Wellen Pop-Up Shop
A preview of what will be sold at the Wellen pop-up store.
Nevermind that Los Feliz is nearly 20 miles (that clocks in at an hour plus some in L.A. traffic) from where waves meet the sand. Surf lifestyle line Wellen is bringing its surfboards and breezy, beachy T-shirts to the east side for a three-day pop-up shop from Nov. 6 through Nov. 8 in the X-Large store at 1766 Vermont Ave. in Los Feliz.
Like any modern-day high schooler that wants to learn about something, Wellen founder Matthew Jung took a crash course on surfboard shaping through the unaccredited university that is the Internet, courtesy of how-to blogs and YouTube clips. He started making his own boards to ride under the Wellen banner. Now a professional shaper makes Wellen boards and Matt heads up the clothing division that he started last year after graduating from Whittier College.
The tee graphics have a surf-inspired bent, one of my favorites being the “Cow-abunga” shirt, with a hand-drawn sketch of a cow and then the word “abunga.” I've never heard the sun-bleached blonde founder say "cowabunga" in conversation; however have a brewsky with him at the opening-night party on Friday and he'll likely spout similar Spicoli vernacular like “this is bitchin'!” and “sick!” with endearing, absolute sincerity.
On top of tees, Wellen will be selling items from the recently added cut-and-sew division starting with… plaid flannel shirts. They already fit in with the east side hipsters.
