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KrashBear

Seventeen years of showing up.

Since 2009 the Krash Bear has stood on a medal stage in Orlando, rolled through the Colorado Rockies on a fleet of gold bikes, and turned up in silk, beads, and gold leaf. These are the people who helped put him there.

Presenting medals at the 2022 Warrior Games Orlando, 2022 The BSWANKY and KrashBear painted clutch Krash Lab, Naples Patricia Garcia III in the Turk & Turk and KrashBear gown Turk & Turk, Naples The framed Clear Creek Courant story on the Golden Bikes Idaho Springs, 2016 Santiago with Special Operations Command athletes With SOCOM, Orlando

A note from Santiago

I've been drawing this bear since 2009. Back then he lived on cycling gear. Since then he's turned up in places I never would have guessed: on a medal stage in Orlando, in the hem of a silk gown, on a race paddle, on thirty gold bikes in a little Colorado mountain town.

None of it happened because somebody wanted a logo. It happened because somebody had a good idea, or somebody needed a hand, and I said yes. That's how I've always worked. Make it honest, make it by hand when you can, and leave people better off than you found them.

These are some of the people I've been proud to build with. Thank you to every one of them. If you've got something worth building, my door is open.

Santiago Garcia III Krash Lab, Naples, Florida

Idaho Springs, Colorado, 2016

Golden Bikes

From
A Culture of Speed, the bike shop KrashBear grew up in
Made
About thirty rebuilt bikes, painted gold, free to ride
Press
Clear Creek Courant, July 20, 2016

In 2016 KrashBear was running out of A Culture of Speed, the bike shop Santiago owned on Miner Street in Idaho Springs, Colorado. Kids kept rolling in with bikes that were broken or rusted through, and plenty of them couldn't pay for the repair.

So he quit waiting on someone else to fix it. He asked local kids to bring in the broken bikes nobody wanted, rebuilt them one at a time, and sprayed every finished bike gold so there was no mistaking who it belonged to. Everybody. No sign out sheet, no real rules. If you saw a gold bike without a rider, you could jump on and go.

By the time the Clear Creek Courant ran the story, about thirty gold bikes were rolling around Idaho Springs. Santiago still keeps the clipping, framed over an old American flag.

“That riding is gold. Go ride your bike.”

Santiago Garcia III, in the Clear Creek Courant
Framed Clear Creek Courant story on the Golden Bikes fleet, with a portrait of Santiago Garcia III in his bike shop, mounted over an old American flag
Clear Creek Courant, July 20, 2016. Santiago at A Culture of Speed in Idaho Springs. Photo by Chancey Bush for The Courant.

Orlando, Florida, 2022

DoD Warrior Games × Fisher House Foundation

With
Fisher House Foundation and the Warrior Games Family Program
Gave
A large donation to keep families close to their athletes
Role
Official Family Program supporter and medal presenter

The Warrior Games bring wounded, ill, and injured service members together to compete in adaptive sports. Behind every one of those athletes is a family that carried them through recovery. The Family Program, led by Fisher House Foundation, makes sure those families are in the stands when it counts.

In 2022 KrashBear made a large donation to that program and took a spot on its official supporter board in Orlando, right alongside Fisher House, Disney, AWS, and the USO.

Then came the part no check can buy. Santiago was invited to present medals, placing them around the necks of service members who had worked their way back to that podium. One of those moments came on stage with the Special Operations Command team, their flags around their shoulders.

KrashBear still stands behind Fisher House and the Warrior Games. Orlando is where that promise got a face.

Visit DoD Warrior Games Visit Fisher House Foundation

Santiago Garcia III placing a medal on a service member on stage at the 2022 Warrior Games
Presenting medals on stage at the 2022 Warrior Games.
Official 2022 DoD Warrior Games Family Program supporter board with the Krash Bear mark among the partners
The official 2022 Family Program supporter board. Krash Bear sits in the row with Optum Serve and Under Armour.
Santiago Garcia III with Special Operations Command athletes holding the USSOCOM flag in front of the Warrior Games backdrop
With Special Operations Command athletes and their flag.
Framed thank you from Fisher House Foundation with a 2022 Warrior Games medal and the KrashBear mark on the plate
The thank you from Fisher House Foundation, with KrashBear on the plate.

Krash Lab, Naples, Florida

BSWANKY × KrashBear

With
Gretchen Bauer, founder of BSWANKY
Piece
One of one painted clutch in its own custom box
Made of
Silver holographic skin, gold leaf, gold chain
Result
Sold opening night in a silent bidding war

Gretchen Bauer makes handbags by hand in Sarasota under the BSWANKY name. The first collaboration between BSWANKY and KrashBear started with one of her clutches and a simple idea: treat the bag like a canvas.

Santiago worked straight onto the silver holographic skin with gold leaf, a scatter of navy stars, and the X eyed bear in teal and gold. It hangs from a heavy gold chain and travels in its own KrashBear box, hot pink with a black star and a gold bear on the lid.

The reveal was at Krash Lab, the Naples gallery the bear calls home. The room was packed, the white gloves came out, and the clutch went into a silent bidding war. It sold before the night was over.

That night settled something for good. The bear belongs in a couture room just as much as it belongs on a tee.

Later chapter: BSWANKY work carrying the bear was placed in the Paramount+ series Landman.

Visit BSWANKY Visit Krash Lab

The BSWANKY and KrashBear clutch in silver holographic skin with gold leaf, navy stars, and the X eyed bear, on a gold chain
The finished clutch. One of one.
A white gloved hand holding the clutch at Krash Lab, with a pink and teal Krash Bear painting on the wall behind
Opening night at Krash Lab.
Santiago Garcia III holding the custom KrashBear box beside Gretchen Bauer and the clutch's new owner
Santiago, Gretchen Bauer, and the clutch's new owner.

Naples, Florida

Turk & Turk × KrashBear

With
Ilkay Turk, cofounder and designer of Turk & Turk
Pieces
Black silk halter gown and a hand beaded clutch
Source
An original KrashBear collage canvas
Time
Nearly three years from first idea to finished gown

Ilkay Turk has been designing hand painted silk since she and her husband Rasit founded Turk & Turk in 1998. This collaboration with Santiago took almost three years from first idea to finished gown.

It started with one of his collage canvases: X eyed bears, his SG III signature, stars, and vintage labels built up in layers. That painting became the print. Ilkay cut it into a black silk halter gown, with the bears and signatures drifting down the body and the full painting gathered at the hem.

To finish it, a clutch was beaded by hand to match, carrying the same bears, the same star, and the KrashBear wordmark, with a printed dust bag of its own.

Santiago's wife, Patricia Garcia III, wore the gown in the Turk & Turk atelier while Ilkay worked the fit. Fine art on silk and beads. The bear has never been better dressed.

Visit Turk & Turk

Patricia Garcia III wearing the black silk KrashBear gown in the Turk & Turk atelier
Patricia Garcia III in the gown at the Turk & Turk atelier.
Hand beaded black clutch with two X eyed bears, a star, and the KrashBear wordmark, on its printed dust bag
The hand beaded clutch and its printed dust bag.

More of the record.

Not every collaboration needs a gallery wall. These mattered just as much.

On the water and the trail

  • USA Raft Team crest above the crossed paddles Krash Bear mark on a carbon race paddle

    USA Raft Team 2017

    Sponsored and donated to the 2017 USA men's raft team. The crossed paddles Krash Bear rode just under the team crest.

  • Bern Helmets

    Sponsored a rider.

  • Rec Pro BMX

    Supported the program with donations.

Made with makers

  • C4 Belts

    KrashBear designs made into belts.

  • Pukka

    Custom KrashBear headwear.

Close to home

Got something worth building?

I'm always up for the next one. Makers, brands, teams, causes, film and TV. If you want original KrashBear work on something real, whether that's a capsule, custom hardware, a one of one piece, a sponsorship, or art for your walls, tell me about it.

What I bring

  • Seventeen years of original work, and a bear people recognize on sight
  • Krash Lab in Naples for reveals, shows, and nights people remember
  • Follow through from the first sketch to the finished piece

What I ask

  • A real idea with a real place to live
  • Clear terms, agreed on up front
  • Respect for the bear and the causes behind it

Send me three things

  1. 1 Who you are and what you make
  2. 2 What you want to build together
  3. 3 Where it will live and when you need it
Start a conversation Or message @krashbear on Instagram