Costa Mesa, Calif. — A suit made of wax paper and brushed with white painted stripes may not be perfect for the beach, and that’s fine with the designers at surf brand Rusty, who created the two-piece for the third annual Orange County Design Collective Dec. 3 at the Lab “antimall” here.
The OC/DC event, as it’s known, benefits the America Works for Kids organization, which helps foster children ages 12 to 17 become independent adults. Split, Billabong, Ezekiel, Amerikan Project, Hurley and Roxy were among the 40 action sportswear brands that designed some 75 custom outfits and a dozen skate- and surfboards for the auction.
Despite the chilly temperatures, more than 700 supporters, including Op chief executive officer Dick Baker, Paul Frank president Ryan Heuser and Hurley ceo Bob Hurley, turned out to bid and listen to tunes from the band The Pop Kids.
With the auction open for another week, funds raised have not been tabulated. But organizers said the count has already surpassed the $10,000 donated last year for America Works.
“It’s great to involve the youth with this event,’’ said Lab founder Shaheen Sadeghi. “It’s the youth that helped build our business and it’s them who keeps this going. This is also a fun event where the creative people behind the scenes of all these Orange County labels can all get together.”