Ferrol Mola
A skate brand I started in high school by reinvesting the $1,000 I made working at a bakery.
How it started
In high school I worked at a bakery and saved $1,000. Instead of spending it, I put all of it into making skate T-shirts, and Ferrol Mola was born. “Ferrol Mola” roughly means “Ferrol rocks.”
Why Ferrol
Ferrol is a small city in the north of Spain, full of urban legends and history. It was once a major naval port and military-industry center, but its population has been shrinking since the 1950s as the industry left.
Local artists created El Makako, a graffiti character painted around the city, to lift people’s spirits. As Ferroliños who love skating, we wanted to do two things at once: tell people about this city’s history, and offer great skate T-shirts at a low price. So join the “Makakos” and help us revive the city!
The designs
College: the Pittsburgh Capsule (2024)
At Carnegie Mellon I brought Ferrol Mola to Pittsburgh with creative director Aviv Spitz. Pittsburgh is a steel city with its own industrial past, so the theme was building something new from Pittsburgh’s industry. The capsule worked on three levels:
- Clothes: thrifted pieces restyled by young local artists.
- Video, photo and music: a studio photo shoot, a video reel, a skate tape with local skaters, and music by local musicians.
- Getting it out there: funding, a show at a local gallery, and student press.
The bigger goal: bring artists from different mediums together and create a space for multimedia collaboration on campus.