The Story Behind 1923 Main Street®
From Zines, Boards, and Fabric to a Board Sports Lifestyle Brand
A Brand Origin and Culture Feature by 1923 Main Street
1923 Main Street® is a travel-inspired surf, skate, and snow lifestyle brand founded by lifelong board rider, publisher, and apparel entrepreneur Mike Belobradic.
Rooted in grassroots board sports culture and professional clothing design experience, the brand blends authentic lifestyle storytelling with deep knowledge of fabric, construction, and print quality to create durable, original graphic t-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts built for movement and everyday wear.
Not a Brand, a Path
1923 Main Street may look like a modern boarding street style brand on the surface, but its roots run deep through concrete, snow, salt water, printed pages, and even fabric tables.
Before there were collections and graphics, there was a board — and the quiet, addictive pull of motion. As a boy in the late 1960s and early 1970s, founder Mike Belobradic discovered skateboarding and the kind of freedom that only comes from standing sideways and letting the world move beneath you. When snowboarding began to take shape in the late 1980s, he traded skis for a board and found a new way to chase that same feeling across frozen terrain.
The instinct to follow motion wherever it leads became the foundation of everything that followed.
The Zine that Became a Movement
In the early 1990s, long before social media feeds and digital publishing took hold, Mike launched Three Sixty Spins — a grassroots skateboard and snowboard magazine that started out as a stapled newsletter created in a downtown condo.
It was not built to be a large-scale corporate machine. It was built to connect community.
Each issue was folded, laid out, and assembled by hand. Every interview, photo, and late-night design session carried the same purpose: document the local board scene as it really was, not as it was marketed. At a time when some ski hills still refused to allow snowboarders, the magazine became a small act of rebellion and a loud expression of belonging.
What began as a local zine grew into a full-fledged publication carried in board shops across Canada, and the Western and Northeastern U.S. Even when it grew, the ethos never changed:
Editorial first. Community always.
Long before snowboarding or skateboarding were Olympic sports (and long before organized snowboarding associations ever existed), Mike and 360 Spins Magazine sponsored and supported local snow and skate competitions, giving riders a chance to shine and enjoy time together for a little “friendly” competition. Mike not only made it a mission to report on the scene, but also to support skaters and snowboarders with the reach of his publication.
That spirit would eventually find a new form: not on paper, but in fabric.
Learning Clothing from the Inside Out
Before 1923 Main Street® existed as a board sports brand, Mike started an online shop dedicated to officially-licensed graphic t-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts produced by other brands. What started as retail quickly became a hands-on education in how clothing is actually made — and what separates good construction from disposable fashion.
He learned the difference between:
Short-staple and long-staple cotton
Lightweight novelty fabric and mid-to-heavyweight cotton built to hold shape
Prints that sit on fabric versus ink that bonds into it
Seams that look clean on a hanger versus stitching that survives real wear
That experience (along with his personal experience as a rider) shaped a simple philosophy: a graphic means nothing if the shirt underneath it doesn’t last.
When 1923 Main Street® was launched as a skate, surf and snow brand, that technical knowledge became part of the brand’s DNA — influencing fabric selection, fit standards, print methods, and construction choices across every tee, hoodie, and sweatshirt.
Chasing Waves Without a Coast
Mike may live far from the ocean, but that never stopped him from paddling out.
Through the 1980s and beyond, he surfed wherever he could — from Florida to California, Hawaii to North Carolina, the shores of south Texas and points in between. He continues to do so to this day. He has never claimed to be an expert (and he ate his fair share of saltwater and sand in the early days). What mattered was (and still is) the shared experience: the quiet conversations in the lineup, the small victories of catching a wave, the sense of being part of something larger than yourself.
That same mindset shapes the brand’s approach to design: authentic, lived-in, and rooted in experience rather than image.
A Second Generation on Boards
When Mike’s daughter, Amelia, joined the brand as a design consultant, the story gained a second line.
A gifted snowboarder and skateboarder, Amelia brought her own competitive and creative energy into the brand. She has earned multiple regional gold medals as a snowboarder and was part of her high school women’s snowboarding team that claimed the top regional title. Even landlocked, she carries surf culture with her — riding waves whenever she can in Florida, California and Hawaii.
Together, they shaped 1923 Main Street® into something more than a clothing brand.
It became a shared language of movement, travel, and discovery — from one generation of board culture to the next.
Why “1923” Matters
The 1923 Main Street name is not a timestamp. It is a signal.
1923 stands as a formative year in surf history, shaped by pioneers like Duke Kahanamoku, whose influence helped carry board sports into the world we recognize today. It represents a moment when riding waves (the root of all board sports), along with snow, and concrete began to move beyond novelty and toward culture.
Main Street is the meeting point.
Not a physical address, but a shared destination — a place where surfers, skaters, snowboarders, and travelers cross paths. A digital storefront that acts like a street corner, a board shop, and a community hub rolled into one.
The Mustang Within
The 1923 Main Street® logo — Mane the mustang — is not just some random decoration. It is a metaphor.
Fast. Strong. Agile. Wild. Free.
A mustang does not follow trails. It reads the land and moves on instinct. That image reflects the brand’s view of travel and lifestyle: no fixed routes, no rigid plans, just forward motion and open space.
To wear 1923 Main Street® is to carry that symbol: not as a badge, but as a quiet reminder of speed, strength, and the freedom to roam.
The Ethos that Shapes Every Design
Boardsports First
Every graphic, fit, and fabric choice is informed by a lifetime on boards — carving snow, chasing waves, and grinding concrete.
Built to Last
Deep knowledge of cotton types, stitching, and print methods guides every construction decision, ensuring each piece holds up to real-world wear.
Unscripted Travel
The brand celebrates detours, missed turns, and stories you did not plan to tell. (The best stories are never planned in advance.)
Sustainable Spirit
A print-on-demand model reduces waste, focusing on wearing your journey, not someone else’s leftovers.
Community
From local board scenes to global travelers, the brand exists to connect people who move through the world with respect and curiosity.
Where Clothing Becomes Story
Today, the original zine energy lives on — not in stapled pages, but in graphic t-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts designed to feel personal, durable, and lived-in.
Each piece of 1923 Main Street® apparel carries both sides of the brand’s foundation: the soul of board culture and the discipline of real apparel craftsmanship.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 1923 Main Street a surf, skate, or snow brand?
It is all three. The brand is built around board sports culture as a lifestyle, not a single discipline.
Does the brand focus on quality construction?
Yes. The brand is informed by professional experience in licensed apparel retail, with deep attention to fabric weight, cotton type, stitching, and long-lasting print methods.
Why is the brand called 1923 Main Street?
1923 represents a formative era in surf history, while Main Street symbolizes a shared cultural meeting place for riders and travelers.
What does the mustang logo represent?
The mustang symbolizes freedom, movement, and strength — a metaphor for unscripted travel and board-driven lifestyle.
If you like apparel shaped by true board culture, technical craftsmanship, and unscripted roads to travel, explore how 1923 Main Street brings that story into every graphic tee, hoodie, and sweatshirt.