, Nick (the author of the blogs you've hopefully been reading). When my five buddies wrangled me into their apartment our junior year and said they were making a hat, I was all in. And all the nights I had to trek over to their place to brainstorm Abalone were worth it. As a journalism major, my only hope is that I can turn our brand into a story. The stud next to me is Charlie. Abalone's version of David Goggins. One look at this dude's Strava account and you'll see he's biking like 90 miles a day and swimming for a couple hours straight in preparation for an Ironman. Chuck rocks the Abalone hat in a sweaty shirt and Hokas, so don't think you've got to get all done up to wear Abalone. Finally, we've got Will. Abalone is "from beach to backstreet" and Will embodies this slogan to near perfection. Will has one of the most versatile aesthetics around, and looks right at home at the beach, in the mountains and biking in New York City. His creative juices have flowed through Abalone, and personally I'm stoked to see what else he has in store as he crafts Abalone's personality and brand into something that gets everyone involved and engaged.

Like I said in our very first blog post, "Abalone is the brainchild of six friends..." We've been buddies since freshman year of college, and have fed off of each other's diverse interests and strengths. Abalone isn't just a hat, and soon enough we know you'll see how this brand truly encapsulates everything our friend group is and will be. We are making a community and a lifestyle, and the best part is that for a simple 35 bucks you can put that lifestyle on your head. 

We are only getting started, and I speak for all six of us when I say I can't wait for what we have in store for you guys. From simple, classy hats like our first drop to golf-inspired caps -- and hopefully more clothing in the future -- Abalone is just picking up speed. Buckle up. We're taking off soon and I'd hate for you to get left behind.