Skateboarding: from the underground to the Olympic Games

«I think skateboarding is a sport and a lifestyle, but also a form of art. It combines music, fashion, and entertainment.» This is one of the most famous remarks made by Tony Hawk regarding skateboarding, a sport that made its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and is now heading to Paris, in the incredible setting of Place de la Concorde.

Skateboarding has long been considered an activity associated with outcasts and punks, deemed a loser activity if pursued after high school. Damaged shoes, sun-faded t-shirts, and jeans with holes in the back: the stereotype of the skateboarder has been carefully woven into popular culture through music videos, TV series, and films. A particular style of clothing and lifestyle has permeated both fashion and high fashion: last year’s Gucci x Palace collection is just one example, as is the collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Supreme in 2017. In short, the idea that skateboarding is a creative platform to be considered an expressive art form, as well as a highly technical and extreme sport, has finally gained acceptance. Even the biggest players in the clothing industry have taken notice: Nike, adidas, New Balance, and more recently, Asics. In the past year, especially with the Olympics in view, they have launched new skateboarding shoes, inventing new models and digging into their archives.

At the same time, the internal debate within the skateboarding community—the struggle between staying true to the sport's roots, deeply rooted in the streets, and becoming a mainstream sport—has turned into a nearly political matter for every skateboarder, especially in the period leading up to the Olympic Games. From Thrasher t-shirts to Olympic jerseys, it’s evident how the designs and overall aesthetics of skateboarders' clothing can reflect the ongoing dialogue within the community.

Thrasher is the largest skateboarding magazine of all time. Initially founded by Fausto Vitello and Eric Swenson in 1981 to promote the skateboarding truck brand Independent, the magazine underwent a crucial transformation when Jake Phelps was appointed editor in 1993. He brought significant attention to the punk and anti-authority nature of skateboarding through the publication of videos and images of skaters in action, influencing the culture of what was then considered merely an art form. "Skate and Destroy" is the quintessential claim of Thrasher, symbolizing the core of skateboarding identity: the destruction of urban areas, breaking into private property to skate in neighbors' empty pools, simulating the experience of alley-oops. In short, the likelihood that Thrasher’s fans and customers will not appreciate the Olympic Games is very high—and it's also somewhat understandable.

Turning to Nike SB, the new kit created for the U.S. team competing in Paris 2024 has been the talk of the town due to its unique aesthetic. It was designed by Olympic athlete and skateboarder Alexis Sablone. This initiative from the Swoosh in collaboration with the athlete is a disruptive strategic move in the world of skateboarding because it shows how many of the world's best skateboarders are interested in making the sport more accessible to everyone—today, it is necessary for a sport to choose a market-oriented path to become more appealing. In an interview, Alexis Sablone shared her perspective, demonstrating how it is genuinely possible to find common ground in a sport so caught between conservatism and constant evolution: «Skaters have always expressed their individual style, at least in part, through their clothing. Unlike more traditional sports, the concept of uniforms is entirely foreign in skateboarding. That’s why I was sensitive to this issue, trying to create a truly varied range of looks, so that skaters could choose something that represented them.»

Historically, Nike is the first major company not related to skateboarding to attempt to become a big player in the skateboarding industry. Nike SB's first advertising campaign, called What If We Treated All Athletes Like Skateboarders, aired during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. It was well-received by the skateboarding community because it genuinely understood the frustration that skaters often felt, as they were frequently regarded as mere delinquents. The involvement of a brand like Nike has over the years brought skateboarding to a level of recognition and appreciation, also thanks to the endless releases of sneakers. This is why, more than in any other sector or sport, when it comes to skateboarding, there is a greater emphasis on legitimacy regarding who takes certain positions or actions. Also during the Olympics Games.