Eagle and Pig at the Vans US Open of Surfing

Check out a quick wrap up of Eagle and Pig's guest spot at the Vans US Open of Surfing, from the man himself Dane 'Pig Barber' Hesse.

Just like my relationship with Uppercut Deluxe; this entire Vans US Open of Surfing journey started in the barbershop. This is where I show up to work each day, cut hair to the best of my ability, and offer a curated a space that people want to experience and share with others.

A good customer of Eagle and Pig - Justin Villano wanted to share the experience beyond the four walls of the barbershop and pitched us to his Vans associates as: unique, local and interesting people, and just like that we were invited to be a part of the 2019 Vans US Open of Surfing Street Market. A section of 10x10 booths in the heart of the competition site. Thinking back. my Ambassador relationship with Uppercut Deluxe began in a similar 10x10 booth at Agenda Long Beach in January, 2013.

Eagle & Pig currently has three barbers working in it: yours truly, Dane Hesse, Justin Schiele, and Richie Clavesilla. Each of us bring our own style to both cutting hair and life in general. We all get along pretty well so when I asked the boys if they wanted to take a week away from the shop to work at the beach in a 10x10 stall during the Southern California summer...they of course said yes.

We were down on the sand from July 27 to August 4, a total of 9 days. Each day presented its own set of challenges from finding breakfast spots, towed cars, dead car batteries, humidity, heat, freeloaders, cease and desist notices, city officials, etc. You name it, we faced it one way or the other.

The boys cut a lot of hair during our extended week of work. Being down on the beach during an event that brings upwards of 500k people over the week period is pretty daunting. Trying to keep people happy can also be a sensitive endeavor, but we managed to stay above par. I was tasked with managing merch sales and the boys serviced customers. We were able to cut so many awesome peoples hair from talented surfers Nathan Florence and Jett Schilling, to Chris Nieratko (Vans Marketing Team) and his two sons, military veterans, funny teenagers, vacationers, and locals.

It's amazing to me that after 10 years of being a brand in the men's grooming world that Uppercut Deluxe still gets the opportunity to reconnect with longtime fans or establish rapport with new ones. So many people got their first taste of Uppercut Deluxe hair product on the beach by Justin or Richie. Every time the boys used in someone's hair the product earned us a new fan of the UCD line up. We are so stoked as a shop that we get to have the support of a brand that's still relevant and continually stoked to interact with customer.

All in all, at the end of 9 days, we were beat. Sun burnt, sweaty, a bit pickled, but super excited for the future. Vans put on such a great event in Huntington Beach and its always an honor to fly the Uppercut Deluxe flag. Justin and Richie reached a new legend status by grinding it out without whining about the elements. What a great event. So much fun and such rad memories.

- Dane 'Pig Barber' Hesse