That’s all great if that’s what happens, debate and broardening the points are what we’re here for but that’s not what you replied with "you make it sound like etc " that’s direct and misjudged.
Anyway, i’m pointing out shit many people just do not care about, like Nav above who is also interesting to witness on here.
As you were.
Sounds… Fine?
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yep, absolutely, it’s what a business hopes to acheive, of course i’m arguing semantics, it’s just not a skater run business model no matter how you look at it. It’s a good scenario in many respects and it has it’s place in skateboarding now I guess and you can argue they do more than other brands who have skateboarders at the top, and who are these skateboarders at the top anyway, and why do they take the money and sell out themselves? I have no allegence to Pierre Andre because I love es accels, never have, I know next to nothing about him.
Hoping for many more colours of the Spanky Hi!
I can’t be arsed to get into this, really. I kind of scanned.
I don’t know why I am about to type this…
I see the skater owned & operated thing as best possible scenario if we lived in an ideal world (which we don’t).
Solely being skater operated is just part of the world we live in. It’s fine. Pound for pound, it’s the most common thing in footwear, I guess.
It’s nice to know some skaters have jobs.
The consensus is that now there are corporates existing in our world - and even though skateboarding is bigger - there are far less jobs in skateboarding because of the way the money moves.
It’s basically the same as to why the black owned business scenario was created. Because that is great for keeping the money within the community in a world where that cash is being sucked out of them.
The difference is that I just don’t think skater owned businesses have been very good at communicating an actual decent reason to buy skater owned.
And no one brand can change public opinion now. It’s too late.
As such, I do think skater-owned is a blessing and a curse.
I do think it means you are held to an almost impossible standard at times.
I do think you can be judged by the very worst of decisions made.
I do think that from day one, you are more welcomed but also I do think that if you are 20 or 30 years old but still working like a startup, then peoples patience runs out.
I don’t think it is quality of product arguement.
I just think that there have been a lot of shonky skater owned ventures which did play into this almost comic book park-keeper image of asking you to “Keep off the corporates!” which have probably done more damage than good to turn people off.
I dunno. Vote with your wallets. It’s not just the Black owned Business template…That’s why there are all these badges flying around on your coffee beans, crisp packets and non-stick woks being ethical now because people just want to know that if they can afford it then they are buying from someone nice.
And skateboarding brands haven’t managed to communicate that message very openly or well at all.
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I might be wrong but I get the impression the many people running skate companies have no business ethics or acumen to start. The whole “no contracts” thing is probably one of the most blatant business malpractices but there are others. I’m pretty sure a lot of brands including some big famous ones wouldn’t survive a proper audit. And then, here we are scratching our heads and arguing as to why some skate brands don’t work…
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I think what most skaters want is good skate shoes that work. And then, if it turns out they’re skater owned and run, that’s a bonus. For me it’s a nice to have but not a deal breaker,
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So many old distributors and agents who have existed in skateboarding since the 80s and 90s work off of a handshake.
That isn’t limited to skateboarding, either. It’s just a sign of the times that things have now changed.
Or am I totally missing what you are talking about?
I do agree with that.
I think that there is a huge element to consumers being flimsy and easily influenced. Also that skaters like fashion too and skate shoes have always tried to follow brand shoes in many ways, Sal and koston with jordans and Rawls taking early notes from many many popular trainers so when pro’s had the opportunity to skate in the real thing and get paid, they jumped at the chance. Nike, adidas and even cons were always going to make it work if they had the right in, pro and shoe and it did take a good few tries.
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Maybe they liked skating the shoes because they were good?
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Being a teenager is hard enough. You can’t knock a kid for wanting to fit in.
Even better, sticking Nikes on which are ahead of the pack down the Wetherspoons elevates you beyond fitting in to someone who is leading.
The sports shoe mentality entirely caters for this which is great.
Skate or die. But it’s okay to fit in.
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oh absolutely, being a kid and being a parent in that regard is a minefield.
Fitting in as a kid is a different issue and I do feel strongly about that having 3 boys to steer through school. Their mum will buy them tesco trainers if she could but I think that’s halfway to being abusive, subjecting them to bullying and unnecessary stress, but anyway…
There is nothing wrong with liking trainers, I used to LOVE them when younger, not so much now they mainly look shit. I was really close to doing a uni course in shoe design but couldn’t afford to.
But I do think there is a flimsyness to people in general, people can read things online and take them as gospel resulting in positive or negative views about product or brands. But yes, people do just like stuff, I do, we all do. Not knocking anyone, no digs at people specifically, just how I see it.
Consumerism means we are defined by our stuff. It’s a bad model for sustainability because it’s highly dependent on growth and very resource hungry.
The slogan the World Economic Forum used to describe the post-consumerism new world order of economic sustainability was “you’ll own nothing and be happy”.
We’re in the transition phase now, but I think I’ll always want to own shoes.
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Just had a brilliant idea. Shoe subscription service. 100 quid a month and you get 1 pair of shoes sent out to you. Then you send them back at the end of the month and they are burnt to power the shoe factories.
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Why are the tongues looking like they are about to explode out the shoe.
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I tried them on in person and felt like an idiot. Made my Nb1010’s feel like eras.
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I fucking loved the original K2s, probably my favourite skate shoe ever…
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