Trav Wardle is a skateboarder and artist who has been a part of The No Comply Network since the beginning.
He’s started his own homage clothing brand called Real Fake and has recently been doing a few interesting collaborations so we hit him up to see what the handmade clothing brand is all about, his artwork and inspirations and more.
What’s your full name, where are you from and where do you reside now?
My full name is Travis Christopher Wardle.
I’m originally from a town called Nuneaton but I now live in Devon.
How long have you been living in Devon?
I’ve been down here about 7 years now.
I have the sea literally infront of my front room window, I can go and swim whenever I want.
The landscape is constantly inspiring
It’s a constant meditation and the scenery is unparalleled.
What’s it like to skate in Devon?
The skate scene down here is also unreal. Bristol is only an hour away and Plymouth is 30 minutes.
I’m lucky to have a really tight crew of like 30 amazing heads that all skate, party, explore stuff together constantly.
Who is your favourite artist ever?
Crumb
Raymond Pettibon
Bosch
Robert Williams
Magritte
Maurice Sendek
I am inspired by all all their 60’s psychedelic stuff. and basically anything on the outer fringes of normal life.
What’s your favourite skate video of all-time?
I like George Toland‘s videos, his work is a perfect picture of U.K street skating. But the best ever skate videos must be the Eastern Exposure series by Dan Wolfe
But the video that had the most influence on me as an English skater when I was young was Waiting for the World, so in a way, that is my favourite video of all-time.
What Dan Magee and Blueprint did back then, the aesthetic of the brand, the team and the video’s shaped British skateboarding.
But I am not in anyway overlooking amazing video’s before it, I know about the magnitude of Playing Fields and Unabomber’s Headcleaner and even older ones.
I just feel WFTW came along and gave this insane tightness and this ridiculously strong branding and image. It was so perfectly British that it really made me and most of my friends feel so stoked to be English skateboarders.
When did you start Real Fake?
Real Fake initially started as a joke idea.
I drew my own Lacoste jumper with marker pens, took it on a skate trip to Malaga and then upon returning I put it up on Instagram and just kind of said if anyone wants any branded clothing I will draw you something as a joke. A few people were interested, so I started to make more.I put a lot of time into each piece, it’s fully hand painted and then hand drawn.
Every piece is fully bespoke and totally one off. I am stoked people are showing so much love. I want to keep creating commissions, collaborate with brands and span out from just shirts and jumpers.
Where can people buy your clothing?
I mainly conduct business through my instagram.
Any upcoming releases?
I have just collaborated with The Hated Skateboards musing off their graphics.
Any Last Words Trav?
Enjoy life, go swim in the sea. In the words of Jimmy Boyes ‘ keep your mind on the shit you want and off that fucking shit you don’t.
