Antiz

Antiz runs out of Lyon and has spent more than twenty years doing exactly what it wants: boards, clothing and videos, off a tiny structure with no interest in getting bigger. The company behind it, Iron Distribution, is filed in the French business register with an incorporation date of 1 December 2002 and Julien Bachelier as manager, though the brand itself puts the start a year earlier. From their own blog in 2010: “basically we start with nothing in 2001, and we still have nothing in 2010, but so much fun all along the way.” The office and warehouse sit on rue Eugène Pons, in Lyon’s 4th arrondissement.

History

The first full-length is Antizipated, filmed over roughly two years by Love Eneroth, Julien Bachelier, Ben Thé, Julian Furones, Julian Dykmans, Steve Forstner and Hugo Liard. The world premiere was on 27 March 2004 in Lyon, and the tour carried on through Paris, Chelles and Brussels, with a German premiere on 9 April at the Blueshell in Cologne and a final stop in Montpellier. It only ever came out on DVD. Z-Movie followed in 2007, and in 2011 came OAF (The Occasional Antiz Flashback), the third full-length, with parts from Hugo Liard, Julian Dykmans, Gabriel Engelke, Steve Forstner, Julien Bachelier, Julian Furones, Michel Mahringer, Samu Karvonen, Sam Partaix and Aaron Sweeney. When the brand hit ten years the blog marked it in typical fashion: nobody could remember exactly when Antiz had started, so they decided that year would be the anniversary. The output hasn’t slowed since — Out Of The Blue and Into The Van (2015), Echoes From The Road (2018), Breaking Point (2019), Via Baltica and Healthcare (2020), Puta Calor (2022), Festen (2023) and Samantha (2024).

The team

The roster listed on the brand’s own site is almost entirely European: Samuel Partaix, Samu Karvonen, Roland Hirsch, Peter Molec, Uryann Raudet, Thanos Panou, Robin Bolian, Yeelen Moens, Pepe Tirelli, Joel Juuso, André Gerlich, Bjarne Tjøtta and Marco Kada. Bolian turned pro in May 2018, with a board launch in Lyon. The videos are always the same hands: Alberto Della Beffa filming, French Fred editing.

The boards

Antiz makes boards and clothing, and not much else. When Le Progrès visited the Lyon workshop in March 2024, the photo caption said it best: Bachelier finishes every deck by hand once it comes off the press. Orders go out worldwide — the paper lists customers from Bulgaria to Ivory Coast by way of Malta — from a unit where a Tuesday morning means two people and coffee. On the collab side, the standouts are the Carhartt WIP capsules and the shared project with Death Skateboards, It Was Supposed To Be Fun (2015).

Who it’s for

If you want a small European brand with a short catalogue and graphics that look like nobody else’s, Antiz fits. If you’re after one very specific shape or a cheap entry-level deck, look elsewhere. Line it up against the rest in the deck catalog and in the European brands guide.