The Thousands

A skater’s shoes are the most identifiable part of their wardrobe. Even though ‘normies’ discovered the majesty of Vans some time ago, only a real skater’s are a proud patchwork of holes and torn laces. This book charts the evolution from the first ever skate-specific shoe in the early seventies, through the fluoro eighties, then the bulky nineties and back again to the minimalist late-noughties. In fact, the latest skate shoe designs look exactly like the first ones.

The material for the book was sourced from the Museum of Skateboard History in Stuttgart, Germany, with accompanying text by Dirk Vogel from Kingpin magazine. Most of the shoes were photographed in a skated-in state, caked in shoe goo (which deserves it’s own section), unlike the glistening, pristine status symbols lusted over by sneaker fans.**This book could easily have been really embarrassing, but it’s actually very good. On the one hand, it’s an interesting cultural document, illustrating the growing pains of an anti-establishment industry, which eventually got into bed with big business. On the other, it’s a fun trip down memory lane, a chance to reminisce on all the stuff you loved as a kid and the memories attached to them.