Fallen Footwear

[McCly]

The first issue of Thrasher featured Nike on the cover. They've been playing the long game and it's finally paid off.

[tobey]

Who gives a shit what Alex Olson thinks? He hasn't had a full part since Fully Flared

Also don't you cock suckers bring up pretty sweet, he shared that part. Also don't bring up Cherry because when someone edited the video with just his clips it was like a minute worth of footage

[Eric ricks]

Who gives a shit what Alex Olson thinks? He hasn't had a full part since Fully Flared

Also don't you cock suckers bring up pretty sweet, he shared that part. Also don't bring up Cherry because when someone edited the video with just his clips it was like a minute worth of footage

Nice! I hear ya

[NickDagger]

I'll add my voice to the chorus.



FUCK NIKE

[thebaggy]

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Who gives a shit what Alex Olson thinks? He hasn't had a full part since Fully Flared

Also don't you cock suckers bring up pretty sweet, he shared that part. Also don't bring up Cherry because when someone edited the video with just his clips it was like a minute worth of footage

[close]

Nice! I hear ya

I don't care about Olson's opinion, but what he had to say was relevant to the topic of this thread.

[Toydivision]

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Still, 70% of the shoes I buy have been skater owned, mostly Lakai, Etnies, Emerica and DC, they are just way cheaper. At the same time, I think most of these brands have been marketing themselves terribly, they don't fit the whole metropolitan skate vibe that seems to be popular nowadays. I think there's a reason why CONS and Adidas has such a grasp on me, their edits have been so on point and appealing, I don't see other shoe companies making any effort to appeal in the way they are, and that's a shame because the shoes can definitely compete in quality.

I think the people who worship Nike shoes are the type of people that are too scared to venture outside, and find other shoes that could work for them. I never ride the same shoe twice in a row, I like trying new things in the hopes of finding something new that I like, I could never skate 10 pairs of Janoski's in a row, that's way too boring.

[close]

There's an interesting point to be made from this quote. Why are skateboarders so susceptible to marketing nowadays? Regardless of the companies intentions behind the marketing (i.e cons trying to exploit the "metropolitan skate image") we as skateboarders seem to create these associations which are otherwise non existent. For example, you are more than capable of wearing a pair of Fallens with your dickie pants, carabiner, colorful griptape, krux trucks and bleached hair.� �

That's very true, but the thing is they aren't even trying. Obviously you can skate in any way you want, while wearing any shoe, but chances are you'd rather skate/use products you identify with. Fallen has a distinct image, they've niched themselves for a certain demographic of skaters, which isn't really popular anymore. Marketing is the very premises of the skating industry, a professional skateboarder is a marketer and a marketing tool themselves, obviously a culture so heavily focused on pro's would be susceptible to marketing. A video part is a marketing tool, we watch them and we're already exposing ourselves to marketing, skateboarders have always been susceptible to marketing since the beginning.

Obviously someone who's heavily focused on a certain style of skating, would more than likely gravitate towards pros and products that promote that certain style. That's one of the main reasons why Emerica and Huf are doing pretty good compared to other core brands, they seem to be pretty much the only skate shoe brand actually trying to market themselves in a certain way. What unique brand image does Lakai have? Or Etnies? Or DC?

[daditude adjustment]

There is a simple fact of the matter. If skateboarders only supported skater owned brands, those brands would make enough money to pay big name pros. That's obvious. The weird thing to me is that skateboarders don't understand how fucking amazing it is to have the option to support skater owned shit. You think tennis players get to buy tennis player made balls? Soccer players wearing soccer player owned shin guards? No. Skateboarding was a community and because no one else made the shit we wanted we made it ourselves, and when someone figured it out, like Independent, Sole Tech, Toy Machine, we bought their shit and so we built an industry. We created an economy by skaters and for skaters. Nothing else is like that! Now it's slipping away.

Within a few year that has just stopped mattering to huge amounts of skateboarders. I don't know why, I have some guesses. Regardless, if we, the skateboarding community, don't stop giving money to people who don't give a fuck about skateboarding, except as a revenue source, the world skateboarders created will end. We'll just buy our shit at malls and sports stores.

This generation was given a world of skater owned and operated opportunities and options, and they will have thrown it away because Dunks are cool. There is no justification of corporate owned bullshit that stops it from being sad to see it go.

Amen, preach!
Put on your tinfoil hats, brrhs.
I've been reading alotta zizek, multinational ubercapitalism has invaded our lives to such a degree that we cannot imagine an option outside of the system. I think it's part of the reason I was attracted to skating. Skaters created an autonomous market which we could participate in, and now I think that's dying.
But at least I don't have to go through the chore of actually going to the Skate shop to get a deck anymore, and now, when I go out skating everyone knows how goddamn cool I am on my Skateboard, amirite?!

[pabloalvarado]

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From @the_skatenerd on Instagram:


the_skatenerd This is an excerpt from @olsonstuff's new @thrashermag interview that I found quite disturbing, especially since I'm sure Alex knows the struggles of owning his own small company. First off, one of my favorite shoes of all time was the Rowley Classic made by Vans. I had skated dozens of them in the early 2000s and they definitely weren't of the highest quality when it came to durability. The reality is ALL companies make some great durable shoes and also some shit shoes. So to make a blanket statement saying the quality of corporate brands is night and day, is simply not true. Secondly, generalizing all skate shoes into the $80 category is misleading. @nikesb is the most expensive brand on the market with most of their shoes being in the $85 to $110 range, while a core skater-owned company like @etniesskateboarding or @esskateboarding has most of their shoes in the $55 to $75 range. There's definitely more bang for your buck with the core companies. Alex also claims that smaller brands can't get the type of quality as the corporate giants. Now, I ain't never seen a better Frontside Flip than @andrewreynolds and he's been doing them exclusively in @emerica's for practically two decades. Also, he's almost fucking 40 still jumping down shit, so the quality and protection for his feet doesn't seem to be an issue there. The reality is, the CEO of Nike alone has a net worth of 18.7 BILLION MOTHERFUCKING DOLLARS! They have the ability to advertise pretty much everywhere (including Alex's very comment in Thrasher) and they'll always beat the small guys when it comes to buying out team riders. Is it going to take Nike and co. to start making skateboards and kill off all the other board companies for people to wake up and realize these fuckers are just in it for the coin? In the end, Nike holds demos requiring their team riders to wear identical Nike jerseys. That's the epitome of what their company stands for. That's what you support when you buy their products...team jerseys. #UniformsAreForJocks

[close]

When I was reading this excerpt from his interview, i kept thinking about how untrue his response was. Perhaps an attempt to justify his situation, regardless of that, Olson's points are simply unfounded. I have been skating the Romero laced for months (55 bucks new) and they are fantastic. We keep talking about how the Nike takeover is just the result of capitalism, which is funny to me. Ideally you cannot "take over" a free market, but you can certainly control the consumers via saturating the industry by way of advertisement. We as skateboarders are forced to see the Nike ads, but we are not forced to purchase the product. Then again, if Nike received zero support from skateboarders they would still be able to comfortably exist in our world, we just wouldn't be cryin about it. 

Yes they are !

[thebaggy]

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That's very true, but the thing is they aren't even trying. Obviously you can skate in any way you want, while wearing any shoe, but chances are you'd rather skate/use products you identify with. Fallen has a distinct image, they've niched themselves for a certain demographic of skaters, which isn't really popular anymore. Marketing is the very premises of the skating industry, a professional skateboarder is a marketer and a marketing tool themselves, obviously a culture so heavily focused on pro's would be susceptible to marketing. A video part is a marketing tool, we watch them and we're already exposing ourselves to marketing, skateboarders have always been susceptible to marketing since the beginning.

Obviously someone who's heavily focused on a certain style of skating, would more than likely gravitate towards pros and products that promote that certain style. That's one of the main reasons why Emerica and Huf are doing pretty good compared to other core brands, they seem to be pretty much the only skate shoe brand actually trying to market themselves in a certain way. What unique brand image does Lakai have? Or Etnies? Or DC?

[close]

Your right in that people do have a tendency to associate themselves with familiarity, but that isn't particular to skateboarders, rather humans in general. As a matter of fact, I would say that we tend to (at least historically) pioneer in the ways of artistic design, fashion, etc; which ultimately results in individuality. I also agree with your point that professionals are essentially marketers of the product that they are endorsed by, which I consider to be an organic byproduct of said circumstance, but that doesn't mean that all marketing done by pro's is created equal. I believe that a pro should be marketing skateboarding first and foremost, so when a pro is endorsed by a corporate company it makes the latter seem a little disingenuous to me especially when considering how far our industry has come, and how many skateboarder owned companies exist (or existed R.I.P Dekline). When it comes to skate videos I don't necessarily watch them with product marketing in mind, my goal is to get stoked to go skate, or, to watch what a particular person has been doing on the shred sled. Therefore I don't think that product marketing should be the main goal of a skate video. Also good point about Lakai, I don't believe they have a unique brand image but they still fucking kick ass.

[close]

[mini pebble]

one good turn deserves another

[sid vicious]

consolidated "don't do it" campaign is dumb......half there team when they started that was on PUMA (petersen, paez, bourne)

[Julz]

ÖUS should try to hit the western market, they make solid shoes.

[McCly]

To Alex Olsen's credit, companies like Lakai and Fallen were really shitty quality for a while. I loved Fallen when it debuted while I was in high school (cobra hoodie, rivals with the strap, all white coles, etc). Then after a while it seemed Nike/adidas was making the only shoes that wouldnt fuck my feet and back up. A few years ago the non-corpo brands made a big deal about new factories and quality, but the damage was done.  

I wonder how Etnies feels now. Once upon a time Janoski, Arto *and* Dill were on the team. At least they still have Sheckler.

[I SUCK!]

i did an interview w jenkem if anyone cares...

http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2016/04/13/jamie-thomas-on-the-demise-of-fallen-footwear/

[Bubblegum Tate]

i did an interview w jenkem if anyone cares...

http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2016/04/13/jamie-thomas-on-the-demise-of-fallen-footwear/

Was Terrell Robinson fully on the team? That '08 photo brings back memories.

[Robert Baratheon]

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I said it on the last Fuck Nike thread, and I'm saying it here. If the shops are getting fucked over by Nike, then the shops need to quit buying Nike rider hard goods. It will matter.

[close]

thats the worst idea ever and would only help to sink small shops while the chain/mall stores survived.�� tell a shop NOT to sell Grant Taylor AH boards, or Ishod/Brock Real boards, Prod/Shane Primitive boards, Worrest Krooked boards, Malto Girl boards, etc. etc. etc.��



C'mon man, you don't HONESTLY think that's a good idea.��

[close]

It's about validation. If core shops banded together and said that these riders are bad for core skating, then the pros brands would take a hit. I bet the pros would lobby Nike to be less bullying to shops. Every one of those pros had a shop sponsor that hooked them up at first. Pros don't want to be a joke in shops. If you ran your shop right, had the support of other shops, this could create change. Core shops need to create alliances for other reasons as well. Why not band together and take it to the bully?

[close]

Pros want to pay their bills. Most of them could probably give a fuck what somebody at a shop thinks of them, joke or otherwise.

So your whole position is the core shops can send a message to Nike, or Adidas, that they won't support their riders' hardgoods (the smallest fucking margin in skateboarding) by not carrying a specific Nike rider's signature board, or brand as a whole?

[close]

Yeah, let's stick it to the shoe companies by not carrying a pro's board.� You DO realize how illogical that is, right?� You're not fucking over Nike, you're fucking over the skateboarder and the board companies.�

Who wears Nikes with out the current team in place?

No one. This is their 3rd or 4th shot at this and they finally threw enough money at the right pros.

Those pros took the money. Those pros are making Nike legit. It's the pros fault.

Who the fuck is going out of business because of Nike pros missing sales?

Really only the ones that own or will own their own board brand. Girl, Real, Anti Hero, Baker, Habitat, etc are the sum of the entire team.

In my experience working at a shop, maybe 10 or so pros had boards that were asked for by name. Hawk, Bam, Muska, Thomas, Penny, Williams etc. even all of those top sellers combined were a small percentage of the total boards sold.

Most of it was team or graphic driven. I could be wrong about how it works now but I gotta think it's the same.

Are 12 year old kids special ordering Daryl Angel and Justin Brock decks? Cool if they are but they probably are loyal to Real and Habitat due to team entire team/brand vibe.

[thebaggy]

i did an interview w jenkem if anyone cares...

http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2016/04/13/jamie-thomas-on-the-demise-of-fallen-footwear/

Great interview, thanks. Great intel on what Nike is doing with all of the flow and am potential out there, although not really surprising.

[Casey Jones]

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Who gives a shit what Alex Olson thinks? He hasn't had a full part since Fully Flared

Also don't you cock suckers bring up pretty sweet, he shared that part. Also don't bring up Cherry because when someone edited the video with just his clips it was like a minute worth of footage

[close]

Nice! I hear ya

Actually Fully Flared is the only part he's ever put out.

[The Shogun]

I met a Nike SB designer and an Adidas designer in Portland, OR. Let me just say that those mother fuckers were the biggest ego maniac pieces of shit I ever met.

The only cool thing that New Balance does is the made in USA shoe, It's pretty expensive.

[HoudiniXLogic]

i did an interview w jenkem if anyone cares...

http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2016/04/13/jamie-thomas-on-the-demise-of-fallen-footwear/

That Mike Sinclair thing is fucked up. Going from Dekline to nike...... man.....

[Silky Johnson]

I'm really concerned about Sinclair, imagine the girth he'll pack on with the Swoosh picking up the meal tab

[ducky darnsworth]

I'm really concerned about Sinclair, imagine the girth he'll pack on with the Swoosh picking up the meal tab

ten dollar meals like it's nothing

[Monkey_Mcpott]

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i did an interview w jenkem if anyone cares...

http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2016/04/13/jamie-thomas-on-the-demise-of-fallen-footwear/

[close]

That Mike Sinclair thing is fucked up. Going from Dekline to nike...... man.....

Wasn't he the one tripping and making a big deal how Nike was poaching Blake to ride for them before Dekline folded yet he went with Nike too?

Weird times indeed.

Thank God Emerica still has a relatively cool image, Team, and Reynolds because if Emerica ever folds idk what i'd do. Can you imagine walking into a skate shop and only having to choose from Nike, Adidas, Cons and NB?

[brwrxstl]

The whole "core" thing starts and stops with hardgoods for me. Not really because I want it to but it's just the nature of the shoe business I guess. Skater owned or not, anybody with a set of feet can wear a pair of sneakers and that's exactly how (with a few exceptions) everybody fron JT, Ken Block, Pierre Senizergues, have ran their game. I mean I'm talking everything from "chiller" lines, to girls shoes, all the way down to just choosing to sell the their shoes to places like Journeys and Zappos. So to me it's pretty ridiculous to hear a dude like JT bitching about mainstream sneaker brands crossing over into skateboarding when the skateboarding brands are crossing over into the mainstream market and going after mainstream money.

[chillclinton87]

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It definitely sucks to see shoe brands ran by skaters go out of business but it looks like there'll be a new one soon, the newest issue of Transworld says Joe Castrucci and Kevin Furtado from Dekline are starting State footwear and may have Ben Gore, Kevin Coakley, and Christian Maalouf

[close]

Damn that sounds sick. Hope the shoes aren't just vans/cons clones.

[close]

They are really good looking. A few good vulc and cupsole shoes in the first line. They also have Jon Nguyen and Jordan Sanchez

[close]

Fuck! This is sick as shit! Really?

Maybe it can just be the shoes from Habitat but not called Habitat?! So sick

[close]

also fuck yes to this

that would be really good!

i really dug a lot of the old habitat models and think they would have taken off if they had a different name. i wish they released the shoes that only became samples before habitat footwear closed- there were some good looking shoes in there!

[Esquivel]

"Core" brands need to start having some originality and making shoes that last. 99% of the different shoes I see by each "core" company looks almost identical to another company's model, and they all have no support.

Make simple shoes with long lasting support and people will buy it...period. Vans was doing it right with their pro classics till they went to shit. Now I'm forced to seek out older pro models from shops or eBay.

Nike and Adidas look waaay too sporty for me to even wanna try a pair on. Huf and CONS are for all the fashionistas, let's face it. There's really nothing left for someone like me that just likes a simple good quality skate shoe. Never had this issue in the early-mid 2000s...

the chico brenes shoe "nica" and the new-ish etnies low cut are fucking mint.

[Esquivel]

so nike has put a lot of money in skating and has hired pretty much everyone in the business and has thus made the industry dependent? it has now come to the point that if in an ideal world nike shut their skate program down all these people would go broke? well, it was their choice to ride for nike so personally i don't care at all about these guys' future (especially about ducebag definitions like AO) as they don't care for mine. its very simple: i can't skate if i look down on my feet and see the gay nike logo and i can't enjoy a skate vid if the riders are wearing nikes. and for someone who said that we should start calling nike skaters out - dude, its already happening. face to face
the bitches defending nike here are probably nike employees.

[Sk.A.T.A.N]

so nike has put a lot of money in skating and has hired pretty much everyone in the business and has thus made the industry dependent? it has now come to the point that if in an ideal world nike shut their skate program down all these people would go broke? well, it was their choice to ride for nike so personally i don't care at all about these guys' future (especially about ducebag definitions like AO) as they don't care for mine. its very simple: i can't skate if i look down on my feet and see the gay nike logo and i can't enjoy a skate vid if the riders are wearing nikes. and for someone who said that we should start calling nike skaters out - dude, its already happening. face to face
the bitches defending nike here are probably nike employees.

So now it's not only skaters against nike, it's skaters against skaters... Nice theory douche.

[EARL***THE***PEARL]

I give Nike about 3/4 more years tops in Skateboarding

[Esquivel]

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so nike has put a lot of money in skating and has hired pretty much everyone in the business and has thus made the industry dependent? it has now come to the point that if in an ideal world nike shut their skate program down all these people would go broke? well, it was their choice to ride for nike so personally i don't care at all about these guys' future (especially about ducebag definitions like AO) as they don't care for mine. its very simple: i can't skate if i look down on my feet and see the gay nike logo and i can't enjoy a skate vid if the riders are wearing nikes. and for someone who said that we should start calling nike skaters out - dude, its already happening. face to face
the bitches defending nike here are probably nike employees.

[close]

So now it's not only skaters against nike, it's skaters against skaters... Nice theory douche.

i didn't turn against skaters. i said i don't care about their financial situation as they don't care about mine and that if some of them rushed to "sell their soul", like the person that is AO, then the fucks i give become even less.