Rewind: SNUG Industries

It’s been pretty challenging trying to track down old pics.  The designer profiles/image archives will definitely be a work in progress, I’m going to post what I’ve collected so far and hopefully this will inspire more contributions.

If you have any additional photos or company info/history, please hit me up at thetechnosnob (at) gmail (dot) com

In action: 1995- ?? (latest 2005)

Designers: Tony H. Elston and Greg Blagoev

HQ: Toronto

I think most of you already know that SNUG was founded by Greg Blagoev and Tony H. Elston in Toronto.  Pretty much any old-school raver in the GTA if not a personal friend of the duo, at least knew 1 person who was.  SNUG was started in 1995 with Tony and Greg designing bags and selling them to Toronto stores.  They expanded to mens and womens clothing lines as well as outerwear and accessories, supplying product to stores around North America, Europe, and Asia.  Unless I hear otherwise, I’m going to assume that Tony and Greg were the primary designers for all of the SNUG product lines for the lifespan of the company.

SNUG was ingrained in the southern Ontario rave scene through promotions, partnerships, and sponsorships with Bad Boy Bill, Jumpin’ Jack Frost, UK’s V Recordings, and Toronto’s Vinyl Syndicate (anyone remember any other DJS who were sponsored?).  Style-wise they were one of the early trend-setters in rave fashion and streetwear for techno-heads.  Not only were they continuously turning out innovative, dope shit for both dudes and chicks (not fucking easy), their clothes were ridiculously popular in the scene and arguably established the look for the Canadian rave scene.

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Key aesthetic elements in SNUG designs included hidden pockets/compartments, logo incorporation into different parts of the product, cog wheel motif, graffiti-esque fonts, multifunction garments (eg. zip of parts), for women – long skirts, flare to wide leg pants, linear/sleek overall look, hoods/mock neck/cowl neck, for men – big fuckin pants, cargo pants, bright coloured shirts/hoodies/hats paired with earth/muted tone cargo pants.  I personally couldn’t afford SNUG gear until way after the peak.  Totally worth it if you could afford it, but I couldn’t at 16.  Also, from what I remember, none of their ladies stuff had lycra so there was no stretch.  My waist measurement can vary at least 3″ throughout the day so it’s REALLY hard for me to wear anything that isn’t at least 2% lycra.  I know many guys SWEAR by their SNUG pants and still find them indispensable both on and off the dance floor.  What was your experience with SNUG gear?

Full gallery HERE.

I don’t have an exact date of when the company closed shop.  Greg launched his new company SZOLDIER with it’s first collection in 2005.  SNUG was definitely done before that.  I heard that they had to close shop because a financing deal didn’t go through, but that is hearsay from like 10 years ago.  Anyone have better info?

Other random stuff

SNUG logo font has been turned into a typeface.  Info here.

The snug ear piercing was named after the company.

The following items I need style names for if anyone happens to know them!

THIS DRESS.  WITH THE BACKPACK.  I NEEEEEEEEEEDS IT.

Sources

Thanks to C. Hodge, Niki R. and Mudshark Streetwear for contributing photos.

Exploriment has details on fixing up an old SNUG bag.  He also saved patches off old gear to reuse.

http://contests.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_09.17.98/news_views/borra17.php

http://contests.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_11.08.01/thebeat/behind.php

http://natefullerart.blogspot.com/2011/07/snug-industries-big-fuckin-pants.html