The Palace logo is associated with dynamism and constant movement. The brand’s creators aimed to convey a clear direction in their identity, highlighting the company’s freshness and energy. Through its unique identity, this young but already successful brand has vividly showcased its excellence and uniqueness.
Palace: Brand overview
The story of Palace began in 2009 when professional skateboarder Levan Emilio Platt-Sampson, also known as Lev Tanger, decided to launch his own clothing and skateboard brand in London. At first, the company was a small project focused on the London skateboarding scene.
The name “Palace” came from the nickname Lev and his friends gave to their favorite skate spot, a rundown mansion in South London. They humorously called it “Palace” because of its dilapidated condition. The name captured the brand’s laid-back, irreverent attitude.
Initially, the company offered minimalist skateboards and T-shirts, with Lev handling design, production, and sales himself. The brand quickly gained recognition in London’s skateboarding world thanks to its authentic style and deep connection to the local skate community.
A major milestone for the company came in 2011 with the release of its first professional skate video, Palace Skateboards: Gangbanging at Ground Zero. The video attracted skateboarders and a wider audience interested in street culture and fashion.
2012 British photographer Alasdair McLellan began collaborating with the company, shooting lookbooks and campaigns. This partnership helped the brand blend British street culture, skateboarding, and fashion elements, creating a distinct visual identity.
In 2013, the company made its first major collaboration with Reebok Classics, launching the Palace x Reebok Classic sneakers. This collaboration helped the brand expand beyond skateboarding and gain international recognition.
The company opened its first physical store in London in 2014, quickly becoming a cult favorite among streetwear fans. At the same time, the brand expanded its product line, adding outerwear, accessories, and footwear to its core skateboards and T-shirts.
2015 marked a turning point for the company when it debuted its first full clothing collection at Paris Fashion Week. This officially shifted the brand from a niche skateboard label to a major streetwear name capable of competing with big players in the fashion industry.
In 2016, the company partnered with Adidas, launching a successful collection of apparel and footwear. This collaboration boosted the brand’s global reputation. The following year, the company opened its first store outside the UK, in New York City, signaling its growing popularity in the U.S.
One of the brand’s most talked-about collaborations came in 2018 with luxury label Ralph Lauren. The unexpected partnership blended the company’s streetwear edge with Ralph Lauren’s classic aesthetic, solidifying its status in the high-end streetwear market.
2019, the company launched its online store in Japan, reflecting its growing popularity in Asia. That same year, it opened a store in Los Angeles, further expanding its global presence.
Despite global challenges in 2020, the brand continued to innovate, launching successful collaborations with names like Salomon and Moschino. These partnerships again showcased its ability to blend street style with high fashion.
In 2021, the company expanded into new territory with its first furniture and home décor line, going beyond just clothing and accessories.
The brand kept its momentum going in 2022, partnering with Gucci and Mercedes-AMG, among others, to release highly anticipated collaborative collections. These efforts reinforced the brand’s reputation as a key player in the streetwear world.
By early 2023, the company had firmly established itself as a global streetwear brand while staying true to its skateboarding roots. The business continued expanding its retail presence and online operations, opening new stores in major cities worldwide.
From its beginnings as a small skateboard brand in London, the company has grown into a global force in streetwear. Under Lev Tanger’s leadership, the brand has evolved with cultural and fashion trends while maintaining its unique personality and humor. Today, the label remains one of streetwear’s most influential and respected names, consistently surprising its fans with innovative designs and unexpected collaborations.
Meaning and History
The company initially focused solely on producing skateboards but soon expanded its range by offering specialized clothing to its audience. Notably, no large-scale collection has ever been released throughout the company’s history. The brand has always positioned itself as an innovator, producing exclusive and top-tier products in its segment. Despite its outward simplicity, the emblem holds significant advantages. This restraint reflects the brand’s philosophy, emphasizing the uniqueness of each product.
The logo’s simplicity highlights the products’ distinctiveness, paralleling the comfort the company’s items provide. The signature mark, applied to clothing and equipment, symbolizes high quality and announces the brand’s flawless craftsmanship.
By incorporating just a few colors into the identity, the designers could focus on the logo’s refined simplicity and emphasize the brand’s originality. The restrained but carefully thought-out color palette helped create a harmonious and memorable image that perfectly reflects the company’s philosophy. This approach distinguished the products from competitors, communicated the brand’s core values, and maintained its identity and recognizability. This minimalist approach effectively demonstrated the brand’s essence, making it more understandable and appealing to a broader audience.
What is Palace?
This British streetwear brand has secured an important place in the fashion industry due to its bold design and connection to skateboarding. The brand offers a wide range of clothing and accessories that blend contemporary street culture with a nostalgic nod to 1990s style. Its products are known for bold graphic elements, witty slogans, and unexpected collaborations with luxury fashion houses and sports brands. Limited releases of clothing and accessories often sell out instantly, making each collection a highly anticipated event. A highlight of the brand’s marketing is its unconventional ad campaigns, which emphasize humor and unique style. In addition to clothing, the brand also offers skateboards, accessories, and home goods, all featuring its distinctive design. With flagship stores in major cities worldwide and a strong online presence, the company has built a loyal international audience that appreciates the mix of street fashion, British humor, and skate culture.
2009 – today
The Palace logo, created in 2009, has become one of the iconic symbols in streetwear due to its simple yet profound concept. A concise black-and-white palette, a lack of unnecessary details, and a recognizable figure made it both striking and symbolic. The visual mark is shaped like a Penrose triangle—a geometric figure that appears impossible, giving the symbol a sense of mystery and uniqueness. This element, also known as the “impossible triangle,” became the foundation of the brand’s visual identity, perfectly reflecting dynamism and constant evolution.
A key aspect of the emblem is its multilayered nature. At first glance, it seems simple and minimalist, but it carries deep ideas about movement, infinite cycles, and development. Each side of the triangle features the repeating brand name—”Palace,” creating a rotating effect that enhances the feeling of an ongoing process. This technique draws attention to the brand’s name and highlights its constant growth and forward movement philosophy.
Fergus Purcell, the designer behind this signature mark, used simple lines and geometric shapes to express the brand’s core values. The curved edges of the triangle and its unusual perspective create a three-dimensional effect, making the logo visually dynamic despite its two-dimensional nature. This blend of simplicity and visual complexity helps establish the brand’s unique image.
The black-and-white color scheme emphasizes the emblem’s seriousness and versatility. Black represents strength, resilience, and confidence, while the white background allows the design to “breathe,” adding elegance and simplicity. The scheme also ensures the logo’s adaptability, making it suitable for various products and surfaces.
In terms of symbolism, the Penrose triangle represents the cyclical nature of life and constant forward motion, which aptly reflects the brand’s philosophy. The brand’s name, placed around the triangle’s perimeter, reinforces the association with continuity and determination. This conveys the company’s commitment to growth, innovation, and high quality.
The Palace emblem has become a recognizable symbol, representing an entire movement in streetwear culture, where every visual decision reflects the aesthetics and philosophy of motion, growth, and endless dynamism.