Trent Evans’ Collection Obsession
Photography by Josh Sabini.
Trent Evans is a collector.
He has been for practically his entire life. Describing his collection of trinkets and memorabilia that ranges from bowls club receipts to first-place trophies that he won as a teenager, as ‘curated hoarding’. And that ‘curated hoarding’ has in turn helped shape the visual identity of his brand, Pass~Port, with trinkets appearing everywhere, from videos aptly titled TRINKET to their board graphics that feature kitschy Australian memorabilia and apparel sporting the words ‘I <3 Trinkets’.
Knowing there’s a story behind every trinket, I sat down with Trent with some of his most near and dear trinkets in front of us, and he told me the stories behind each one. Later that evening, he texted me saying, ‘Mate, was just telling my partner how much of a pleasure it was to retell some stories I thought I had forgotten myself.’ That’s the true beauty of collecting, isn’t it?
First Place Trophy
This is the only kitsch memorabilia piece that’s about me; it’s the Sk8 Original Skate Competition 1999 Junior Division First Place trophy, which I won when I was fourteen. I love this thing. It reminds people that I was good at skating. It was a contest at Alexandra Headlands, the skatepark I lived opposite. At the time, I didn’t care about the trophy; I won some cash and all this product, so I was like ‘Oh my god! This is amazing!’ It was only years later that I even remembered I won a trophy, and now I’m a little bit older, that’s what I care about, memorabilia.
Kitsch USB and Packaging
We were working on a full-length video, which was exciting. I love all the pieces that come along with a video: the music, animations, the team camaraderie, the tours, and trips. But at the end of the day, I really wanted to have something physical that we could gift to people, and they could keep. Yes, it’s functional with the video, which was a big part of it, but it was very much about having something you could hold on to forever. It was a great way to lose a lot of money. It was really expensive, but as always, I’d never take it back. It’s been really nice hearing that people have kept it. I’ve been overseas at friends or friends of friends houses and seen them have the USB, box or the scarf hanging on the wall. That really hits the spot.
The name Kitsch was inspired by the bookTreasury of Australian Kitsch by Barry Humphries. As soon as I saw that book, I was obsessed with it. It has forever been inspirational for the brand, so I wanted to give a nice hat tip to the book and world of Australian Kitsch.
Pass~Port Notebook
The play on the word Pass~Port was never a huge thing, but the notebook was something that we were like this looks like a passport. It was one of our first items, and over the years, it's something that I’ve loved giving to people. People will show me that they have fifteen of them full of their thoughts or sketches. I’ve heard some great stories over the years of people holding onto them. It’s definitely special.
It's also definitely stitched people up in the past. On our first Japan tour, Zoolz [George Kousoulis] turned up at the airport with the notebook and not his real passport. He had to go home to get his real passport, and then he missed his flight. I’m sort of the only one to blame there; I felt horrible myself. Between that and the blade, we make we’ve stitched people up so hard at the airport.
Trinkets Box
I’ll be forever grateful for this; the number of people I know, and will tell me they mailed me something, or say, ‘I saw this in an antique store and had to get this for you.’ Teaspoons, patches, pins, and books have turned up on my desk because people have been like, ‘This screamed you, I just wanted to send it to you.’ I feel very lucky. My friend Owen gifted me this last year. He sent me a photo and was like, ‘Bro, you have to have this.’ It’s unbelievable.
A Piece of Alexandra Headlands Skatepark
This is a piece of concrete from the first-ever skatepark I skated and where I grew up, Alexandra Headlands. The original skatepark holds so much history for my original skate crew and me, so when they started knocking down the park, I was beside myself. I had already left the Sunshine Coast but went back around the time of the demolition. With my OG skate crew, we broke in and grabbed around four or five pieces each. I hand-delivered pieces to friends who couldn’t be there, but I feel maybe they weren’t as excited as I was about it [laughs]. But I’ll hold onto this for the rest of my life.
Fishing bait.
Either Sammy [Thornton] or Harry [Green] came into the studio one day and was like, ‘Have you seen these things that they make for fly fishing?’ He sent me the website, and it’s this guy in Tasmania who handmakes them. We became obsessed with them, and when we saw the price, we were blown away. This is five dollars. Are you serious? It’s handmade. It’s unbelievable. We contacted him, saying we were big fans and wanted to shoot photos of them to make a board series, and he was down. We’ve had it forever with our brand, where maybe people understand it, but I highly doubt it, but they’re like, ‘Good on you, you brought the product. You can do what you want with it.’ What an incredible craft. I don’t know a lot about it but look at this thing.
Squishes Pro Party Receipt
For Squish’s [Jack O’Grady] pro party, I really wanted it to be somewhere that you could identify was in his area, and all the Shire and Cronulla crew could turn up. I remember him calling me and being like, ‘I have the spot, Caringbah Bowling Club.’ I remember going there and being like this is perfect; all the imagery, membership boards, and everything about it was incredible. When we were paying for the drinks at the end of the night, they printed off this receipt and were like, ‘Do you need this receipt?’ The guy was already off us because it got pretty rowdy in there, but I did need the receipt to show our bookkeeper. Sam Coady took a photo of me holding it, and at the time, I was like, ‘This is fucking ridiculous. How am I going to take a photo of this to give to my accountant.’ I got home, woke up the next day and was like, ‘This is incredible.’ Then we shot it for a board of his, I think he’s pretty chuffed with it. Let’s be honest, I don’t think it looks that good, like, are people grabbing it off the wall? But it’s a very personal graphic for all of us who were there, which I like. There are probably some of these boards lying out in the warehouse still [laughs].
Pass~Port Ring
On the night of Squish turning pro, there were so many tears, between me, him, his family, and everyone there. During the night, he came up to the mic, which is commendable for any skater to get on the mic at their own pro party and gifted me this ring. It was a special, personal moment amidst the chaos of a pro party. It was so thoughtful; he really didn’t have to. I don’t wear it a lot because it’s so special. He got one made for himself, too and every time I’d see him over the next year, he’d make sure to show me.
Sculpture of Keegan Walker by Eli Wulfe Cheshire
This is a sculpture of my dear friend, Keegan Walker, who passed away, that my lovely partner, Schirine, commissioned Eli [Wulfe Cheshire]to make for my birthday many years ago. It has this sticky residue to it, which I love. I love how grubby and worn-in it is. It has broken in half, it’s fallen to bits, but I love it, it’s so silly. He has his grey hoodie, too, I think it was a Pass~Port hoodie; he wore it day in, day out; it was so grubby too. The current state of it is very much on brand.
Digger from the NT courtesy of Jack Diaz
Jack Diaz, who was a near and dear friend to me as well as to the brand, gifted me this after he visited the Northern Territory. I’ve always been obsessed with the Northern Territory, the heritage of Indigenous people, the history, and even the kitschiness of it. We’ve done trips there and gone out to regional community. It was his first time there, and I was very excited for him because we had a shared love for everything the NT offers. He came back from that trip, and once again, I was in that very lucky position where he handed me this and said, ‘I thought you’d really dig this.’ I really did. When he passed, Mikey, Lois and I all got it tattooed by Nik Stipanovic. It’s something that is very near and dear to me.
Ceramic Skateboards
My Nanna is a ceramicist. She found a skateboard mould forever ago, poured and painted these beautiful ceramic skateboards. She gave me three: this one, which is a eucalyptus tree that we turned into a Callum [Paul] board, a Pass~Port one, which broke and smashed recently on a photoshoot, and when we opened the Grifter bar, she gave me a Grifter one, which got stolen on the opening night! But she made me another one that is sitting at home on my record cabinet. My Nanna has always been a huge inspiration to me and the brand; she’s done ceramics for close to fifty years. She’s ninety-five and has a home studio where she’s still doing ceramics and running free workshops every week. She’s a very hard worker, still to this day.
Oranges
My friends Nicole, K-Dogs, and I are all obsessed with the colour orange. One night, we all together and admitted that we were all obsessed with orange. We started a text group and had exclusive lunches and dinners celebrating orange; we even have matching orange tattoos. We all have these kitschy orange items that hold sentimental value to us, and one of them gifted me this. It’s a celebration of the obsession with the colour orange we all have. It’s a beautiful thing, orange.