INTERVIEW: PAS NORMAL STUDIOS
Three years ago, I had an operation on my left knee to combat a meniscus injury, a sob story that is often heard in your late 30s. I later learned that this had put paid to me being able to run at any serious level, something I had cherished not only for my fitness, but for the constant battle of man versus nature. The solitude of a run somehow allows you to hit every- thing going on in your life head on and make things seem clearer afterward. Being a regular bicycle commuter, I decided to take this low impact sport more seriously as a replacement for running and was quickly hooked. That battle with the elements was magnified by a level of speed and range that just couldn’t be compared to anything else.
I discovered PAS NORMAL STUDIOS through industry friends who were fans of the brand’s alternate approach to cycle wear and the community aspect of cycling. I immediately felt it was a brand designed for me, it didn’t take itself too seriously and aesthetically, it was some- thing that I wanted to wear and could relate to.
I recently had the pleasure of being invited to join the brand on one of its regular Cycle Cross rides in the rural areas that surround Copenhagen, a city defined by the bike and by unsurprisingly, a wonderful place to ride. We stopped at the brand’s regular haunt/pop-up store "Cranks & Coffee" for a mid-ride coffee and chat with the brand’s founder and Creative Director Karl Osker Olsen to discuss origins, brand trajectory, and the Danish passion for cycling.
GG: Denmark, in general, has a lot of history and passion for cycling. Where did this come from or what do you feel are the defining factors for this level of interest in the sport in DK?
TKO: I would say that from the late 80s until now, it’s been important. All the grand tours and monuments were shown on national television, and then there was Jorgen Leth, the legendary filmmaker and artist who made the infamous cycling movie in the 70s about Paris Roubaix called ‘A Sunday in Hell’. His voice connected generations along with riders like Jorgen V. Petersen, Rolf Sorenson, Bjarne Riss, Johnny Weltz, and Jesper Skibby. These riders all had very individual profiles who represent- ed the essence of Danish culture; they all came out of poverty or the working classes and had this unpretentious approach and sarcastic humour. They were always under- dogs but with a distinct target to get into the breakaway with a flair of understanding of how to read a race; they won everybody’s hearts. The climax of that generation was in ‘96 when Bjarne Riis took home the Tour de France and Rolf Sorenson won the Tour of Flanders ‘97. This was a defining moment in our history and really made cycling the national sport again. Everyone was really proud, and it somehow made people come together. Just like with Coppi in Italy after world war 2, I think the people can reflect and relate to a suffering man fighting his own enemy, pedalling up a mountain, doing what no one else can.
You have to remember one thing; Denmark is a very small country and you bump into these legends quite often and they still ride. Now there is a new generation; even stronger and more powerful than the old. We’ve got a world champion and many of the top pros in the peloton are Danish, so we’ve been successful at keeping the culture in our DNA. This has been built upon generations of cycling families who have kept it pretty old school, but it’s just been recently, within the last 5-6 years, that you’ve seen riders becoming pros in the peloton that have come out of ‘non-cycling’ families.
“I won my first race when I was 11 years old, then at 15 I found skateboarding, weed, and spray cans”
GG: Where did your own interest in cycling begin? Was it your father? Did he encourage it as a family activity?
TKO: It’s funny cuz I come out of a traditional Danish cycling family. My grandfather was racing, my father was racing, my big brother was racing - and became really good. He was on the Danish national team and turned semi-pro in Belgium. I spent all my childhood week- ends in a camper going everywhere across the country with my mom and sister to see those two races. And then finally all eyes were on me in the mid-80s when I got my first bike. I won my first race when I was 11 years old and my father was pushing me quite hard until I was 15, then I found out about skateboarding, weed, and spray cans (laughs). So, I didn't ride for 8 years or so, but then picked it up again in my mid-20s and I have been riding as much as possible ever since. I have had a Fausto Coppi portrait on my arm for 20 years now, cycling is in my blood.
GG: Alongside WoodWood, was there always an intention to start something cycling related, or were you responding to something missing in the current market?
TKO: I think it was always in the back of my mind really, but as with everything else, the timing needed to be right. I came to a point in 2015 where I realised that I had a really good level of experience with building a brand and had an urge to do something with cycling as I’d grown up with it. It is a part of who I am, but I couldn’t take WoodWood in that direc- tion as I had a clear idea of what it should look like and it needed to have a very simple and minimalistic performance driven approach. WoodWood is going in many different directions but more in a lifestyle kind of way, whereas Pas Normal Studios could only be a perfor- mance-driven brand. At first, we didn’t go it to it with any kid of business in mind, it was only created so that we had something for ourselves to ride in. We wanted something that we felt stood out of what was on the market; something that reflected more the time we live in and who we were. This was when we made our first kits to ride in ourselves. The number of re- quests we then had on these kits was quite crazy, and you know when a thing hits social media, we got together and said, "Fuck it, let’s make this the greatest cycling brand in the world!" And so, we began...
GG: PNS feels to me like a cycling brand aimed at a more aesthetically driven cyclist. Less emphasis on race and retro, but more focused on a minimalistic/ modernist approach to cycle wear?
TKO: We love the heritage and the wonderful history of cycling, but that’s not the story we are here to tell. Pas Normal Studios speaks to the new generation of cyclists and people who share the same perspectives and interests as us, people with a mind of their own. So, for them, between form, function and style, we try to create the best possible product. Our look is quite understated; simple with a distinct luxury approach, which I feel tells a story of a genuine product. A product that reflects both fashion tendencies and sport performance wear. I think a lot of our success and why things have picked up so quickly is down to the fact that we’ve been good at keeping the brand on a level with our consumers. And that has everything to do with us being cyclists ourselves, but not being too pretentious about it. Pas Normal Studios is real, it’s made by real cyclists who the new generation of riders can relate to. Because Pas Normal Studios is community-driven, every weekend, somewhere around the world, we arrange group rides; places like California, Taiwan, Seoul, Brussels, Madrid, and even Tokyo, that’s why it’s called the ‘international cycling club’. Our customers value time to go out and train, and having that time is a luxury, so our philosophy is to create products that make those rides worth it, to create something that makes them feel proud and special.
“I always say the coolest man is the first to reach the top, no matter what clothes or bike he has”
GG: Let’s talk about the mental aspects of cycling and the characteristics needed to really push yourself. Also, the mental cleansing you get from a long ride on your own or with friends. Personally, I used to run to sort my head out, but unfortunately, a knee operation put that to bed; however, cycling offers me all that and more. The idea of man/woman against nature... discuss.
TKO: There’s a quote by former pro rider Michael Rasmussen where he talks about the climax of a training session. Going up a mountain, he said that he reached a certain state of mind where he felt that he’d almost become part of the road. Most of the time I go out by myself, and I like to sit there in the saddle and feel all the elements; rain, wind, cold, and warmth. For me, ultimately it ́s the combination of therapy and pain that finally gets me to the state where I feel that I’ve become the road. After a few hours, I begin talking to myself loudly, I scream at the wind and yell at the cows and horses. If I ride in a group, there’s then a competitive element that triggers me just as much; sign sprints, sidewind attacks, to play the game, take the right leads, sit on the right wheel, and feel the adrenaline pumping. You get everything with cycling really. There’s also the whole materialistic part if it too, that’s when the nerds get to really come out, but I am not that much of a nerd in that sense. I always say the coolest man is the first to reach the top, no matter what clothes or bike he has.
GG: You were riding in Japan recently; how was that? What’s the difference in the road scene out there?
TKO: I really enjoy riding on strange roads. I tend to say it’s the perfect way to discover a country. I’ve ridden in most of Europe, but I have to say that Japan is very special. I was also surprised by the high level of riding - I mean, Japan doesn’t have a cycling legacy, but like many other things in Japan, they are very humble and respectful of something that has a history, it lies deeply in their culture really. I felt this honest interest in European cycling culture amongst the riders I rode with, and it made me feel even more proud of where I come from, it made me feel that we are part of something that ties people together across boarders and cultures.
GG: You recently launched an off-track range. Where did this element of the brand stem from?
TKO: The off-race products are made to be around the cyclist before and after racing. Again, a lot of our hardcore fans were really pushing to get more casual products that they could wear off the bike to represent the brand. And basically, the boys in the office were wearing the same stuff after racing or at work from other brands that was somewhat a silhouette of Japanese premium outdoor items, mixed with American active performance fleeces, some- thing you basically just feel good in. Therefore, we discussed internally to attempt to extend the brand and design these types of products ourselves. Once we took that decision, it be- came very clear that this was a very natural and organic extension of our brand.
GG: Why Diemme and Porter collaborations? These brands have no particular history or connection to cycling, or is that the point?
TKO: We felt both brands would contribute something to the roll out of the off-race capsule drop, and both brands had the right DNA for us. For the Porter collab, we wanted to add items that were only used for the purpose of cycling, so we made a saddle bag along with some of their iconic pieces. The whole collection of bags sold out worldwide in a week, Porter was blown away really, so we decided to work on a follow up collaboration for 2020 with even more cycling items. The Diemme guys are good friends of ours and we love their boots, I mean it’s a small family-driven business in the north of Italy where everything is handmade. We worked around two of their most iconic silhouettes and added our design approach and signed off. It’s a boot made for hiking, not cycling, but at least you can have a great experience with that in mind.
GG: What’s next for you and PNS?
TKO: Things are going extremely fast at Pas Normal right now. I mean, we started 4 years ago, and it’s just been crazy to see the constant growth and evolution. I can’t tell what will happen for sure, as something new pops up every week. We will try to focus on the things we are good at and on what feels real to us. Time will tell what’s next and until then, we will try to stay ‘not normal’.