In the history of skateboard culture, much has been written about the evolution of riding technique, improvements in skateboard hardware, even skateboard graphics and art. But so far, skateboard shoes received little to no attention, although they form the most crucial interface between skaters and their boards. For the first time ever, MADE FOR SKATE: The Illustrated History of Skateboard Footwear, brings light to the stories behind the shoes that carried skateboarding through the peaks and valleys of its colorful history.
From the first skateboard-specific shoe, the Randy 720?s released in 1965, Made FOR Skate traces the evolution of skateboard footwear all the way to modern-day, state-of-the-art shoe designs that are propelling skateboarding into the future. On 400 color pages, the book brings classic shoes back to life via full-page studio photographs, featured side-by-side with historic ads, photographs and brand merchandise.
Along the way, MADE FOR SKATE reveals incidents and background stories that have never been covered in skateboard books and magazines before. Like why the legendary Bones Brigade skate team had to scrounge for shoes at the height of their fame and glory. Or which world-famous vert skater almost became the first pro rider to ever receive a signature shoe ? but shrugged off the offer. And why on earth would a Brazilian skateboarder start producing shoes in his basement under the Alva brand name?
Telling the story of skateboard footwear as seen through the eyes of those who lived it, MADE FOR SKATE features first-hand accounts and
commentary by the world?s leading skateboarders past and present, including Stacy Peralta, Lance Mountain, Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Natas Kaupas, Pierre Andr? Senizergues, Don Brown, Claus Grabke, Paul Rodriguez, Chad Muska, Mike Vallely, Adrian Lopez, Mark Gonzales, Tim Gavin, and many more together with leading shoe designers and artists including James Arizumi, Jeremy Fish, Andy Howell and Todd Bratrud.
MADE FOR SKATE is published and produced by the Museum of Skateboard History in Stuttgart, Germany. The museum?s extensive collection of skateboard memorabilia, open to the public in a permanent exhibit since March 2005, forms the backbone of this book, supplemented by hard-to-find and one-of-a-kind shoes from almost five decades of skate history donated by collectors and professional skateboarders from around the globe.
