The End of Little Devil?

In the early 1990’s, a new BMX clothing company made its debut under the name Little Devil. The company was founded by Pennsylvania’s Derek Adams, and what began as a print shop in a basement evolved into one of the most important brands in BMX. The shirt designs were fun and cool, and the Little Devil team produced some of the most important videos in the history of BMX (“Seek & Destroy” and “Criminal Mischief”).

Rumors began circulating earlier this year that the Little Devil brand may be closing down so that Derek and his business partner Mike Clarke could focus on Orchid Footwear. Rather than publish any rumors, we talked to Derek to see exactly what’s up with the Devil.

First a little history. When/why/how/where did you start Little Devil?
Little Devil started in 1995 as a part-time T-shirt printing operation in my grandfather's basement. I didn't get that many printing jobs, so I started making my own designs as well. That was more fun anyway, so I focused on custom designs until eventually that's all I was doing. I already rode, so that's where the BMX connection came from. I would take shirts to the trails in a backpack and sell them to anybody who'd buy one for ten bucks. "All right, I'll take eight bucks, I need pizza money."

Over the past few months there have been rumors of Little Devil closing down. Can you explain what's going on right now? Why are you closing that chapter now, and what led you to that decision?
Rumors are for schoolgirls. Basically, Mike [Clarke] and I decided that we wanted to focus our efforts on one brand instead of two or more, like we've done for the past few years. Twice the brands mean twice the work and twice the expense, but not necessarily twice the profits. We wanted to make things simpler instead of always thinking "bigger is better." Right now we have a "less is more" mentality. So Little Devil is getting put on the back burner at the end of this year, our 13th anniversary. It seems fitting. We've done everything I ever dreamed of with L.D., so I feel like we can give it a rest for a while. Orchid is more exciting for me now because there's still a lot I want to do with it. It seems like uncharted territory. I like doing shoes and we make Orchid clothing, too, so our hands are still pretty full.

Is your plan now to focus 100% on Orchid?
Yes, definitely. A better focus is the plan. Besides, BMX is over-saturated with brands right now anyway. Everyone else is adding a second or third brand. I'm probably doing us all a favor by cutting back.

The Little Devil name is catchy and you have had many designs that would appeal to the mainstream. Did you ever think about selling the brand?
Not very seriously. I'd be afraid to see what kind of bastardized version of the original it might become. With a name like Little Devil I could see it going really wrong. I'm going to hang on to the name and do some fun stuff, like re-issue some old T-shirts. I'm not trying to kill the Devil. I just want to do something different after 13 years.

Didn't you guys also move recently?
Yeah, we moved everything to a new spot. We rented a big garage down the street from my house that's way cheaper than our old warehouse. Cheap is good. Our new phone number is (610) 831-2244.

Little Devil has had a few great ramp setups over the years. How important were the ramps to Little Devil, and your sanity?
Good for my sanity in the winter, but it was also insane paying that much rent. We were paying $2,500 a month for the ramp space alone, which sounds crazy, but that's also the cost of a full-page ad in a bike magazine. When I think of it that way, I'd rather have the ramp any day. But the ramp was basically a Little Devil advertising write-off, so it had to go away to keep expenses in line. I will miss it; I loved riding that place. We still have trails for the summer but I'll have to travel a bit more to ride in the winter...and snowboard more.

Looking back over the history of Little Devil, what are some things you are particularly proud of?
I guess the fact that we did everything on our own terms and somehow managed to make it work. I mean, I could still be cleaning doggie doo-doo at a pet store like I did before L.D.

Are there any things you wished you had done differently?
Number one, I definitely wouldn't parody any more "Hell's Angels" T-shirts. You don't want an angry call from some dude named "Chopper." Obviously we've made some mistakes, but we were learning as we went along. Just winging it, no business training or anything. One day Mike and I were talking about what we'd do differently if we could start over. That conversation lead us to thinking about really starting over with Orchid as the center of attention, and now we're doing it.

Of all the shirt designs Little Devil has done, which has been the most popular in BMX? Why do you think it was that design?
I don't even know. Maybe "I love your mom." It was so dumb that people couldn't help but laugh. That shirt just wouldn't die, as much as I wanted it to. But it was paying rent so I couldn't really complain.

Who are some people who played important parts in Little Devil that you'd like to shout out?
My grandfather, Mike Clarke, Van Homan, my family, friends, anyone who's ever worked or ridden for us, people in the industry who've helped us out, our dealers, distributors, and manufacturers. Last but not least, anyone who's ever bought anything from us. I appreciate all the support.

Do you have any big plans for Orchid moving forward?
I wouldn't say "big plans", but I do think Orchid will get more awesome because it will get more attention now. We'll see what happens.


Little Devil's Derek Adams throws down a wall-tap at the last Little Devil/Orchid ramp. Photo by Bob Myers