1 post tagged “skateboard gear”
The explosion of popularity that skateboarding has experienced in recent years has led to an influx of companies who specialize or sideline in the manufacture of skateboards and related accessories. This development has made its stamp on every aspect of the world of skateboarding. Manufacturers sponsor teams, design gear and innovate engineering that will eventually touch every skater’s life.
Choosing from among the myriad of skateboard brands can be a mind-boggling decision. Which mark you choose will say a lot about who you are as a skater and even as an individual. Your selection will make you friends in some circles, and earn you mockery in others. It's equally important to consider the quality of the brand you choose to represent yourelf.
Some brands like ZERO started out simply as clothing manufacturers, who grew to include skateboard supplies as a result of the designs’ popularity within the skater culture. Most of the more popular skateboard brands, however, were actually founded by skaters, and were originally focused on manufacturing skateboard-specific items such as decks, wheels and shoes. Only subsequently have such brands expanded to include more general products such as T-shirts, hoodies, patches and stickers.
Skateboard manufacturers tends to target certain niches, appealing to different crowds according to attitude, age and taste. Most successful companies communicate primarily with their logo and the associated art, publicizing the brand with accessories. The majority of equipment brands have a clothing, shoe, and poster line as well as decks, trucks, and wheels.
Another popular means for making a brand synonymous with skating is the sponsoring of both professional and amateur teams. Skateboarding is not a profitable sport for the majority of practitioners, as there are very few cash-prize competitions. Skateboard companies make it possible for the top talents to devote their lives to their sport, and in exchange, the brand receives exposure and endorsements that the skating public trusts.
Some purists blame skateboard brands for corrupting the independent nature of the activity, claiming that these companies have cynically commercialized what began as the counter-cultural platform for society's true risk-takers. People of this mindset believe that skateboard brands have founded an army of soulless posers who only care about image and style.
Advocates contend that these same companies have also made safe and high-quality skateboarding equipment available to the average person. Supporters also point to the charitable and community activities of these companies, who tend to be more generous than their counterparts in other industries.
Recently a movement has taken hold among skateboard companies to offer products which promote ecology and sustainable development, including offering clothing lines using organic materials such as hemp. Participating brands are enhancing the image of responsibility by donating a portion of the proceeds from these premium accessory lines to environmental causes, linking the skateboarding public with social conscience and concern for the world we all share.
