How Canopy came to be
Coleman was the first person that came to mind because the band was particularly important to our friendship. The last time we had met, the warmth of their guitars was the backdrop to our drive while navigating the palm-lined streets and rugged coastline of Los Angeles. In many ways, the long-standing duo of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, and the twists and turns of their friendship, became symbolic of our relationship - always being able to pick up things right where we left them, even though years had passed.
After an amazing, nearly 2-hour long acoustic set, our stomachs were due for a late-night snack. However, not much was open on a Monday night in University District, except for a Thai restaurant a block away from the venue. Coleman, having spent half of his life in Thailand, was particularly excited by the thought of flavors from home.
Over Pad Kra Pao and Tom Kha, with a feeling of childhood nostalgia, a newfound dose of creative inspiration fuelled by live music, and a picture of a stainless steel tumbler, the idea came to us. “What if Atmos and Caribou Lodge collaborated on a collection of yo-yos and accessories inspired by the technical outdoors?”.
The tumbler that Coleman showed me was no ordinary tumbler but rather a product that Rueben, the founder of Atmos, had been prototyping - part of his many creative pursuits outside of yo-yoing. The tumbler - seemingly taken straight out of a Snowpeak catalogue, had an industrial yet organic characteristic to it.
“What if we created a new yo-yo lifestyle brand entirely?” Something that neither of the two of us had seriously considered, as we found ourselves placing more emphasis on our lives outside of yo-yoing. Both incredibly grateful for the role that yo-yoing played in our childhood and in shaping our identity, with our thoughts trending in the direction of “maybe it’s time to move on?”
But, something about the idea, as crazy as all of this felt in this hole-in-the-wall Thai Restaurant, just made sense. Combining the minimal aesthetic of Atmos with the outdoorsy nature of Caribou Lodge. And then on top of that, leaning into our joint appreciation for the Pacific Northwest, adventure, and well-crafted timeless products.
We had been dreaming of different ways of collaborating beyond just yo-yo videos. We had an idea for a big project that would have led up to Worlds in Japan, but that didn’t come to life as we both decided to focus on our traditional careers. This left a sense of regret of what could have been, and a hole which we were eager to fill.
Even if it’d just be a one-year long project, creating what would soon become the Canopy Collection, just felt right.