For many decades, skateboarders have been rebels and renegades using duct tape to keep shoes on our feet and wearing ragged t-shirts with a pair of jeans ripped to the skin from riding rough terrain. The closest we came to a shopping spree was going to the thrift store for the $5 special where you could cram as many ugly plaid shorts and vintage t-shirts as you could find into a brown paper grocery bag.
Our old Alva t-shirts and Dogtown hoodies are never quite retired. Instead, they are handed down from big brothers and sisters to little brothers and sisters like badges of honor to the next generation. Zorlac printed graphics on hand-me-down shirts from the second-hand shops, and those of us lucky enough to get one, still hold onto them like hidden treasures.
Being in the skate army is a dirty business. If you’re doing it right, the filth and crud from the streets, pools and ramps is layers deep. Muck and slime from bucketing a pool is a source of pride and a job well done. Torn tees and permanent stains are just visual residuals of skateboarding stories to be shared for a lifetime – and fashion was the last thing on our minds.
Yet, as time rolls on, things change, we’re being told, and the news of Supreme, which started out as a New York City skate shop, now being valued at one billion dollars, has almost everyone on the planet frothing to get a piece of the ‘skate fashion’ pie.
For additional proof that the world has tilted a little further off its axis, yesterday’s headlines blared, “Culture juggernaut Hypebeast takes a majority stake in The Berrics to make skating huge again (still)”…
Is skateboarding a fashion or does history in fact repeat itself? In order to try to find the answer, we decided to take a closer look at “skate fashion” at a VIP party for the launch of the Skateboard Museum Berlin’s new book, “Skateboarding Is Not A Fashion” that took place on January 18th in downtown LA.
We rolled out to the party with Jeff Ho, not really knowing what to expect. Unfortunately, we still can’t tell you much about the book because we have not seen it yet, but we can tell you this…
Jeff Ho, founder of Zephyr, one of the longest running surf/skate companies in the business, said, “We always wore Vans shoes, Levi’s jeans and Zephyr t-shirts and that’s what I still wear to this day.”
Jeff Ho, Shota Kubo, Christian Hosoi, Ivan Hosoi. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
As we tried to figure out some way to bring you coverage of this soiree, we decided the only question of the night had to be a parody of the red carpet fashion awards shows we have seen on TV: “Who are you wearing tonight?” Hence our video of the night’s events.
Filming by Dan Levy. Editing by Landon Hale.
When we arrived at the gallery, we saw Craig Stecyk looking as lost as we were, as his eyes glazed over seemingly unfocused at the sights unfolding. As we entered the bowels of the Avenue des Arts, we found a panel discussion underway featuring Christian Hosoi in a pink Fedora while Tony Alva made his fashion statement in a YSL pink blazer, as they offered opinions of the collision of skateboarding and fashion.
C.R. Stecyk III. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
When we posed our “Who are you wearing tonight?” question to some of our favorite humans, Shepard Fairey proudly showed off his Obey jacket and jeans and Stooges t-shirt, and we were inspired by his good sense of humor. As Shepard says, “I got most of this free. It always looks better when it’s free.”
Tony Alva and Shepard Fairey. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
As we made our way through the gallery filled with monstrous photo reproductions of some of the legends of skateboarding flanked by eerie mannequins dressed in old skate gear, we were reassured to find surfer/skater/lifer, “Slappy” wearing a Marshall amps t-shirt straight from the U.K., and Skateboarding Hall of Famer, Laura Thornhill-Caswell holding court happily attired in Walmart garb.
Juergen Blumlein and Laura Thornhill Caswell. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
We are stoked to report that not much has really changed in “skateboarding fashion” and most of the skateboarders in the room had on a variety of well-worn skate shoes, simple t-shirts and jeans with the random Suicidal Tendencies patch thrown in for good measure.
Dirk Vogel, Kevin Imamura, Alex Olson, Mackenzie Eisenhouer, Shota Kubo, Vern Laird. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
One of the highlights of the night was when we found Dave Hackett rocking a classic Led Zeppelin t-shirt and his traditional black leather jacket, while admitting that he may not be able to ollie two inches, but he can still slash your face off!
As we reflected on the evening, and discussed the fact that Gucci’s parent company now owns Volcom, and private equity giant, The Carlyle Group, now owns Supreme, while Quiksilver a.k.a. Boardriders is buying Billabong after its disastrous run on the New York Stock Exchange, we have to wonder to when everyone will remember that history inevitably DOES repeat itself…
So hang onto your vintage t-shirts and ripped jeans. Now we have to go find some duct tape for our shoes. Skate tuff.
Steve Olson and Tony Alva. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Ethan White, George Wilson, Zannah and Dave Hackett, Jay Smith, Jeff Ho, Cris Dawson. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Jeff Ho, Shota Kubo, Christian Hosoi, Ivan Hosoi. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Salba and Olson. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
C.R. Stecyk III, Shepard Fairey, Jeff Ho. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Alex Olson and Shota Kubo. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
The 1975 Zephyr Competition Team. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Dave Hackett, Paul Constantineau, Steve Olson. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Dirk Vogel, Tony Alva, Juergen Blumlein, Christian Hosoi and Mackenzie Eisenhouer. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Jay Adams. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
C.R. Stecyk III, Shepard Fairey and Jeff Ho. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Steve Olson and Steve Olson. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Cris Dawson, Paul Constantineau, Jeff Ho, Tony Alva, Robert Vargas, Rachael Anne and Matthew Rainwater. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Christian Hosoi and Shota Kubo. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Jeff Ho, Christian Hosoi, Shota Kubo, George Wilson, Robert Vargas, Ivan Hosoi. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Steve Olson and Alex Olson. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Retro skate fashion. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Shepard Fairey, Dan Levy, Christian Hosoi. Photo by Mackenzie Eisenhouer
Tony Alva and Shepard Fairey. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Ivan Hosoi and C.R. Stecyk III. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
C.R. Stecyk III, Dan Levy, Shepard Fairey, and Jeff Ho. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Tony Alva, Juergen Bluemlein and C.R. Stecyk III. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Shota Kubo with a Glen E. Friedman photo of his dad, Shogo Kubo. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Laura Thornhill and Shepard Fairey. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Robert Vargas, Kristy Van Doren, Dan Levy, Christian Hosoi, Ivan Hosoi. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Steve Olson and Shota Kubo. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Ethan White, David Hackett, Christian Hosoi and George Wilson. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Steve Olson. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Paul Constantineau. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Kevin Imamura and Atiba Jefferson. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Paul Constantineau and Shota Kubo. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Tony Converse. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Kevin Imamura and Alex Olson. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Sean Cliver, Marc McKee, Tobin Yelland. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Mackenzie Eisenhouer, Dan Levy, Jaime Owens. Photo by Jeff Ho © Juice Magazine
Christian Hosoi and Shota Kubo. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Cierra Xavier, Michelle Corona, Kathy Miranda of Vans. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Robert Vargas, Laura Thornhill Caswell, Edie Robertson, and Jeff Ho. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Jeff Ho, Christian Hosoi, Shota Kubo, George Wilson, Robert Vargas, Ivan Hosoi. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
Mannequins rocking retro skate fashion. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
The Hubers. Photo by Dan Levy © Juice Magazine
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