Skateboarding’s Influence on Sneaker Design

None

Sports footwear usually has a set purpose—performance. While skate shoes were clearly function-based, skating is less about achievement and more about style and creativity. With many skaters participating in and actively embracing creative pastimes, it was inevitable that artist projects would start to show up on the shelves. DC Shoes were early pioneers with their Artist Series, utilizing the skills of creative types such as Evan Hecox, Natas Kaupas, and SSUR, with many other brands following suit. Nowadays, most sneaker companies have released collaborative projects in conjunction with artists, musicians, DJs, fashion designers, and more.

The big brands wanted in on skating—but what about the reverse? Supreme was quick off the mark, producing their own Air Force-inspired Downlow model in 2001 and the Midtown in 2002, before establishing a strong lineage of collaborations with non-skate brands such as Doctor Martens and Clarks. Other skate brands have also looked beyond creating shoes strictly intended for skating: Palace’s recent Penny Loafer clearly resonated with many people, while the much-missed Gravis often blurred the boundaries, with designs that were equally valid on or off the board. Supra’s hugely popular Skytop (again, another Chad Muska creation) showed just how powerful a skate shoe could be outside of the skating world—almost a decade since its unveiling, the Skytop’s influence can still be seen on high streets across the world. DC, Vans, éS—almost every core skate brand has had a non-skate model in their product line-up at one time or another.

Skaters have adopted mainstream sneaker models throughout history. Many of the brands slowly picked up on this, re-presenting classic models from their archives and repackaging them for the skate market. The story of skaters, such as Bones Brigade, wearing Jordan 1s is the perfect analogy for this. Nike’s celebration of this unofficial endorsement culminated in the SB Air Jordan in 2014, with the paint-dipped Lance Mountain editions intriguing skaters and non-skaters alike: Whether you liked or loathed the mainstream brands involvement in the skate market, there was no taking away from the legitimacy of the project. The story behind Dennis Busenitz’s pro model for adidas—effectively taking the Copa Mondial (a soccer shoe) and tweaking it for skate purposes—opened the door for more traditional sports models being adjusted for skating. The Palace x Reebok Workout Low took us back to the days of Kareem Campbell’s KCK model from 1995, which borrowed from the Workout’s original styling and introduced it to a new audience. Switching a regular shoe’s intended use and making it skate-friendly was something that a brand could only dream of back in the ’90s.