| USU
student creator of motocross racewear company
By Whitney Schulte
April 23, 2008 | "The
boots I painted that Twitch wore were my babies,"
says Brett Throckmorton, 22, a student at Utah State
University. Throckmorton is the creator of Perpa Casual
Racewear. "I painted an American flag design with
the red and white stripes on the lower section of the
boot, and the star design on top," Throckmorton
said. "I was really proud of them. They were definitely
my favorite project to work on."
The boots Throckmorton is talking
about happened to be worn by X Games competitor Jeremy
"Twitch" Stenberg in 2006. They turned out to be his
good luck charm. While wearing them, he took first place
in the Best Trick Competition.
Throckmorton has been designing shirts
and boots to be worn by motocross racers since he was
17. But, ever since Throckmorton was 12, he has been
involved with motocross. He started out riding a Yamaha
YZ80 bike his dad bought him. He would compete in the
Desert Races in southern Utah.
A few years later, Throckmorton realized
he'd never go pro in motocross, but he knew he still
wanted a job in the industry. This inspired him to start
designing Perpa Casual Racewear.
When asked where he came up with
the name Perpa, Throckmorton replied, "It's slang for
perfect. My sister and her husband always used to say
it, and I think she kind of made the word up. Perpa
is the perfect casual race wear brand." Throckmorton's
friends seem to agree. Landon Weight, one of Throckmorton's
best friends and fellow motocross racer gets to wear
the Perpa designs long before they are available to
the public. When Weight is asked what he has to say
about the brand, he grins and says, "Perpa is perfect."
The name of the brand is not the
only inspiration Throckmorton has taken from his sister.
They started designing shirts together on the computer,
and finally decided to put one of the designs on a silkscreen
and print a few. Throckmorton could Photoshop some of
the designs his sister drew, and also draw and create
his own on the computer.
Throckmorton is very proud of his
designs, and rightfully so. As he lifts up his sweatshirt
to get a better look at the shirt underneath, the small
logo in the corner is the first thing noticeable. "E
for everyone, content rated by Perpa." This particular
design is created to closely resemble the Nintendo logo.
A very unique thing about the Perpa
brand is that it's not committed to any specific logo.
"My whole idea was to have a different logo on everything.
I didn't want to be tied down to just one," Throckmorton
said. Right now he has 11 different designs for the
shirts, and every single pair of boots he paints is
different. He also has 15 new designs that are currently
in the works.
When Throckmorton paints a pair of
boots, the process takes about 2 to 4 days depending
on the complexity of the design. He preps the boots
by covering the leather section with a plastic tape
material he can draw on. Then, he either free hands
the design or creates it on the computer. When the designs
are stuck to the boots, Throckmorton cuts them out with
an X-Acto knife, and paints them using an airbrush given
to him by his grandpa.
Throckmorton's big break with Stenberg
wearing the boots was not a coincidence. He happened
to send them to one of his contacts at Alpinestar, Malcolm
McCassy. McCassy and Throckmorton first met at a motocross
race in Salt Lake City. Throckmorton recognized McCassy
as he was walking up the stairs and waved and yelled
his name. Not only did McCassy wave back, but he came
to sit with Brett and his friends.
When Throckmorton mailed the boots
to Alpinestar, McCassy set them on display on his desk.
Many professional motocross riders inquired about the
boots, including Jeremy McGrath, six-time super cross
champion. When Stenberg saw the boots, it was love at
first sight. He told McCassy he "had to have them" and
wore them all throughout the Dew Tour, as well as the
X Games.
The boots Stenberg wore also gave
Brett the opportunity to chat with "Twitch" Stenberg
himself. They wrote back and forth on Myspace, and Stenberg
is busy working on some ideas to give Throckmorton to
paint on another pair of boots.
If you would like to see pictures
of the boots Stenberg wore, more Perpa clothing, or
Perpa fan art, you can visit http://www.myspace.com/brett939.
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