His competition days might be behind him. But Shaun White’s career in the snowboarding world is far from over, as he announces his very own brand of outdoor gear and apparel.
Shaun White was about to drop into the half-pipe at the Beijing Olympics, for what would be the last run of his professional career. Over 3 decades of competitions, White’s ridden a lot of boards; he’s been sponsored by a lot of companies and had his name on countless signature products. But that was the first time he’d ever used a snowboard from his very own brand.
“I was actually standing on my own name,” he told GearJunkie in a recent interview, “literally.”
It was an incredible moment, he said. It was something he’d envisioned since he was a kid. And it was also a moment that capped his professional career, marking the end of an era in White’s life, and the beginning of his retirement project: Whitespace gear.
Whitespace on the Slopes and in the Streets
Developed in partnership with retailer Backcountry, Whitespace (as you probably could have guessed) is a snowboard gear and apparel company. As a young athlete, seeing idols like Tony Hawk and Tom Sims create Birdhouse and Sims, White always dreamed about having his own namesake brand.
Now at 36, he’s making it happen. And he’s got big plans for where it’s going.
“Obviously, my roots are in winter sports. So, that’s where we’re starting. I hope, and have goals for the brand to build outside of that,” he said. “But I definitely wanted to create something that had that style component as well. So I’m really proud of what we made.“
The idea behind Whitespace is simple enough: create apparel that will perform as well on the slopes as it looks good on the streets.
“[My brother and I] started to create the line around, like, what’s a jacket that’s stylish enough to wear in the city? But then again, that can withstand whatever is going to be thrown at it in the mountains?”
The White brothers got to work and started designing Whitespace.
The Lineup
The brand comes out of the gate with three styles of goggles, a signature puffy jacket ($299), a merino thermal neck gaiter ($34), a midlayer ($149), a cargo insulated jacket ($379), bib overalls (pictured above), and a performance kit ($349-499).
The performance kit includes snow pants ($349) and a 3-in-1 performance jacket ($499), with a stylish, removable fleece liner that would look right at home in any après bar or outdoor concert.
Whitespace will also launch three styles of boards that White designed himself.
There’s the Powder! board, the AMF Park Twin Tip, and the board he rode in the 2022 Beijing Olympics: the Freestyle Shaun White Pro.
The boards were all crafted specifically for different riding styles and different conditions, White says. And they’ve all got the trademark Whitespace white stripe along the bottom.
“I keep waiting for this moment that I’ve kind of put out there in the universe where I’m ripping down the mountain, and I look up at the chairlift and see those stripes,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of those moments hopefully coming my way and I’m very excited.“
White also said there will also be opportunities down the road to sponsor a new generation of professional snowboarders. It would be a way for him to pay his own sponsorships forward, and bring his career full circle.
“It’s pretty amazing how time flies,” he told us. “[Now] this brand is going to continue on and I get to put my time and effort and expertise from my sport and experience into these products … [it’s] the ripple effect of how I got my first board when I first started and what that did to my life, my career, everything for me.”
Beyond the Competition
Whitespace will continue to evolve. The competitive mindset that’s been drilled and ingrained into White’s character is now going to be applied toward continually tweaking, improving, and upgrading the Whitespace products. It’s his retirement outlet for pushing the limit and flying higher than the rest.
That’s not all White plans on using his retirement for, though.
“I’m excited to move on and see what’s next, not only in snowboarding and [Whitespace], but just in life and relationships, family,” he said. “I’ve been to every mountain you could imagine, but I only know how to get to the half pipe because that’s where I had to go … And so I can’t wait to go back to all those mountains and go ride all the different runs.”
For the three-time Olympic gold medalist, and athlete with more X-Game gold medals than anyone in history, that’s an exciting prospect. And the launch of his brand is where it all starts.
Check out Backcountry.com to find Whitespace gear and apparel.
