Not enough room on the catwalk exists for the alternative and underground sects of fashion, yet the skateboarder industry thrives.
Geoff Dumont, a photography senior, and Ben Boone, a education sophmore, both have been skateboarding since before grade school. They do not see that fashion has anything to do with their hobby. They said they do it because it is fun.
“I was four when I started,” Boone said. “I got it [a skateboard] from my older brother. I picked it up, and it was fun. I’ve been skating ever since.”
Neither Boone nor Dumont claim that fashion has anything to do with skateboarding around campus in between classes.
The truth of the matter is that the skateboard industry is a multi-million dollar one. Multiple Web sites geared toward skaters are donned with news information, competition schedules, and most importantly, advertisements and links to Web sites that sell shoes, clothes and music.
At Monsterskate.com, columnist Tim O’Conner wrote about the trends of skaters. Wearing all black is one of the hottest trends right now, as well as in the past, according to O’Conner.
Not all skateboarders are passive when it comes to fashion. English freshman Bobby Delhomme said he likes to look the part while skateboarding around campus.
“I hate mainstream clothes anyway,” Delhomme said. “I never think about what I wear, so I fit in with the stereotype I guess.”
The skateboarder look is not new to the world of fashion. Ever since the ’60s, when the skateboard was invented, a certain “look” was cultivated. Regardless of how “underground” and “alternative” it is, the fashion trend surrounding skateboarders is hitting stores everywhere.
The unkept look of skateboarders add to their appeal, said engineering sophomore Sarah Comeaux.
“Their fashion appeal is that they have none,” Comeaux said. “It must take a lot of confidence to look like you don’t care about anything.”
Boone said the confidence appeal might be fabricated by outsiders.
“It actually lowers your confidence when you bust your ass on campus,” Boone said.
Whatever skaters think or what the masses believe, the fashion industry, including Innes Clothing, Es footwear and Emerica is going nowhere.
When an alternative group gets international representation, like the International Association of Skateboard Companies, that aims to sell, fashion follows.