I managed to catch up with Ian Gunner, owner of Segment Clothing about the company and whats in store for 2009.

The establisher, what is segment clothing to you? Starting from how it started to where you’re at today.

Segment clothing started completely by accident! I had worked on other clothing brands in the past, and was just about to launch a seperate brand, when a few things went wrong [as they do!!], so rather than sit back and wait, I decided to sit up and start my own brand, on my own. Overnight, Segment was born! From that initial idea, to now, has been quite a journey. I now look at Segment as a large group of friends [team, family, friends, even people who have bought a tee or hood etc], who share the same beliefs and thoughts, and hopefully feel like they are part of something creative and maybe even [dare I say it]…’cool’?

You’ve got quite an apparel line at the moment, who’s the brains behind the designs and what inspires them to further a potential idea?

One thing I have always wanted to do with the brand, is to ‘keep it moving’. I like the fact that we have new designs coming out all the time, it keeps it fresh and interesting. You cant please everyone with one or two styles of designs, so therefore with a few options, hopefully it opens the brand up to a few more people.

The designs are done by myself, with a few ideas thrown into the creative pot by team guys. Im always looking at various other brands, ideas, magazines, sites etc, anything I can draw inspiration from. Some of the most popular designs have often been the most simple, which is good for me, as Im no whizz kid in the graphics department!

A Few of The older Segment Designs

What happened to the “awesome” classics like the OGs and Juiceys, will we see similar styles of design in the future?

The ‘awesome’ [?] classics like OG and Juicy were part of the original first range, that fortunately for me sold through pretty well. I have been looking at both designs again lately, but with an 09 twist. I really dont want to ever ‘go back’ if I dont have to [unless of course the demand is great enough], but you may well see a few ’similar’ ideas pop up in the not so distant future.

Some people may challenge the £20 price tag on a tee or £40 for a hood but I believe the products are a real good quality fabric wise; they keep in the wash and are good fitting unlike some other companies. Can you offer any advice to upcoming clothing company’s about selecting a supplier?

Well fortunately for me, I have worked on numerous clothing labels, so I had a little bit of knowledge going into this project. I knew what weight, style and price I wanted the products to sit at [both cost and retail], so I shopped around, invested in some blank samples, and used friends and team to test them. I also have friends that are really good screenprinters, which is a massive help, as you can have the best tee in the world, but of the screen sits or feels wrong, its over.

I think the £20 and £40 tags are a reasonable price, as they dont ask too much for the product, yet they allow me to sell to retailers, and offer a good margin. Stores can buy my product at a trade price and still make over 100% margin and sell them at 20 and 40, that is always a key point in pricing every item [tee, hood, hat etc]. Also it is very rare that I dont offer something free with any Segment order through the online shop [DVD, stickers, hat promotions etc], so with that in mind, the products are even cheaper!

I noticed that you have a Ltd edition Reverse S Vans shoe and last summers tour was sponsors by Vans. What’s the connection between Segment and Vans?

I have known the guys at Vans for a very very long time, so when I hand painted a set of Vans Era’s, they were really into it. A few pairs of those were sold [every pair different, with hand painted Reverse S in different colours!], and Vans helped out with the product when the demand was there. Following on from that, when I realised I had some of the best trail riders in the country on the Segment team [Scott Edgworth, Matt Priest and Rikki Gunner], all without a shoe sponsor, it seemed the obvious thing to further the Segment/Vans relationship, and all of those guys were put onto the Vans UK team. When the Tour was planned I discussed it with the Vans guys, and it soon became apparent that they were thinking about the same ideas, so it went hand in hand, as they supported the brand and most importantly their riders by supplying the vehicle [infamous bus!] and a few pairs of sneaks.

A Team Snap of the Family and “Notorious” Vans Tour Bus on tour

You’re soldiers consist of riders, a moto x rider and a couple of DJ’s, one of which just got featured on BBC1 Xtra, was there a key motive behind selection of representatives or do you see the company becoming more open to all sides of “extreme sports”?

I hate the term ‘Extreme Sports’ ha! There is a simple explanation for each of the Soldiers and how they got to be a part of Segment, every one of them is my friend. The BMX guys are all friends, and people who I enjoy riding with, both before and while part of the brand [Darin being the exception, and a dream guy to have involved, but he just fit into the mold with ease]. The Moto X guy, Billy Mac, has been a friend since working together on a separate project, and he is just a flow guy, who gets packages sent up, whenever he needs anything, Im a big fan of his riding and enjoy checking Moto X every now and again. The DJ’s once again are a part of something that I am into. Friends from a while back, so it made sense to open out the brand, not pigeon hole it, and music was a natural expansion. Its not everyone’s cup of tea, as some of the die hard BMX crowd may not understand what a guy in the Radio 1 studios has got to do with Segment, but its more about the bigger picture. I think music and riding fit together perfectly, so it makes sense to me.

The Majority of web edits featuring your team comes from a man called Dan Dolan, what’s the connection between Segment and Dan and can you tell us more about new Segment summer tour DVD “trails is shouting” shot by him?   Dan Dolan is a lunatic, trail digger, Hayes local, that when you first meet him will scare you to death, then the second time, will make you piss your pants laughing! Once again a good friend that has become a vital part of the Segment team, purely by accident. Dan ‘fell’ into the filming role, and has never looked back since, filming all web clips, random footage and most recently the Trails is Shouting Tour DVD. If you see Dan, say hello…it will piss him off!! The Tour DVD is a simple edit, filmed over the 10 day sessions, with a few extras thrown in for good measure. All riders are featured, with some special guests making guest appearances at various trail spots around the South of the UK. Its not the best DVD, filmed the best, edited in the best suites by a team of the best people, but it has a look, feel and sound of a group of riders, traveling around having fun and doing what the do best! Hopefully some people will like it.

All your rider’s seem to be really into trails as the pictures on your blog support, is there a reason why Segment is so dirt orientated?

Once again, Dirt is what we do, so the brand materialized into a ‘Trails’ brand, as that was the main influence. I have also found that if you have a team of guys who are all into one particular area [street, trails, park etc], then they gel a lot quicker, and end up forming a ‘family’ relationship as you are always riding and chilling together. Dirt/Trails was that gelling/family factor.

The Regal Berm and the Legendary Chertsey and Steep Jumps at Greyoux, France

Are you looking into any new features like updated rider profiles and individual web edits on the website in the future?

As Segment is pretty much a one man band [me!], finding the time to do everything is sometimes pretty tough. I dont have access to all the elements [film, photo, web etc], so a lot of the time its about asking favours. I have a good group of friends that I can rely on, so hopefully now the DVD is done, and the winter passes, we can get back on track with the web edits and also better updates online. If anyone has any suggestions that they would like to see on the site [rider bios, bike checks, ipod listings, top 5s, rider punch ups, g/f sharing, shopping lists, viewer galleries etc], then they can contact me through the ‘contact’ page.

Have you got anything lined exciting lined up for 2009, trips, clothing, new team members or is it to early to tell?

2009 will bring many new opportunities to Segment. I am already talking with a graphic designer in New York about some tee/hood designs. We have a trip planned to the South West of France around Easter time [trails]. Possible new additions to the clothing range. And of course to keep doing what we are doing, as it seems that a few people out there like it!!

Any thanks?   Thanks to everyone who has been a part of Segment, no matter how big or small [from the Team guys, right down to the guys running stickers on their frames!]. Seeing the Segment logo out and about means a lot, so much appreciated to everyone who has ever purchased a Segment product. Thanks.

Cheers for sparing some time for Streetphire Gunner, Best of luck in 2009!

If you haven’t checked out the Segment Blog it always has plenty of News and Photos on and it regualy updated.