Prediction: Lugz releasing a skate shoe line.

[GAY]

With skateboard culture blowing up so hard and crossing over with mainstream hip-hop, who do you guys think will be the next shameless attempt to get some of that money in the shoe market?

Crocs?

Timberland?

Florsheim?

Capezio?

I say Lugz and their team will be Felix Arguelles, Trainwreck, Gailea Momolu and Louie Barletta.

[buttpirate]

We live in strange, wild, and mild times. Built up civilizations are crumbling from within. Laissez-faire capitalism and it's proponents are undergoing a state of cognitive dissonance. The ideal of democracy, so thoroughly fought for by our forefathers, has in memory recent become a minor annoyance to a jaded and distracted public.

The internet, envisioned as a system to connect people and create a new utopia where mankind is united, has become a cesspool of narcissistic and shallow stream-of-consciousness postings, tagged photo uploads, and recycled memes losing entertainment value with every share. 


In the context of skateboarding, we notice two major shifts in the moral zeitgeist since 2004:
1) Increasing media self-awareness
2) A return to the Fold


Increasing media self-awareness
Previous generations of skateboarders had 3 primary forms of media that shaped engagement and understanding: skateboard magazines (Transworld, Skateboarder, Thrasher, Big Brother, Slap); skateboard hardgood/softgood company videos; and finally "Outsider" media e.g. the televised X-Games, hollywood movies, or MTV music videos - all of which skateboarders would watch and laugh at how wrong it was in terms of representation.

Then there was a hit video game called THPS in 1999, followed by successful sequels with even larger sale's bases.  Differing from previous "outsider" media, THPS marks a turning point when skateboarding had some say and form of control over it's own image, before pushing it out to the masses.  And boy, were the masses hungry for what was on offer.

Without digressing too much, skateboarding could not only now make use of "outsider" media legitimately (more recent examples: youtube, twitter, tumblr and instagram), they found they could also turn a healthy profit from such endeavours in the form of increased softgood sales based on image.   

We like to think we're much smarter than lab rats or chimps, however in any system that exists the general trend is towards what provides us the best incentives.  Thus skateboarding stopped advertising like this:


Fig. 1: World Industries 'Burger King' ad (1991). Note the complete lack of WI brand logo and subversion of Corporate America logo


and started advertising like this:

Fig. 2: Nike SB 'Alex Olson: Welcome to the Team' (2012)


Fig. 3: Gravis Footwear 'Dylan Smoking' (2011)

By taking into account the many legitimate media outlets available, and the powerful effect of softgood sales on bottom line, skateboarding has now more than ever become about portraying an image, and turning this intangible into softgood product to sell to the masses.  The question on skateboarder's lips in the present day is no longer "will it rain today?" but rather "do these pants go well with my shoes?"




A return to the Fold
According to moral reasoning theory, in times of great uncertainty people tend to regain more conservative values. Skateboarding's historical subcultural status from the 90's pushed it outside the boundaries of this comfort zone; that was until it could be brought back within comfortable boundaries by it's own proponents.

At some point in the early 00's, Nike Inc. recognised this trend as the next big thing through intensive market research, and brought on credible industry tastemakers to help launch it's vision. Nike SB was born in 2002 (marking attempt no. 2 for Nike at the skateboard game), and quickly set the standard for corporate's to subsume the action sports market through limited product runs, and specifically chosen credible outlets to push their products.

Skateboarders quickly jumped onto the bandwagon of corporates taking major positions in their industry, those with large budgets and backgrounds and 'classic' designs - Vans, Adidas, and Converse.  Attempts by skate brands to prevent this intrusion were largely vetoed by skateboarders themselves (see: 'Don't Do It' campaign). Ironically, skateboard brands found they could no longer market to their own once captive market, and started looking outside for secondary markets - e.g. Supra and Etnies (though it could reasonably be argued that sole tech has a long history of sucking the mall outlet bro penis in it's quest for higher sales).

But let the stats speak for themselves.  At inception, Nike SB had a handful of riders and Adidas 4 aging pros; now Nike SB owns half the Crailtap/Deluxe/DNA teams + all of Brazil, whilst Adidas has captured the Euro market and continues to place strategic bets in up-and-comers like Lem Villemin, Jake Donnelly and Benny Fairfax (not to mention successful investments with Busenitz, Lucas Puig, and SBN).





In returning to the original question posed of which company will next attempt to tip it's hat into the skateboard shoe ring, my guess would be a company with a long mass market history, and a reputation for highly stylised conservative designs elevated through technology.


I'm betting on Cole Haan powered by Nike Lunarlon:



Fig. 4., 5., 6. The future of skate shoes? The Cole Haan Lunargrand Wingtip - look for it at a skatepark near you.

[foureyedjim]

hahahaha cole han skate shoes doesn't seem too far from dylan's shoe. 

[pile]

before i knew that skate shoes existed, i skated in some lugz running shoes. 2001.

[GAY]

before i knew that skate shoes existed, i skated in some lugz running shoes. 2001.

Pile, you are a man 11 years before your time. So awesome. And buttpirate, that post you made...did you just write that or did you copy it from somewhere? Either way you're a fuckin' genius...such a good read.

[buttpirate]

2014 pro team - David Loy, Steez Ortiz, and Curren Caples. all I'm saying, start buying CH shares now.

[Wh0l3]

Like Buttpirate kinda said, skateboarding is a big fashion contest.

I think a lot of it is because most skaters are going through adolescence, which is a fashion contest in and of itself.

A lot of people pick up skateboarding to look cool, while a lot of youngins do it because they love it, however, it only makes sense for us to want to feel accepted by the skateboarding community, and cool to the other kids at school.

This fucks over the core skate companies though, who don't have the resources to do market studies and shit.

[DaSk8D00D]

as for all the REAL SKATERS out there the way everythings marketed nowadays is almost totally irrelevant to the actual act of skateboarding. yes there are trends and things like that but at the end of the day that shit dont matter to us.

shoutout to all the "skaters" who can only call themselves that because they keep up with industry news & follow the latest trends. funny how its mostly these people who stay complaining about the current state of skateboarding, when people like me think its better than its ever been. learn to take the good with the bad yo. nigga its 2012 i dunno why yall expected shit to be the same way it was back in the 90's. everythings different




as far as the Lugz shit goes, id say sketchers is more likely to make a skate shoe (if they havent already)

[The Donger]

Doesn't Timerland own Ipath now. Used to never like nike, now i skate sb kostons. Used to think Muska designed cool shoes, now lil wayne wears them. Who cares. I would skate some kswiss just because i know they would last longer than vans.

[commander jameson]

as far as the Lugz shit goes, id say sketchers is more likely to make a skate shoe (if they havent already)

Funny you say that, because Sketchers actually had skate shoes in mid 90's.
Brent Kronmueller, now park builder, rode for them back then.

[clamy]

as far as the Lugz shit goes, id say sketchers is more likely to make a skate shoe (if they havent already)

Funny you say that, because Sketchers actually had skate shoes in mid 90's.
Brent Kronmueller, now park builder, rode for them back then.

captain lou did, too.

[Wh0l3]

as for all the REAL SKATERS out there the way everythings marketed nowadays is almost totally irrelevant to the actual act of skateboarding. yes there are trends and things like that but at the end of the day that shit dont matter to us.

shoutout to all the "skaters" who can only call themselves that because they keep up with industry news & follow the latest trends. funny how its mostly these people who stay complaining about the current state of skateboarding, when people like me think its better than its ever been. learn to take the good with the bad yo. nigga its 2012 i dunno why yall expected shit to be the same way it was back in the 90's. everythings different




as far as the Lugz shit goes, id say sketchers is more likely to make a skate shoe (if they havent already)

different doesn't always mean better and there's always room for improvement.

the 90's weren't perfect.

[Big Skatefase]

belee dat plehbwoi

[slappyslap]

Doesn't Timerland own Ipath now. Used to never like nike, now i skate sb kostons. Used to think Muska designed cool shoes, now lil wayne wears them. Who cares. I would skate some kswiss just because i know they would last longer than vans.

What's the deal with kswiss....are they still selling lutzka  shoes anywhere??

[Dontkickshitfoot]

Doesn't Timerland own Ipath now. Used to never like nike, now i skate sb kostons. Used to think Muska designed cool shoes, now lil wayne wears them. Who cares.I would skate some kswiss just because i know they would last longer than vans.

What's the deal with kswiss....are they still selling lutzka  shoes anywhere??

Who knows but they got Deez Jawns

[Shamalamalon]

Doesn't Timerland own Ipath now. Used to never like nike, now i skate sb kostons. Used to think Muska designed cool shoes, now lil wayne wears them. Who cares. I would skate some kswiss just because i know they would last longer than vans.

 Really..? You don't rippage coming from the three piece toe..?

[victor333]

Doesn't Timerland own Ipath now. Used to never like nike, now i skate sb kostons. Used to think Muska designed cool shoes, now lil wayne wears them. Who cares. I would skate some kswiss just because i know they would last longer than vans.

 Really..? You don't rippage coming from the three piece toe..?

hahahahah. That made zero sense

However, if durability was the only thing that mattered, I would skate construction boots