Skateboarding has become a popular extreme sport that is far removed from its days in the underground. Skateboarding is now part of mainstream culture with all aspects of the skating lifestyle infiltrating our everyday lives. From Tony Hawk computer games to The Simpsons movie it has become part of popular culture. One of the big success stories of skateboarding has been the transition of skate clothing brands into high street stores. Skate clothing brands from Vans, Etnies shoes and Volcome clothing can all be found in high street sports shops.
Clothing brands like Volcome clothing and Vans shoes were originally founded by people that were involved in sports like skating and surfing. Thanks to their understanding of these sports it has allowed them to produce skate clothes that meet the needs of the average skateboarder and fit in with the skate clothes style. This has been resolved in many of the top clothing brands producing innovative designs that have attracted the attention of those outside of their key demographic.
Etnies shoes are a skateboarding brand that was started by a professional skateboarder from France and Volcome clothing was started by a couple of skate and snowboarding fans. Etnies shoes have gone on to produce some of the most respected and trusted skate shoes whilst Volcome have become the choice brand of the slopes with the Volcome snow range. Both these skateboarding clothing brands are proof that by designing clothes and footwear to increase performance for a specific sport you can create a successful clothing brand. DC Skate Shoes are another skate clothing brand that spends a large amount of research and development of DC footwear.