Au Revoir Es

It's a sad day in skateboarding and the end of an era. Es shoes is purportedly going out business, or as they put it "on hiatus". I know a lot of people probably don't give a shit but this is actually quite disheartening in the grand scheme of things. If es is going out of business, who's next? Growing up in my isolated Canadian skateboarding world, es was the shit. Sal, Koston, Penny, Muska, McCrank, Creager, the list of incredible and influential skaters who laced up a pair of es's goes on and on. To think that this legacy in skateboarding is to be no more is pretty scary. If a company that held this much weight and affected this many skater's lives is so easily left by the wayside, what does it take to survive?

Menikmati was one of the first skate videos I ever saw and it's not an over exaggeration to say it blew me away. Not only the technical level of skating that was achieved in the video but also the overwhelming style that oozed off of the TV screen made a such a huge impact on me that I am still writing about it today. I'm not really one to talk about negative shit on this blog but once and a while I feel a compelling responsibility to touch upon some of the things that are truly bumming me out.

I truly believe it is undeniably paramount for us as skaters to support the small(er) companies out there. The ones who are owned, or at least are rooted in this culture that means so much to us. I realize Adidas and Nike make a good product, there is no denying that. But at the end of the day do they really give two fucks about skateboarding and skaters? I think not. If we were all to fall off the face of the earth today Nike and Adidas would be no worse off then they are today. They still have basketball, football, soccer, golf, baseball and all the other sports that have helped build their empire. Companies like es on the other hand need us, the skateboarders, the ones who give a shit. They needed us to survive and perhaps we failed them, a company that was there for skateboarders all along. Perhaps we were blinded by the gleaming three stripes and intoxicating swoosh, a blindness so severe that it was too late before we realized what had happened in the absence of our sight. But it's not too late, it's never too late. If we start putting our money back into those companies who have always gave a shit about skateboarding and the culture it encompasses, then perhaps they will still be around when we need them most.

E