[Q&A] Fashion and Freeskiing With Jiberish and Pete Koukov – FREESKIER

Featured Image: Alden Bonecutter, Courtesy of Jiberish

At the intersection of fashion and freeskiing, you’ll find Jiberish. The brand has positioned itself at the forefront of the sport’s culture for well over a decade, supporting legends like Adam Delorme, Tom Wallisch and Niklas Eriksson throughout the years. Today, the Denver-based apparel brand has grown to new heights, consistently selling out collections and reaching an audience that stretches far beyond skiing as they work with popular bands, artists and more.

But even as they grow and adapt, creating everything from technical outerwear to detailed graphic designs, they haven’t forgotten their roots. To the contrary, Jiberish has continued to support budding skiers and filmmakers with a current team of riders that rivals the best in the business. You’ll catch the likes of Grace Henderson, Ryan Stevenson and Sam Zahner wearing Jiberish while skiing in the streets or lapping world-class terrain parks.

But if you’ve been watching their roster for the last several years, there’s a person you’ve certainly seen; Pete Koukov. Eggxit, as Koukov is fondly known, has become one of the more notable names in freestyle skiing. He recently had the pleasure of releasing a special clothing capsule with Jiberish, and it’s a testament to the growing popularity and thriving creativity that embodies freeski culture. FREESKIER sat down with Koukov and Jiberish Operation Manager Max Wilson to talk skiing and style, this recent collaboration, future projects and more.

The Jiberish + Eggxit Capsule:

Canvas Field Jacket – Cracked Eggshell

Sheep or Wolf Tee – Cement

Sheep or Wolf Tee – Black

Most Gutter 5-Panel Hat – Black

Cinch Belt – Cream

[Q&A] Pete Koukov (Eggxit)

How long have you been skiing for Jiberish?

It’s been about six years.

What do you love the most about them as a brand?

The fact that everyone at Jiberish is a friend of mine, athletes included. They have created such an awesome community for us and their fans, and it’s been so sick to see what it has become over time.

Your recent capsule with Jiberish is impressive. From start to finish, what was your favorite part of the process? Which item is your favorite? 

Thank you! I had never done anything like this before. I think the very early stages were my favorite part. Making mood boards and drawing mock-ups, then seeing it all turn into something real was so insane. As for my favorite piece, it’s the [Canvas Field] Jacket, for sure. They’re selling out quickly but there’s still a few left as of now.

How involved were you in the technical design of the items? Is clothing design a career we’ll see you more involved with in the future?

I worked hand in hand with Lizzie [Barnhardt], the Jiberish Apparel Designer, on all the ideas I had in my head and on paper. She truly brought them to life. Once we had the right vision she would make the digital mockups and we would tweak everything together. Samples would come and everyone would have a say and make adjustments accordingly. It was always up to me to make final decisions but they are the experts, so it was so nice to be able to listen and learn. Collectively, we made what we believed would be the best outcome for each piece. 

I’m not sure about a career in clothing design, but who knows… maybe! I’m still trying to figure out my lane outside of the ski world and staying on a creative path is very important to me. So if clothing is a part of that then, absolutely. It’s never been a job that I saw myself in, but creating this collection with Jiberish has inspired me. I’d love to keep doing more if the opportunities present themselves.

As someone who values fashion and culture, how do those two things play into your career as a skier? 

Clothing has always been important to me. Even before skiing, I always paid attention to detail in the clothes I wore. As I started being in videos that people were watching I became pretty conscious of what I was wearing and the brands I was repping. There is always the classic ‘look good, feel good’ saying, and I back that one thousand percent. If I don’t feel comfortable in what I’m wearing there is a definite correlation with how I’m going to feel on my skis. 

Part of why I love street skiing so much is because you don’t need goggles and fancy technical gear. At least not while you are the skier [laughs]. For filming you sometimes do, but that’s another story. You can wear normal clothes and snow pants while styling and accessorizing like whoever inspires you. 

Tell us about your initiative at Ruby Hill Rail Yard in Denver. What’s special about it?

The Pete Koukov Un-Invitational is an event that I started last year. It’s a video contest that is totally free to be a part of. Anyone with a camera and a friend to film can participate. You don’t have the pressure of other people seeing what you’re doing and you have a whole week to make the best video for yourself. It was really fun to host last year and I’m in the works trying to make it bigger and better for this coming winter. Hopefully, we’ll be adding another location or two to the contest.

What’s an aspect of freeskiing that you hope to contribute to in the coming years?

I want to keep skiing street for as long as I can with the brands and people who support me to do so. It’s where I stand out the most and it’s what has brought me to where I am today. I’ve never been the best park skier so it’s nice to feel strong and confident in a different area of skiing. 

I’m not too concerned with what the culture thinks of me. As long as other people see what I do and enjoy it and want to be a part of it in some way, I find that pretty neat. I hope that I can continue to contribute to skiing by making more films and hopefully expanding my contest into something that a lot of people want to be a part of. 

Name one current skier and one current filmer you think everyone should be watching, and tell us why.

For me, my young homie Jed [Waters] has been so nice to watch and be around recently. I might be biased because we spend a lot of time together, but he’s definitely becoming a household name in skiing. He has the right kind of vision to continue to make cool sh*t. Ryan Buttars is also on such an insane tip right now. He’s only 17 and probably the best skier on the Jiberish team, which is wild. 

For filmmakers, that’s tough. I have so many close friends who are crushing it right now. Andrew Mildenberger is my G.O.A.T. though. He made the Jiberish lookbook video for my collection and every time we do something together it always feels special. He’s the filmer I’ve worked with the most throughout my career and we’ve gotten pretty good at making our visions come to life together. 

[Q&A] Max Wilson – Jiberish Team and Operations Manager

How does freeskiing play a role in the culture and style of Jiberish?

Freeskiing has always been at the core of Jiberish. We started back in 2005 by selling hoodies to skiers/boarders in the parking lots at Keystone and Breck, and it’s grown from there. Since then, we have been closely involved in the ski industry and plan to continue by promoting skiers who embody our values and vision. We have been doing it since the good old days with some OG athletes and have continued to do so today with people like Koukov, Zahner, and Jed, to name a few. We trust their opinions on styles, both on and off-hill, and work with all our athletes to make products that stand out in the ski world.

Beyond that, we have worked to create a community around Jiberish that values more than just skiing. We aim to create unique and quality garments that can be worn both on and off-hill. While freeskiing will always be at the core of our designs, business operations, etc., it feels good knowing we’re a quality clothing label that can stand alone both in the ski world and out.

What was it like working with Pete to create this collection?

It’s always a pleasure working with Pete. I knew him before I started my TM role here at Jiberish about three years ago. Since then, Pete and I have become good friends and have gone on numerous trips together for various Jiberish shoots. This collab concept is something Pete brought to the team a few years back, and it’s been great to see it slowly come to fruition.

As with anything we create over here, it takes a fair amount of time to ideate, sample, tweak, and finally execute the exact design we are looking for. What was great about working with Pete was that he came to the table with a lot of ideas about what he wanted the collection to look like and how to make the items uniquely his. It was awesome to have some new input coming into the mix and to know that these items are things that the ski community would value, given Pete’s influence and close ties.

The Eggxit x Jiberish Canvas Field Jacket is sling-compatible, in case you were curious | Photo: Alden Bonecutter

What’s your favorite piece in this capsule? What about all-time at Jiberish?

My favorite piece from this capsule has got to be the jacket. This was the product that took the most time to dial in. When dealing with unique prints and washes, you will inevitably run into some roadblocks, but we worked through it and ended up with a beautiful product. Pete, myself, and everyone else in the Jiberish office were huge fans of the Canvas Field Jacket we released last September. You can catch me wearing it any time it’s cold enough to do so. It was great to be able to run back a similar jacket and to be able to add a new flair that we may not have hit if we didn’t work hand in hand with Pete.

As far as my favorite piece of all time from Jiberish, the canvas field jacket is the item I wear the most often. However, growing up, the most influential piece for me was the Puffeh Vest – the ultra-puffy vest with plaid details on the shoulders and the J-Crown Embroidery. I remember when I was getting into park skiing as a freshman in high school and seeing one of my friends buy that vest from some guy on Newschoolers. I must have asked him 100 times if I could buy it from him to no avail. That one will always have a special place in my heart.

It seems like Jiberish will continue to grow, as any good company hopes to. How do you plan to remain true to that core community amidst inevitable expansion?

We always want to find new audiences, but that doesn’t mean we can’t remain true to our core values in skiing. This is something that I care about deeply. To me, it all comes back to continuing to work with skiers, supporting them in any way we can, and making real, long-form video parts. In today’s age of social media, it’s pretty easy to get caught up in the Instagram model of short-form video edits, for which there is nobody to blame; that is just how it is. But we want to continue to give athletes and filmers a platform to create segments where they can express their creative freedoms and create something truly special. We want to continue doing this as best possible by sponsoring skiers and crews making movies and authentic edits like Walk in the Parks and Directors Cut videos. Stay tuned this season for more of this.

Since we’re talking skiing, what’s your favorite place to ski in Colorado on a pow day?

Hard to beat Crested Butte on a Pow day. It’s rarely too crowded over there, and the Western Slope [of Colorado] actually gets steep, which is sometimes harder to find over here on the Front Range. Top tier mountain.