It was originally started in the 1980s by two surfers who were fed up with watch straps breaking in the water.

So it was quite fitting that Poole-based action sports brand Animal turned to three more athletes for its latest clothing collection.

Dirt jumper Blake Samson, mountain biker Martyn Ashton and professional surfer Alan Stokes are all sponsored by Animal and part of the team which tries and tests all new products.

The 2014 Rider Series draws inspiration from the trials and tribulations of the three pro-riders and, in current British champion Alan’s case, “a bunch of cool photos from all my years’ travelling”.

Blake described the experience as “a dream come true”.

He added: “Being part of everything from the picking of fabric, colours, design and look was perfect. Sitting down with the guys in the design office and working through the whole process of my series was a great experience and a great insight into what goes on behind the scenes.

“The most challenging part of the process was making something different and unique. Something that I would always wear and what others would like to wear riding and casually.

“My inspiration for my range has to be colours which helped to create my two unique hoodies. I will definitely be rocking these with my ‘Riding Dirty’ T-Shirt.

“If it’s a hot one this summer, my two striped tees and skinny denim shorts will be up there as well.”

The design process has clearly been a highlight in Blake’s seven years of riding for Animal.

He said: “I will never look back or change anything. It’s been seven years of rad times.”

“Life live now” is the motto by which Alan Stokes goes, and the phrase was also the inspiration for his capsule collection – along with those photos.

“I was out in Mexico filming for our StRaNGe Beautiful LIFE series, I was writing the article to go out with the film and I have this Live Life Now thing banging around in my head,” he says of his involvement in the 2014 collection.

“Then a week or two later the design team asked me if I wanted to get involved with the design of some summer clothes and it all kind of fitted into place quite naturally from there.”

He admitted the hardest part was narrowing down the images he wanted to use, but added it was interesting to get the insight into the design process.

“I found the whole thing really rewarding,” he added.

“The line has a cool message, so I’m stoked on it. I think with all the techno jargon going on in people’s heads in their laptops or looking at their phones, life seems to be passing them by... so that was my angle I guess.

“I think it’s so important to stay present in what is happening now, it’s hard enough with just your thoughts, but now with all this technology around us it’s easy to be more entertained by someone else’s Instagram picture, you know? You have to stay present.”

  • animal.co.uk