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Lakai only shaped their quality up a few years back. Emerica always has been, and still is, garbage. Very few skater-owned companies were willing to push the boundaries in terms of redefining what a skate shoe can be and were instead content producing near-identical models season after season. Meanwhile, companies like Adidas and Nike led the charge with shoes like the Janoski, the Busenitz, the Suciu, and the Blazer. I understand there's the advantage of being a corporate conglomerate, but it seems like plenty of skater-owned companies were content to coast for far too long.
Marketing seems to be a huge issue to these skater-owned companies, as well. It seems like they live in a bubble and are completely unaware of so much rad shit happening in skateboarding today. Again, I get that bigger companies have bigger budgets, but would it fucking kill Emerica to add someone who isn't a complete product of So-Cal rail skating, Lakai to bump up one of the numerous east coast guys they flow shoes to, or Etnies to add a fucking person of color? If we're talking about Lakai, that Lena Dunham collaboration was awful and embarrassing to someone's who's stood up for the company for so long.
You want to talk about skateboarding's best interests? There are so many shady tales floating around about skater-owned companies. What about e'S dropping Ronnie Creager because he didn't want to skate rails? What about charging local reps for samples? What about the entire controversy surrounding MJ and Carroll? What about e'S dropping their ENTIRE fucking team, only to come back barely two years later and not pay anyone?
I used to be hardcore skater-owned, and I'm not completely turning my back on the idea, but I'm tired of supporting these companies on principle when I can get a better quality and more consistent product elsewhere. And if Nike and Adidas disappear, so be it. The skate shoe industry can start over and hopefully avoid the mistakes they've made in the past.
I know the era of shoes you are talking about heckler, and EVERYONE wore shoes like that. How is the Janoski any different from say Reynolds 3's in regards to being a "better quality" shoe? And Busenitzs' shoe (the first one being the only one I've tried) was utter rubbish, worst grip of all time.
Emerica put on Jerry and Westgate, they are certainly not known as rail skaters.
I'm not doubting that skater owned companies have done some shady things, but sometimes that's just business. At the end of the day they are still about skating and not just about cashing in on it.
I'm not hating, heckler, I enjoy your banta.
The Reynolds 3s predated the Janoskis by at least four or five years, not to mention the Janoskis lasted forever and appealed to most everyone. Shit, they still do. One could argue that the Reynolds 3 and the Manchester were the last really great shoes from a "core" brand before Nike and Adidas started playing hardball, though. That was around when Koston got on, I think -- summer of 2009 to spring of 2010.
The Busenitz is far from my favorite shoe (I'm a grip stickler, too), but you can't deny that it's objectively well made, with a great shape, good cushioning, a sole that most people seem to like, and consistent durability.
Jerry Hsu doesn't skate rails, but he definitely falls into that Southern California vortex that these companies refuse to leave. It's cool that Westgate is on Emerica, but look at some of the great skaters the company has flowed that they passed up on -- Tyshawn Jones, Tom Knox, and Pontus Alv all immediately come to mind. Meanwhile, Lakai took years to put Yonnie Cruz on in what seems like a last-ditch effort to gain some of that Theories market (I'll give them credit for having a real international team for the longest time, though), and even Huf flowed Bobby Worrest for a period before he ended up on Nike. I know that there are budgetary concerns and sponsorship is finite, but diversify your fucking bonds! These are all highly talented dudes who appeal across demographics and could grow their respective companies. By passing up on them, it's clear that they're not interested in my business. (For the record, it's not just shoe companies doing this.)
I get what you're saying re: shady shit, and in five or ten years, you'll probably be proven right, but right now, the whole "skater-owned" thing just seems like a line of propaganda from these brands that need to figure out a way to guilt you into supporting them. It seems like everyone on both sides either has been or is doing some shady shit, so you might as well buy what you like at this point.