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RDS or Red Dragon Society is the brainchild of three of Vancouver's legendary skaters. Colin McKay, Rob "Sluggo" Boyce, and Moses Itkonen. Early in their skateboarding careers the three dubbed themselves the "Red Dragons."
The name is a combination of a few different sources; a shared love of the Thomas Harris novel The Red Dragon, which is one of the scariest books ever written and an affinity for the ancient Chinese game Mahjong, in which one of the three dragon tiles is the red character for "center." RDS adopted the Red Dragon character as their symbol.
McKay explains that the name was originally used jokingly as a way to redirect any blame for mischief they may have been involved in as a group. As in, "Oh, that was the Red Dragon gang."
McKay has had a long run as a professional skateboarder including tours with Plan B, Girl, and Chocolate. He is credited with creating the "backside tailslide" and is featured in classic skate videos like The Chocolate Tour, Transworld: The Reason, and Plan B: Second Hand Smoke.
Rob "Sluggo" Boyce is an ex gymnast, breakdancer, pro snowboarder, and skater, not to mention a professional stuntman. He is the only skateboarder to ever do a backflip on a vert ramp and a backflip to fakie. Can the owner of your favorite apparel brand do this.
McKay, Boyce, and lifelong friend Itkonen teamed up to start the RDS Skate Shop in 1996 in Vancouver, then Centre distributionin 1997 with the goal of promoting skateboarding culture throughout Canada. They started in a small warehouse with one brand, DC Shoes.
They launched Red Dragon Apparel in 1998 with the design help of Sluggo's brother Dave Boyce and Centre has since grown to a leader in Canadian Distribution.
The RDS skate family includes other pros like Dave Boyce, Mike Hastie, Paul Trep, Ryan Oughton. You can find them Sluggo, McKay, and other extended Red Dragon Society members like Tony Hawk, Bucky Lasek and Jason Ellis in the RDS Skate Party and the legendary RDS FSU videos.
Red Dragon Apparel is known for its quality design, great fit and comfortability. They have since expanded the brand to also include a women's line and Centre Distribution has grown to include over thirty brands including Diamond Supply Co., Fallen, and Element.
Needless to say they have come a long way from their Fuck Shit Up days although that attitude still finds its way into their designs. We carry a wide variety of RDS clothing and accessories including everything from graphic tees to some sick hoodies. So rest assured that you can meet all of your RDS clothing needs while you’re out in the streets flashing those fangs and FSU!
