Palace Product Descriptions: The Selected ArchiveLev Tanju and Palace Skateboards, with an introduction by Sam Buchan-Watts

Price AUD$69.95 Price CAD$64.95 Price £34.95 Price T49.95 Price USD$49.95 Price €39.95

  • 98%
  • EVERY GOOD DESCRIPTION
  • PALACE HAVE EVER DONE
  • IN ONE ROWDY HARDBACK
  • 2% SOME RUBBISH ONES ALSO

Phaidon presentsPalace Product Descriptions: The Selected Archive, the official printed archive of Palace Skateboard's online product descriptions. Since their debut in 2013, Palace's unconventional descriptors - which often have little or nothing to do with the product being described – have earned a cult following, with readers hooked on every line.

Authored by Palace co-founder, Lev Tanju, whose inimitable style essentially tore up the copywriting rulebook, the descriptions are full of humour, pathos, social commentary and unabashed opinion. Eschewing practical details, instead a jacket is described as:

  • TRENDSETTER
  • DON'T THINK SO MATE
  • YOU LOOK LIKE YOU MOONWALKED THROUGH TOPSHOP
  • WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED
  • COVERED IN GLUE

Collected here for the first time and printed as they appear online - a few lines set in all caps, formatted as a series of bullet points – the more than 3,000 descriptions are organised into 22 tongue-in-cheek categories, including Anatomy, Animals, Etiquette, Philanthropy, Romance and Travel. The text is interspersed with shots of highly coveted Palace products and chapter openers feature candid, behind-the-scenes images from Palace's archive.

At once jokey toilet book and earnest coffee-table opus, this funny and honest volume serves as an essential record of an online phenomenon.

Specifications:

  • Format: Hardback
  • Size: 240 × 165 mm (9 1/2 × 6 1/2 in)
  • Pages: 320 pp
  • Illustrations: 100 illustrations
  • ISBN: 9781838665845

Established in 2009, Palace Skateboards has grown from underground skate brand to global fashion label with its reputation for heavy-hitting collaborations and authentic, irreverent spirit. Palace has partnered with labels including Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Stella Artois, Moschino, Arc'Teryx, Adidas and Reebok, and has retail stores in LA, New York, London and Tokyo.

Co-founder, Lev Tanju, is a writer, filmmaker, and author of the Palace product descriptions.

'One of the most delightfully peculiar releases from a fashion brand in recent memory' - Financial Times

'Palace, the London skate label founded in 2009, is widely known for two things: the prominent triangle logo...[and] for the superfans, there's something else - the product descriptions' - The Guardian

'[Palace Product Descriptions] ... It's playful and very British ... The book not only serves as a catalog of some of the brand's best (and funniest) works, but is a constant reminder of how an underground skate label from South London broke the mold to change the way we perceive the UK streetwear scene.' - Highsnobiety

'Tongue-in-cheek … authentic, unapologetic entries and more.' - Hypebeast

'Uniquely brilliant descriptors have been immortalized in book form.' - Hypebae