Brand History

HUF owner Keith Hufnagel grew up skateboarding in the streets of New York City. He moved to San Fransisco in 1992 to pursue this passion, and became a professional skateboarder.  This provided a rare and rewarding opportunity to travel the world, which helped mould his unique vision of the sub-cultures he was immersed in. It was this vision that would eventually materialize into HUF.

 HUF first opened it’s door in August 2002 as  small store on an offbeat block of Sutter Street in San Fransisco’s Tenderloin District. It’s aim from the start was to bring together, under one roof, the most respected brands in Streetwear, Footwear and Skating. It quickly became obvious however that this roof was too small as HUF quickly became known as the premier purveyer of hard-to-find apparel and footwear.

 Hufnagel used this popularity and rapid growth of the business to start his own clothing line, bringing together what he felt epitomized the streetwear and skateboarding communities.

  “Once that [the original HUF store] took off we decided we should try making our own stuff. We came out with just a few simple tee and cap designs at first, and soon that developed into a full blown clothing line. Last summer, 2010, we had the opportunity to launch our HUF Footwear line. That had been a goal of mine since the beginning, so I’m really psyched to now be involved in the sneaker game…”

Keith Hufnagel in an interview for Soletron.com, 2011

 HUF has continued to grow as a brand ever since these small beginnings and now produces high-quality apparel, footwear and skating products, operating out of it’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters.

 Shaped by the ever-progressive and evolving culture that surrounds skateboarding, Keith Hugnagel has always tried to incorporate the qualities he desires in a product in HUF’s output.  This has led to a consistent high standard of design and production with each collection, and meant HUF has established itself as a top-end, internationally respected street/skate wear brand.

Hufnagel remains heavily involved in the production and direction of HUF, and continues to tour the world with his skating teams, which fuels his inspiration.