Huf started as a California shop owned by former pro skater Keith Hufnagel RIP selling trainers and clothing.

Keith moved to San Fransisco to persue his skateboarding career, after growing up riding the gritty streets of New York. Kieth was an inspirational skater for many, renowned for his pure street skating and huge ollies, such as the one over the hood of a car in the Real Skateboards.

1997 video “Non-Fiction”. 20 years on, and Keith Hufnagel remains pro for Real skateboards to this day. Some years later, the first HUF shop was set up in San Francisco in 2002, and quickly became a renowned location for sourcing hard to find skate and streetwear goods, and rare trainers.

The shop then expanded to several stores across the state before launching their own branded gear. Today HUF are renowned for their bold graphics and prints, including loud tie dye and floral prints. The Huf team currently included Dylan Rieder RIP, Austyn Gillette, Peter Ramondeta, Joey Pepper and Brad Cromer. Huf make t shirts, hoodies, 5 panels and of course the infamous plantlife socks.

Huf would collaborate with other brands, such as Nike to produce special edition trainers. Keith Hufnagel compared creating shoes to collaborating with Nike like “comparing making a building to painting one” in an interview with acclaim magazine, “These shoes need to get tested and tested to make sure they can withstand rigorous skateboarding” .