Tag: lakai

For a lot of people, Tony Hawk was the first real skater they have heard of, and to see that he is still around and just coming out with a new shoe is bringing us a lot of hope (at least for the 30+ crowd). A very classy Crailtap production with a good sense of humor and a high entertainment factor. They even found Animal Chin in this one!

I guess we do not have to worry about a next generation. These kids are wild:

“FTC team riders Nico Hiraga, Tafari Whitter, and Jonathan Perez were hand picked by Mike Carroll years ago to represent Lakai up in The City. The three have grown into their own, and been putting on for FTC and Lakai hard over the past few years, and this Holiday season our latest collaboration with the legendary San Francisco skateshop is based on these three Bay Area young bucks. The Lakai X FTC Holiday Collaboration features an Owen updated with our popular VLK sole. The Owen VLK was given to Nico, Tafari, and Jonathan for each of them to color up, and give some personality to. We sent the three their shoes to test in the rough streets of San Francisco.”

Behind each and every brand, there is always a brand director. A person who gets the last word on approval to make sure that everything stays in balance. To make sure that quality levels are kept up and every release builds a coherent brand identity. This column is about showcasing those people – and their brands, of course. We want to give you a look behind closed doors, a peep trough the keyhole, or simply, a “Behind The Scenes” of international skateboard companies that we here at PLACE really like.

For starters, here is England’s Isle Skateboards, run by Nick Jensen sitting in London, and Paul Shier with his office in Los Angeles, just to be as close as possible to the skateboard industry’s capital of the world. Small European skateboard companies are experiencing a Golden Age at the moment and everybody seems to want a piece of the pie. Isle Skateboards are ahead of their time and their boards even still look great after you skated them. Here’s the inside scoop on how they do it.

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Can you tell me about the first time you met [Isle co-founder] Paul Shier?
I remember when I met him at South Bank, but for me the most memorable early encounter was on the first Blueprint tour I ever went on. I was listening to his amazing stories while sitting in the back of the van. I thought he had already had such an adventurous life, and I wanted to have similar experiences… well most of them, ha ha!

With Paul and you both living in different cities, how do you manage to create a productive workflow and dividing tasks?
We also work with Chris Aylen and the company is split. Chris lives in London as well, so we work together and discuss our art direction with Shier, who is the boss man. He is in charge of running the brand production, distribution, sales and social media.

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I could see different time zones being a hindrance when a deadline approaches.
The time zone thing is fine, we know that at around 3 p.m. in Los Angeles, which is 11 p.m. GMT, Shier will be on the emails. It’s probably actually a blessing, because you always have room to breathe. You’re not always engrossed in endless phone calls and text messages about small details, we make bolder and more confident decisions this way.

Can you tell us a bit about your daily routine with you being a professional skater, fine artist, and business owner – and the way you balance those activities.
I go through different stages, but I try and paint four days a week and skate after I finish, and on weekends. Then I do chunks of Isle work that I take out of my painting routine.

You have an MA in Fine Arts, so I can imagine this has had a big influence on the way you view “skate art”?
I mean, I have always been drawn to painting, and so I guess I have spent a lot of time engaging with that world, which has a life and a history of its own. I like skate art, I mean everything has its place and context.

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Do you view your fine art work is separate from your Isle work, or does the work intertwine, if not on a visual level possibly on a conceptual level?
I don’t really see a link between my art work and the work Chris Aylen and I develop for the graphics. I cannot deny that they come from a similar interest in sculptural spaces, however, I think they are more like my Alias, a way to explore other ideas in a more fun and light-hearted manner.

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At the same time, lot of the videos, graphics and ad layouts you’re putting out seem to be influenced by fine and conceptual art. Can you tell us a bit about those influences?
We are definitely informed by the language and presentation of contemporary art. Installing our sculptural works next to white backgrounds is a conscious nod to the gallery wall. There is a conceptual element to our board series’ as well. The “Push/Pull” ones liken the simplest of opposites with the everyday motions of a skateboarder. There are also biographical links in all our boards, you can sense the skaters’ personality and character through their graphics.

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by Roland Hoogwater
Photos: Sam Ashley/Isle

I first became aware of a Robbin’s skating when he was little, on a Dutch skateboard forum. Here was this young kid with the user name “Robbin Reynolds” posting clips of himself trying frontside flips like “The Boss” at his local spots in Haastrecht.

Everybody knows a kid who likes a company or pro skater so much that he wants to dress and skate like them. But the first time I met Robbin, he clearly had his own style and bag of tricks and on top of that, he was a super nice guy – but it’s been a while since we last talked to each other. And it’s safe to say that Robbin’s skating has made a lot of progress since we last met. Some of you might have seen him skating in the Bombaklats video, or the Rotterdam scene article.

At this point, Robbin has some great skate companies backing him, names like Girl, Lakai, Thunder and Bones to name just a few. With a new Bombaklats video on the way, I thought it would be nice to catch up have a little Small Talk with Robbin de Wit.

Robbindewitt

Words: Roland Hoogwater; Photos: Hendrik Herzmann (BS Bluntslide in Den Haag)

Hey Robbin, how are you doing?

I’m doing fine, how are you?

I’m doing great, I was thinking we could do an interview for Place Magazine.

Yeah, man that would be sick! Do you think they’ll be down to do an interview with a Dutch guy? Isn’t it a German magazine?

Well I’m also Dutch and the magazine is in English now.

Haha, that’s true. I’m always down to do something so let’s do it!

Are you still working at [Dutch distribution company] Hardcore Supplies?

Yes, I’m still working there about three-to-four days a week and I’m skating in my free time.

Have you been going on a lot of trips?

I just came back from a Bombaklats filming trip. We had this idea to skate all these cities in the Netherlands we normally wouldn’t skate.

Sounds like a great idea. How are things going with Lakai?

Great! I love skating for them, I like the shoes, and they have been supporting me for a long time now. It’s a bit of shame that Sylvain and Karsten aren’t skating for them anymore. No bad feelings though, they got there own thing going on now.

For people who might not know, can you explain what Bombaklats is ‘cause it’s not just a skate video right?

No, it’s a group of friends that skate and live in and around Rotterdam. Actually it came from my friend Ali. When he would land a good trick, he would always say “Bombaklats!”

Bombaklats video part:

I also started to see some Bombaklats hoodies and shirts popping up in footage. What’s going on with that?

Yeah, we made some of that stuff to get people hyped on our projects. It’s just some stuff for the crew to wear.

It seems like Bombaklats has been growing and people outside of the Netherlands are starting to take more notice.

Yeah, since the video came out people are really starting to take notice of what we are doing.

I recently saw you skating the Berrics as well. How did that happen?

After Bombaklats was all done, I went to visit Sewa [Kroetkov] in LA, and he took us out skating. One of the visits was to the Berrics and that’s how I ended up in one of their clips.

I heard you met the Sabotage crew when you were over there?

I was skating a spot in LA, and they saw my Bombaklats shirt. The guys recognized me and they were hyped – so I gave them a copy of the video.

Did you ever considering moving away from the Netherlands like Sewa?

I have thought about it. Budgets can be a lot bigger in other countries and that can help you as a skater. At the same time look at people like Daan van der Linden and Nassim, they are really making it work!

So you just came back from a filming trip – does this mean that you are working on a new project?

Yes, we also finished this Rotterdam scene article for Kingpin. And now we are working on a new Bombaklats video. It’s going to be between twenty and thirty minutes long, and I’m filming a full part for that right now.

Nice! Do you know when the new Bombaklats video is coming out?

I don’t know the exact date, but soon, this year for sure.

Thanks for the Small Talk, Robbin.

Find more “Smalltalk” here.

Anfang des Monats, frisches Geld auf dem Konto und keine Ahnung wofür du es ausgeben sollst – wir hätten hier 10 brandheiße Items für euch, die es wert sind von den Stangen der Shops gerissen zu werden.

cleptomanicx-pyra-shirt
Cleptomanicx – Pyra Shirt – 29,90 Euro

NikeSB-PaulRodriguezCTDMid Kopie
Nike SB – Paul Rodriguez CTD Mid – 99,90 Euro

Spitfire-Classic Kopie
Spitfire Wheels – Classic 53mm – 41,90 Euro

quiet-life
The Quiet Life – 2 Faced Jackson Crew Neck – 70,00 Dollar

huf-plantlife-monkey
HUF – Plantlife Monkey – 35,00 Euro

Lakai_BreaAdobeCanvas Kopie
Lakai – Brea Adobe Canvas – 79,00 Euro

mob-voll-bock
Mob Skateboards – Kitt 7.8 – 49,90 Euro

socks-stance-cano Kopie
Stance Socks – Cano – 14,99 Euro

SkateMental_ONeillCurrency
Skate Mental – O’Neill Currency – 64,90 Euro

le-specs-cheshire Kopie
Le Specs – Chesire – 69,90 Dollar

Wer in der letzten Woche mal bei The Berrics vorbeigesurft ist, hat es mit Sicherheit mitbekommen: In insgesamt fünf sehenswerten Folgen spricht Guy Mariano über sein Leben und seine bisher veröffentlichen Parts, was ziemlich interessant ist. Jetzt aber setzt der Ausnahmeskater mit diesem Part noch einen oben drauf – sollte man unbedingt gesehen haben:

Guy Mariano

Im Sommer war das Lakai Team auf großer “Picture me Eurolling” Tour und hat auch in Deutschland Station gemacht. Der Mosaic Shop aus Giessen war dabei und hat uns freundlicherweise dieses dicke Stuffpaket zur Verfügung gestellt.Jetzt kommt ihr ins Spiel: Wer gerade 2 Paar Schuhe, einen Hoodie, ein T-Shirt, eine Kappe sowie das vom kompletten Team signierte Board gebrauchen kann, der gehe doch bitte auf unsere Facebook Seite und hinterlässt dort unter dem entsprechenden Bild einen Kommentar mit seinem Lieblingsteamfahrer.

It’s on – viel Glück!

Hier gehts zu den Teilnahmebedingungen.


Lakai releast unter dem Namen “Fire Flares” drei Modelle, die in Zusammenarbeit mit Spitfire entstanden sind. Im dazugehörigen Clip stellen die Teamfahrer Stevie Perez, Jon Sciano, Vincent Alvarez, Nick Jensen, Riley Hawk, Sebo Walker, Raven Tershy, Ronnie Sandoval, Guy Mariano und Marc Johnson die Schuhe vor. Wem das zu schnell geht, der kann sich die drei Modelle unten nochmal in aller Ruhe ansehen.

Lakai_mj
Lakai x Spitfire – “MJ”

lakai_pico
Lakai x Spitfire – “Pico”

lakai-Griffin
Lakai x Spitfire – “Griffin”

Das Lakai Team ist Ende Juni auf stumpfer Kanada Tour unterwegs gewesen und hat die Fans in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal und Quebec City begeistert. Ein Tourvideo im klassischen Sinne mit Demos in schäbigen Skateparks als auch diversen Street Sessions an interessanten Spots: Z.B. einem Natur-Euro Gap oder schwarz-gelben Zebra-Wobbels. Mit dabei sind u.a. Marc Johnson, Rick McCrank, Stevie Perez und Liegeboardfahrer Rick Howard.

https://place.tv/tag/lakai
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