Interview with Simon Crowhurst, fonder of the Black Onyx skating training apparel brand

Simon Crowhurst: a passion for skating and fashion

Have you always worked as a stylist?

No, originally, I am a figure skater, I started skating when I was 11 years old training in Brighton and Guildford in England, when I was 17 I turned professional and made the step in to the world of ice shows working with Holiday on Ice, Dancing on Ice UK, Stars dancing on Ice Holland, American Ice Show in Japan and touring the world for 12 years as a skater.

Was this your calling?

Absolutely, I often find that life goes in a full circle, when training as a skater I was always interested in design and creating clothing and costumes, once I went on tour and turned professional I stopped doing that however it was still always in the back of my mind, when you work for big shows you also work with big name designers who are so talented and although I was not the one making or designing the costumes I was absorbing as much information as possible as this kind of experience is priceless, this then all became very useful when I decided to settle down in the Netherlands and to continue a career in design, since then I have been fortunate enough to design and make costumes and apparel for TV shows, Theater  Shows, Dolly Parton, Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Hugh Jackman and various other artists.

How did you become a creator?

Literally a lot of hard work and many hours, a lot of mistakes which lead to a lot of success. It literally started when I was asked by a large tv production company to design and make the costumes for the Dutch TV show “Stars Dancing on ice” it was one of those moments that I sat there in the meeting and said “yes, no problem, I can do it” and then walked out, sat in the car and thought “OMG, can I do this?” It was that jump that exceled me into the world of design. I know there a lot of people that spends years studying which is fantastic, I was fortunate enough to spend years around designers and learn first-hand from some of the biggest names in design.

Tell us about your Black Onyx brand…

Black Onyx apparel wear was created by myself and my Partner, for both of us it was important to bring training wear that was functional and at the same time fashionable and glam, for us it needs to make the person wearing it feel confident and strong.

There are a lot of training wear collections out there however a lot of it is super bright multiple colors that are wonderful if that’s what you like but for us we know that is not for everyone. We want something for all ages that can be mixed and matched with everything in the collection, it doesn’t matter what legging or what top you purchase, everything matches and looks great together.

Where does the name “Black Onyx” come from?

Black Onyx is actually a precious stone, the purpose of the stone is to transform negative thoughts in to strength and stamina, as both of us being professional performers and spending years training we understand just how important that meaning is, we have both had those moments when training doesn’t go as well as expected or competitions and tests are not quite the results we wanted and how often the negative thoughts take over and really affect us.

What sizes do you offer? Are you thinking of offering large sizes?

On our online shop we have sizes 150-XS-S-M-L

We originally started with many other sizes but noticed that there was not much demand for sizes smaller than 150 or above a Large, however that does not say that we will never go back there, if we start to get a lot of ask for it then off course that is something we will take seriously and re-evaluate.

Do you take into consideration the figure of the skaters and the demands of training?

Of course,  as a skater that is what I know best so I would be silly if I was to ignore that, everything we do we try to take everything into consideration from leggings to go over the top of the skate to the quality of the fabric, to silicone elastic needing to be added around the base of the leggings if they are to go over the boots, there are a lot of things to take in to consideration when making for skaters however the best place to buy training wear from are from people that have actually skated and performed themselves, I have worked with many seamstresses that have years of experience in sewing however when they make something for skating its totally wrong and they find it hard to understand why.

Where is your workshop located?

We are very fortunate to be able to work from home in Holland, however it’s not always best as we never finish work, it’s so difficult to switch off and relax when your work in literally a few meters away, when you work in an office or a store and you finish work you can walk away and go home, however for us it’s in our home.

Do you have a physical store or do you only sell online?

Currently we are only selling online to see how the demand is for Black Onyx, with that said we would love one day to have our own store and often talk about it so who knows what the future will hold.

Are you planning to sell on skating competitions?

We currently are selling to some stores and also on our website www.blackonyxapparelwear.com

It’s actually quite difficult to sell at competitions due to the fact that a lot of rinks and clubs do not allow unknown outsiders to sell as they have agreements with either people that they know or by people that have been trading at competitions for a quite some time, plus quite often you are not allowed to sell at competitions where the rinks have a store already located there.

Do you make custom dresses?

We do make custom dresses and have been doing so for over 10 years, Like I said before we work a lot with large scale shows with dancers, skaters, gymnasts, circus artists and celebrities, however black onyx apparel wear and the larger shows that we work for have taken over our lives so therefore we had to slow down the custom dresses side of the business down, we still make a lot of custom dresses which we do some by one on one appointments in Holland from overseas where we can arrange a call over FaceTime to discuss details and measurements.

What are your average prices?

Black Onyx Apparel Wear prices range from €30 up to €130 depending on what people are looking   for. We would like to do a special discount for all the readers here and offer a 35% Discount up until December 31 2020 using CODE: DISCOUNT352020 for all off our Black Onyx Apparel Wear collection.

In regards to pricing for custom dresses it depends on the design and the amount of work involved.

Why did you specialize in skating?

Well, skating is what I know and love and as I am sure that many of the readers know is that once you’re a skater you are always a skater.

Tell us about a typical working day…

A typical workday is waking up at 6am, going to the gym from 7am until 8.30am, coming home, and depending on our schedule it could start with designing new items for Black Onyx Apparel Wear, patternmaking, cutting samples and trying any new designs, making alterations to the patterns, then making the patterns in all sizes we do, ordering fabric, sewing for stock or sewing for any ongoing orders we have, packing orders that need to be sent out by 17pm to get the last post, finance, marketing, social media and anything else that may come in between, we usually finish work around 21pm and then have dinner around 21.30pm.

What are your inspirations?

Inspiration comes from anywhere, it could be from something you see someone wearing, or something from a magazine, film, tv show, or something I have made in the past that I would like to re-do in a new and improved way, it’s always about pushing the boundaries.

What are the disadvantages of your profession?

It involves a lot of stress, a lot of discipline, a lot of deadlines, and a lack of sleep. Being creative your brain hardly stops and it is very difficult to switch off, it can be non-stop work but we do it because we love it.

What does skating mean to you?

Skating is a beautiful art form, sport and athleticism that takes so much time and discipline to master, it’s a form of expression with at the same time being artistic, full of strength, determination and stamina.

Thanks for everything!