He must be making hella money with element I’d imagine so don’t see where he could go next. I can’t really picture on another brand because he’s so big. Like Tony Hawk couldn’t ride for anyone else other then his own brand because of how big a name he is. Could see him start his own brand, isn’t Leticia a free agent at the moment and he’s close with her. Maybe David Loy take him from birdhouse.
I’d imagine he’ll just not have a board sponsor. Does he need one at this point? Either that or him and Leticia will start something that will be horrid.
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Thinking a gold in the Olympics will put his name out there like Tony Hawk to the public, so get the ‘cash in’ up and ready with his own thing?
Eh? Don’t get it.
David Loy, Sinner, Leticia + Nigel. New brand.
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Markovich doing branding.
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It said forward, but the arrow is going to the side.
Skateboard also facing the wrong way.
It’s either going down or backwards. Just like Element.
Element have been haemorrhaging riders for the last few years. Are they going out of business?
Nah, I really don’t think so.
Not that I know shit, but I felt like Starheadbody, Mason, etc. left because they didn’t want to be associated with the jockier side of the team…and now those dudes have left. Not a bad thing at all.
Not that Element is ‘coming back’ but it would be nice if it cleaned up its brand a bit because the first few years were great, and then from about 2003 onwards, the team seemed to just be opened up to anyone at all who they could get onboard.
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Peace was really good I thought with a strong lineup. They’re never going to recover their image as a kiddie brand though. I think I pondered this question before but has any brand ever done a reverse Blind / World Industries and gone from kooky to legit image wise?
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Birdhouse seem to have a bit now Hawk is slowing down, not sure I’d say legit but they’re definitely not as kiddie focussed (at least to me). Maybe Vans for shoes, getting “TONY HAWK” screamed at you for skating in Vans now everyone is wearing oldschools.
I don’t think there are any, really.
I remember seeing some comments after a TJ rogers part recently which seemed to be along the line of “Wait, I like the Blind Reaper now?”
At a push, if I had to name one…possibly Vans?
(ignore my mutli post. I just went wild clicking and deleting exactly the above twice, by accident).
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Having Bam carry the brand in early 00’s was probably a double edged sword for them.
Elementality volume 1 line up was pretty good though - Bam, Tosh, Wray etc. And probably just before the brand identity got too loose
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Wouldn’t have called Element a kiddie company, unless you’re looking at it through a Heartagram-shaped lens. Their branding and identity has been pretty much the same since the early 00s - “environmental”, bland, safe, mainstream. The late 90s incarnation with Markovich, Barley, Wray, Forbes, etc. really had the potential, but the team fell apart before they could really do a proper full length after Third Eye View and World Tour.
Can’t say I’m that keen on Element overall these days (always enjoyed skating their boards TBF), but when a skater ends up there, it’s usually a good sign for them - well paid, big packages, etc. - rather than for skateboarding as a whole - think of how quiet Appleyard and Westgate have been since joining. Yeah I realise that especially Westagate has a completely different life outside of skating as a cranberry farmer and the low demands of skating for Element obviously suited both parties.
But then you hear horror stories stemming from their shoe company where they required as many riders as possible to ride Element boards, wear all Element gear and then Element shoes, leading a few skaters to drop sponsorships with Volcom, Sole Tech or Nike only to be axed by Element less than a year later.
I’d guess no. It’s a bit like the path to being a crack whore. You can start off as a high-end escort and end up as a crack whore, but you’ll never start as a crack whore and become a high-end escort.
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Got a Madalorian collaboration on the phone for you sir.
I think it’s annoying how they repurposed the ‘Element’ part to mean ‘Earth, Wind, Water, Fire’ when that was fuck all to do with Andy Howell’s original idea. Which was one of the raddest companies ever.
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