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Brisbane-based adventure sports fashion and health tech startup Anti Ordinary has secured its first ever brand collaboration to take its innovative 'beanie helmet' to market, striking a deal with US-headquartered action sports and lifestyle brand Volcom in time for the northern hemisphere snowboarding season.
The collaboration will feature Anti Ordinary’s double patented snowsports helmet technology with three exclusive Volcom colourways and patterns.
"Partnering with one of the world’s most iconic brands for our first collaboration is a real pinch-yourself moment," says Anti Ordinary CEO and founder Rob Joseph.
"Volcom has been a brand central to our world since before I was born. For them to see the value in our mission and what we’ve built is great confirmation of the work we’ve done," says Joseph, who was recently a finalist in the 2024 Australian Young Entrepreneur Awards.
The business concept came to Joseph after a snowboarding brain injury in 2019.
As a 20-year-old medical engineering student at the time, he decided to invent a helmet stylish enough to look like the beanies he and his mates liked to wear, while making sure it delivered class-beating safety.
He says the brand signature A2 helmet exceeds international impact safety standards by up to 34.2 percent and has made international waves this past year, with high-profile athletes, celebrities, customers and now global brands such as Volcom aligning with its mission.
"We built Anti to play well with other brands. Our helmet tech is a genuine step-up from traditional helmet technologies in fit, feel, comfort, style and safety," the founder explains, adding the company's motto is "Protecting the People We Love".
"We’ll never stop chasing technological progression, but now that we’ve created what we have, our job is to protect as many of our friends on the mountain as we can.
"Part of that is working with brands we admire that can help us save as many brains as possible."
The Volcom x Anti Ordinary collaboration is launching today (13 December) and is set to put Anti in the global action sports spotlight.
"This step was all part of the plan. The blueprint of Anti was never to just be a ‘helmet company,’ but a brain protection platform, working concurrently with our own brand," Joseph says.
"Most brands do not have the resources or engineering footprint to make a helmet worth building, but the head remains one of the most visually impactful parts of the body, and one consumers care a lot about.
"Our tech is designed to fit nicely into a brand’s product line without any R&D outlay, while providing their people with superior brain protection."
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