SKATER SNEAKER CULTURE, A REAL TREND BRAND

• Skateboarding
• fashion
• trend
• sneakers
• skateability

There was no need for shoes back then but, as the skate swell grew, so did the need for actual footwear. Indeed, the traction of rubber certainly came in handy, and durability and “skateability” became crucial factors in footwear choice for pros and casual cruisers alike.

However, skateboarding experienced its most innovative period during the 1980s, where companies of the like of Vision Street Wear, Etnies and Vans, attempting to meet the demands of skateboarders, started to realize high-cut pro models, such as the “Natas Kaupas Pro” or the  “Steve Caballero Pro”.

It’s during the same decade that we saw the rise in prominence of the infamous “Air Jordan 1” inside skateboarding circles, loved for its availability and because it one of the most affordable and durable in time. We had to wait until 1997 to get the first air-infused cushioning system in a skate shoe. The new absorption system technology was introduced by Eric Koston’s first pro model with éS Footwear, namely the “Koston 1”.

In the first years of the new millennium new upgrades were created but, even if they had a huge aesthetic impact, they were not so beneficial for actual skating. Thus the tech started disappearing from the exteriors and began manifesting in the interiors.It was at this point that Nike SB emerged and became stuff of legend within sneaker circles, introducing new innovations like Zoom, Lunarlon soles, Hyperfuse and Flyknit. 

More recently, the “Hyperfeel” technology has been developed from Nike specifically for skateboarding, and some affirm that it could be the closest thing to skating barefoot since the 50s.

There is a moral in this story: if you also love to "surf the sidewalk" in the best and most stylish way, you cannot fail to take care of your sneakers too.