Australian skateboarders awoke today to the news that Keith Hufnagel had passed away after a battle with brain cancer. He was 46. 

Keith was a ’90s skateboarding icon turned streetwear mogul – his eponymous brand, HUF Worldwide, having made the rare and coveted crossover from skate upstart into the mainstream. I didn’t know Keith, so I will save the eulogies for those that were close to him, but I did meet him once, for an interview for this magazine. 

Words by Oliver Pelling.

It was 2013 and Keith was in Melbourne to help launch IVI, a new eyewear brand out of the US. The brand had a few ambassadors, and Keith was one of them. 

I left work early and went along to the launch at the Olsen Hotel in South Yarra to meet him. It was December. Being relatively young at the time, I would often get so nervous before interviews that I would either start sweating uncontrollably or feel like I was going to be sick. Or both. 

The IVI publicist showed me to the room in which Keith was waiting and introduced us. My nerves dissipated as soon as he said hello. He was, after all, a skateboarder. A skateboarder like me. A skateboarder like you. One who may have experienced more success in his lifetime than most, sure, but still a skateboarder.  

Throughout our conversation, Keith laughed at my shit jokes and gave good, interested answers to any question I asked. He was thoughtful, kind, and genuine. At the time, I knew I was lucky to be speaking to with him. It’s only now that I realise quite how lucky.

The interview below was published in Slam at the beginning of 2014. There’s a little publicity bullshit at the beginning, but it comes with the territory. And even in that, Keith still manages to give some of himself away. 

In skateboarding, business and life, Keith Hufnagel was the real deal. He leaves a legacy that anyone who has ever pushed a piece of wood along a footpath can draw strength and inspiration from. He was one of us, and he will be missed. 

Rest in peace, Huf. 

Photo Duncan Ewington.

CLEAR VISION [from Slam Issue 198] 

Talking sunnies, skateboarding and style with Keith Hufnagel.

To the uneducated, a ‘Hufnagel’ might sound like some kind of cave-dwelling dragon from the mind of J.R.R Tolkien. But we skateboarders know better. We know that Keith Hufnagel is one is the most influential skateboarders and streetwear icons of our time. He’s also an ambassador for IVI – a new sunglasses company that puts an emphasis on quality.  

IVI’s Australian launch has arrived, and I’m wandering around a room at the Olsen Hotel in Melbourne’s south whilst getting given a science lesson on the product. Class, premium materials and precise production methods lead me to the conclusion that these guys are not fucking around. That night, it’s also announced that Andrew Brophy will the brand’s ambassador on Australian soil. 

I sit down with Hufnagel and begin asking him questions. In return, he begins telling me stuff.     

Huf, there are a lot of skate companies making sunglasses right now, what’s so special about IVI? 

Quality is definitely their angle, and it’s a good angle. Especially in the sunglass world, you need some quality. There’s so much crap out there.

What’s your role at IVI?

Just an ambassador for skateboarding. I’ve designed my own glasses with them, so I have input in the product that has my name on it, but nothing much beyond that aside from the promo stuff. It works for me – I’m busy with my own thing anyway.  

What was your vision when you were designing your signature sunnies? 

Basic, general glasses that everyone can wear. I’m not into weird circle specs or anything like that. Where I’ve gone in my life, I always learn more towards the classic realm. Everything I wear is classic, so the sunglasses reflect that. It’s a basic, classic style that IVI was actually missing.

The ambassadors of IVI are quite varied – DJs, writers, skateboarders – how does someone make the cut?

I think it’s really just having your own thing going on in your own world. It’s a group of all these people doing their own thing in their own way. And they all have special talents in those sections and then you bring the circle of people together, that’s powerful.

What do you think it was about Andrew Brophy that made him a good fit for the Australian contingent? 

I think it’s his height. And his pop. 

Yeah. He’s pretty serious. I’ve got some dumb questions here… 

I like dumb questions.

You do? All right, if you could choose Samuel L. Jackson or Method Man to be an ambassador, who would you pick?

Oh man, that’s tough, huh?

I know. I really thought about this one. I laboured over it. 

I guess it depends on who you’re after. I mean they’re both very powerful people. So I think in the end you’ll probably get more play with like a Samuel L. Jackson. If he’s all about it, but then Method Man’s dope because he’s OG hip-hop… 

He’d appeal to that audience and get them hyped…

Yeah. I mean, I think Samuel has a bigger span of people because he’s a movie star, so he’s gonna get way more exposure. I guess Method Man’s done some acting but, Samuel’s bigger. If you’re going for the quantity, you’d go for Samuel.

I think that’s a strong choice.What does a regular day for you look like these days? 

Right now, I pretty much wake up and take care of my kid in the morning, for about two or three hours. He gets up at 6.45. I chill at home, make coffee for me and my lady, make some food and got to work.

I’m either in the office or I’m out and about, doing errands for the business or having meetings. Every day there are problems – we’re building the next season or we’re making decisions on the line that’s happening. There’s so much that goes into HUF. There are so many things – from footwear to clothing to accessories to look-books to the skateboard team – and all these things are happening constantly. I pretty much just make sure that the wheels stay in motion.                        

Do you ever get burnt out on it all? 

Oh yeah. 

What do you do to get away from it?  

I don’t know yet. I’m actually taking a week vacation in Hawaii next month but, I never really fully get away because we have all these things attached to us, these phones and computers. So there’s no escaping it. The only time I’m fully away from it is when I’m on an aeroplane that has no Wi-Fi. Or going to the spa or something like that – I’m all about that.

Does running your own company have perks over just being sponsored? Do you have more control?

The control is there – you get to make whatever you want to some degree. You are still running a business that needs product that’s going to at least sell a little bit. But I feel from my skate career to my business career, I’ve continued what I’ve done – I was having fun. I’m lucky that I was able to push it over to business. 

And did you ever imagine HUF would take off like it did?

No. Honestly it’s just down to working hard at it and focusing on it. I’ve been working on this for eleven years right now, every single day. I put a lot of effort into this company. It’s hard work. It’s had its bumps, it’s had its highs and lows and I’m stoked at where it’s at right now.

Dylan [Rieder] and Austyn [Gillette] are relatively new additions to the roster, what was it about them that made you want to get them on board? 

It’s just their personalities, their skateboarding and their styles. They are classic, amazing skateboarders. They bring a whole new energy into the company. And it’s awesome to have new additions that are totally different to everyone else. When you watch those two skate, it’s mind-blowing on how powerful and how easily they do things. And they’re two totally different skaters. Austyn is extremely powerful; Dylan is extremely stylish, smooth and powerful at the same time. They’re really, really impressive.

Who else skating-wise are you enjoying watching at the moment? 

I don’t want to up the HUF team … but people outside of that, for me, Brandon Westgate skates how I want to skate. He’s doing what I want to do. He’s so rad, and so powerful. I just like powerful skating in the end. Someone who can just blast an ollie 20 feet and just cruise. Then people on the team… Brad Cromer is so light on his board. He can kickflip like three-and-a-half feet on flat! Watching him play skate is amazing. 

What about Australian skaters? Are there any that have stood out for you over the years? 

Of course, there are so many. Definitely Brophy. Brophy and Sammy [WInter] are really fucking powerful. They’re the tall guys that are super powerful. And when a tall guy can be powerful, it’s pretty ridiculous how they skate. 

Do you have any fond memories of past visits to Australia? 

We used to do this thing called the Hoon Run. We did Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Coober Peedy, Ayers Rock, Surfer’s Paradise and all the way back to Sydney. That was one of the most epic tours ever. Just being out in the desert and the car almost running out of gas and staying in crazy places. Just being a bunch of kids having fun. It was really cool.

Fuck yeah. Any spots you’ve been to out here that stuck out for you?  

There are so many. There’s that weird ditch hip spot in Melton. That’s one of my favourite little ditches, that thing is epic.

What’s next for Keith Hufnagel? Do you have any other projects on the horizon? 

Not too much – I’m opening a retail store in February. I closed all my retail, but now we’re coming back to have a flagship, so this is my big project. It’s going to be a bit of a different take on retail. I’m gonna have a couple of little surprises I can’t really talk about. But some things are coming back and it’s gonna be pretty rad. I’m gonna be keeping true with the history of where I’ve been.

As a successful skateboarder and businessman, do you have any pearls of wisdom you can pass on to the youth?

Just do what you wanna do. Have fun, focus, work hard and skate hard. Skateboarding, in the end, is all about fun, not about a paycheque. If you skate hard enough and have fun and you do it really well, you’ll probably get a paycheque in the end. But it’s just a skateboard, man – we all got to where we are by just wanting to skate. I think some people are just trying to chase money now. And that’s not cool. Enjoy it. It’s really about enjoyment. We’re all here doing different things. You’re working for a magazine because you like skateboarding … that’s cool. 

At this point, the IVI publicist walks up and tells us our time is up. I spend a few minutes awkwardly telling both Keith and the publicist about a good burrito I ate earlier in the day, then Keith and I shake hands, say goodbye, and he walks off for another interview. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. 

Photo Mike O'Meally.

Our thoughts are with Keith’s family and friends. May he pop his huge ollies in peace.