NANO NÓBREGA grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, the 3rd largest metropolis in the world and a major international surf/skate hub. In this electric environment he grew up chasing waves and skateboarding but somehow knew his destiny was in California. 

In his mid 20’s he shoved off for SoCal and enrolled in a multi-media and design program at Platt College in San Diego. After graduation he entered the world of skate, snowboard and surf design where he elevated himself to the top of the industry, working with legends such as Mark McKee, Bod Boyle and Steve Douglas, creating innovative works for companies such as World Industries, Blind Skateboards and eventually co-founding the lifestyle skate brand Dusters California, curating collections such as The Doors, Jimi Hendrix andThe EndlessSummer, where he met John Van Hamersveld.

From the moment Van Hamersveld began collaborating with Nóbrega for hisEndless Summer tribute board, he had the idea– “talk to Tourjé.” Van Hamersveld would nudge Tourjé over weeks to call Nóbrega and he finally did, coincidentally on Nóbrega’s birthday. Perhaps that was an omen, because it marked the beginning of a constant collaboration going strong ever since in order to upend the status quo of the typical “skate brand” by bringing highly evolved, museum grade fine art to skateboard design. And not the cliché Warhol images plastered to the bottom of street decks to be overpriced and sold in museum stores. The idea was to integrate the designs throughout the completed boards as well – boards, wheels, trucks, grip tape – from the top to the bottom. And thus was born a new idea – call it the “art and culture” brand of the California Locos. With this new idea came sold-out collections with the OG Locos, Robert Williams, Mister Cartoon and most recently with Rick Griffin which has set the high-level direction they are now on.

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Robert and Susan Williams alongside Locos’s founder Dave Tourjé and creative director Nano Nóbrega.

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