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• News

Billy Marks’ Sock Ad

Toy Machine pro Billy Marks has a video posted on toymachine.com, advertising how the new Sect Eye Socks can help you kickflip roast-beef grab street gaps.

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• March 20 2009 | 366 views

• Features

Five Small Business Tips For Surviving The Economy

In case you didn’t know, the economy still sucks. Everyone’s affected, from big business all the way down to the individual. But there’s opportunity to be found, particularly in small business.

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• March 19 2009 | 1,026 views | 1 comment

• News

LOCAL NEWS: Vista Plans For New Skatepark

Just months after tearing down its only skatepark to make room for a new civic center, Vista, California is planning a new one.

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• March 16 2009 | 150 views

• Features

Register Now For IASC’s Skate Summit 2009

The second annual Skate Industry Summit is happening April 1-3, at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California. Register HERE before it fills up!

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• March 12 2009 | 101 views

• Uncategorized

2009 Fall Footwear Trends: High-Tops, Sky-Tops, Collabs & Reissues

In the wake of a sparse trade-show season, there is a silver lining to the economic cloud we’re all too sick of talking about: people still need shoes. That much is certain. More so than trucks or bearings, skaters and non-skaters still need shoes. Last year there was a big focus on paring down the bulk—shedding unnecessary padding, weight, and accoutrement. Basically, shoes went on the Atkins diet, resulting in shoes like the Dekline Minus 150 tech; Globe’s Lutzka pro model, the Culprit; and éS’ The Breeze.

Eco-friendly shoes were also a big concern a year ago, but this season concern for Mother Earth seems to be taking a backseat to this year’s trend—a throwback to high-tops and, in some cases, sky-tops. These, along with the usual collabs and reissues, are what’s lining shoe walls for back-to-school.

Mid-Tops And Higher
A glance into any skate shop these days will tell you that mid-tops are hot. That’s no surprise. And because we are skateboarders, it should also not surprise you that high-tops, and even sky-tops are coming down the production line. When baggy pants got popular, we ended up with size 40s. When little wheels were the rage, we got as small as 38mm. Will someone create the world’s first knee-high skate boot? Possibly.

Supra is one of the brands on the forefront of the mid-top and higher trend. Jim Greco has two high-top pro models—the Thunder and the Suprano Hi. Erik Ellington has a mid, and both Muska and Terry Kennedy have sky-tops. “I will say as far the sky-top trend, we’ve found it’s not really about being a sky-high high-top, it’s more the shoe’s design, appeal, and great colorways that keep it hot,” explains Supra’s Shad Lambert.

“We’ve had other high-tops that didn’t really take off. At first everyone told Muska and Supra designer Josh Brubaker that the sky-top was too crazy and wouldn’t sell, but they had a vision that really worked out.” And though there are only a few brands that actually have sky-tops ready for Fall ’09, there are multiple brands planning, or at least considering them for future releases.

Almost every company has at least a couple offerings of mid-tops in their line. Osiris has long had the Chino (formerly Jerry Hsu’s pro model), and it’s still selling strong. They’ve also introduced the debut model for Shuriken Shannon.

Collabs
The collaboration trend has been hitting pretty hard for the past few years, and the Fall ’09 lines are no different. It’s caught on in skateboarding so heavily because it’s mutually beneficial. It gives exposure to two brands at once. Take the etnies and Black Label collab. The shoe is The Perro, and it’s etnies/Label pro Kyle Leeper’s debut shoe (see “Debut Pros” sidebar). Another good example this season is with DVS and LRG pro Chico Brenes. “Our latest collab is all about Chico and his affiliations with our friends at LRG as well as his long history here at DVS,” says DVS Product Line Manager Craig Chimile. “Collaboration projects like these give us a great opportunity to work with unique brands while cross promoting riders and product.” A lot of the time it exposes our customers to a different demographic, and vice versa. And in a way, that’s really something skateboarding seems to have that not a lot of other industries have—the ability to work together like that.

Another version of the collaboration is to introduce a person or brand from the fringe of skateboarding, or even far away from it. Oftentimes brands will collaborate with artists or bands that have ties, or are influential to skating somehow. DC is offering one this season—the Josh Kalis pro model with hip-hop artist Jeru The Damaja.

Emerica has another band collab coming out, with the band Earthless. Former Alva pro Mario Rubalcaba plays drums in the band, and they’ve been a big hit among skaters—particularly the Emerica crew. “At Emerica, we concentrate mostly on endemic skateboarding collabs that are a bit different or unexpected,” explains Brand Manager Timothy Nickloff, “and music is a new territory for us. We are all down with Mario, and this particular music collaboration really fits the brand.”

Technology
Of course, each season companies introduce new ways to build the better skate shoe, and this fall is no different. Gravis is working on a waxed cotton-canvas upper. “It’s a favorite of the pro team,” says Gravis’ Fabrice Le Det. “We are also bringing to the market a new Poron impact-absorption material in the Viking series. The cushion from impact is improved by 30 percent with this material.”

Sole Technology is one of the brands that has been developing new techs for the past several years. System G2 Platinum and e-Suede are their newest releases. G2 Platinum combines their existing G2 gel with a mesh found in bulletproof vests to help dissipate impact. “When sudden impacts occur, the mesh becomes rigid and spreads the force across a larger area to help absorb and distribute the impact,” explains etnies’ Ashton Maxfield. “After the force has been dissipated the mesh becomes soft and flexible again.” The e-Suede is infused with an oil to help reduce friction and prevent ollie holes in the toe.

Nike 6.0 is using tech to continue the eco-friendly trend with the Braata, a new shoe that’s an alternative to a vulcanized slip-on. “The cold wrap construction process reduces the use of harmful solvents and enables a built-in midsole for additional cushioning, comfort and support,” says 6.0’s PR Manager Sierra Domaille. Whether it’s making the shoes lighter, stronger, or softer (for your feet), almost every brand out there is striving to build the better shoe. Technology will never go out of style.

Reissues
Another trend that’s continuing on is the “old is the new new” mantra of reissued shoes. Last year, Lakai brought the Koston One back from the grave, and this year they brought back the Staple. “We couldn’t ignore the message boards any longer,” says Lakai Brand Manager Kelly Bird.

Fellow Podium brand DVS is wise to the reissue game, with a nod to longtime DVS pro Keith Hufnagel. “My first shoe at DVS was a mid, and it was done at a time when nobody was offering a mid-top. The new spin on the Huf 3 is a great throwback to my history with DVS. It’s a classic skate shoe that will still look good for years to come.” It’s not really surprising that Hufnagel was onto a hot trend before it hit, when you consider he runs three skate-shoe boutiques.

Another shoe that’s been anxiously awaited is the Emerica OG One. It’s not technically a “reissue,” but it bears a close resemblance to the first Marc Johnson model. Johnson has since moved on to Lakai, so the MJ1 became the OG One.

Of course, most if not all of these reissues aren’t exact replicas—it would be a shame to ignore all the technical enhancements of today that weren’t around ten or fifteen years ago. If you tried to jump down some stairs in the actual shoes of yesteryear, your feet would not let you forget it. Case in point, Nike SB brought back The Bruin. “It’s another shoe from the company’s history that people used to skate in, says Nike SB’s Kevin Imamura. “YouTube ‘Gino Iannucci’—he’s worn a pair or two. It’s low to the ground, it feels good. Put a Zoom Air bag in there and you’re good to go.”

Brand loyalty is sadly scarce in the world of professional skateboarding, but this year marks the twentieth anniversary of Steve Caballero’s first shoe with Vans, the Full Cab. To celebrate this, Vans is re-releasing the shoe as the Caballero Pro in the original red and black colorways—a shoe that’s had the staying power, and a skater whose loyalty is a testament to his legendary status. The Caballero Pro even comes with a dotted line inside the ankle to show where to cut the shoe in order to make the Half Cab. Congrats Vans and Steve, three cheers for longevity. And feel free to chalk up the popularity of the mid-top to this shoe while you’re at it.

Retail
Of course, all the hard work put into tech, collabs, and aesthetics is just marketing theory until it hits the streets.  If the retailers are into it and the kids are into it, it’s a success. Not surprisingly, the retailers are asking for mid-tops, high-tops, and sky-tops. John Turnbull is the footwear buyer for Ambush skate shop and buyskateshoes.com, and he’s well aware of the rising demand (sorry about the crappy pun). “Sky-tops kill it,” he says. “The new Terry Kennedy shoe, the Society, is already being asked about along with Greco’s pro model, the Thunder. Supra is hot shit right now, homey.” Turnbull feels that the look of a shoe is the factor that trumps unique features. “All I care about is aesthetics,” he says. “People want a good skate shoe, but people will skate anything that looks good even if it sucks and kills their feet.”

He does continue to say that technology is also important, citing eS’ The Breeze as a shoe that comes out for ’Spring 09 that he’s excited about. “Another good one is the [DC] PJ Ladd, [it] has a boutique look because it’s all leather, but it has some serious components and should last for quite a while.”

Most retailers cite all the usual suspects, that range across the board—Fallen, Emerica, Lakai, C1RCA, Vans—and the list goes on, depending on the shop. But Nike still stands out both in their SB and 6.0 lines. When asked what he looks for in his shoe buy, Skate Lair in Enfield, Connecticut’s Erik Munday says, “If it’s got a Swoosh or not—whatever program that ain’t whored out in bulk to the malls.”

In San Diego, Black Wax’s Mike Page says the obvious trends are what’s hitting. “Vulcanized is still going strong, although I like to get mid-tops from AOs after I hear what the kids are saying on the streets. Fallen and Emerica sell well all day!”

In Massachusetts, Concrete Wave’s Brian Hansen confirms the popularity of vulcs and high-tops: “Vulcs started selling slower here than West Coast and kicked in good last summer and for the future we see.”
We have yet to see the world’s first sky-top collaboration shoe that’s been reissued and infused with tech, but looking at the trends of today, that shoe might not be too far off.

For a detailed look at Fall 2009 footwear, check out the online preview HERE.

adamsullivan

• March 12 2009 | 2,559 views | 1 comment