Style

When skating first began in the 1950s there was no clearly defined skater style. Skaters wore the same clothes as surfers, their sweatshirts, t-shirts and loose fitting shorts provided much-needed freedom of movement. Many skaters originated as surfers and it's said that the first skateboard was invented when a surfer added wheels to his surfboard so that he could 'surf' on land.

With the big skateboarding revivial in the early 1970s skaters began to break away from the surfer style and create their own identity. While surfer identity was built around the natural environment of the sea and the beach, skaters were altogether more urban and their clothing developed to reflect this. During the 1980s skateboarding had a cult following, and they were catered for by independent specialist shops such as Slam City Skates in Covent Garden. By the 1990s skateboarding had generated a huge industry of label-based clothing and accessories that could now be found on the high-street.

The skater outfit in Brighton & Hove Museums' Renegade collection is typical of the late 1990s logo-based style.

Skateboard sneakers and trainers

Vans sneakers are regarded as the first purpose-designed skateboard trainers. The company was established in California in 1966. The early Vans shoe, with canvas upper and a flat rubber sole with a waffle tread, was closer to a plimsole or canvas deck-shoe than to a performance sports shoe.

Tony Lord describes the footwear skaters wore in Brighton:

'Before we started getting the American's Vans skateboard shoes over here we wore Dunlop. Green Flash tennis shoes were the best ones cos they had quite a good grippy sole ... but the original Vans skateboard shoes were briliant, they were just, you know, people wore them because they worked ... They had this like waffle print sole which just seemed to be really, really grippy.'

Oral history interview in Brighton & Hove Museums' Renegade collection, OH000183

		The modern skate shoe (above) by companies such as Airwalk, Duffs and DC is easily recognised by its chunky padded shape and thick flat sole designed to withstand the wear and tear of skateboarding. However, in recent years there has been a noticeable revival of the early style Vans skate shoe with its slimmer profile and coloured or patterned canvas upper.
Es trainers, side view, CT003820