Feb 17 22 under Articles, Interviews | Comments Off on Hypebeast Presents: Sole Mates – Kyle Stewart and the Vans Mike Carroll Pro Model
“For their latest issue of Sole Mates, HYPEBEAST caught up with Goodhood’s co-founder Kyle Stewart, a master of understated cool and a voice for authenticity, at his home in London to discuss how sneakers have informed his life, and why shoes such as the Vans Mike Carroll Pro Model remain in his collection after all these years”.
CLICK ON THE PIC ABOVE TO READ THE ARTICLE OVER ON HYPEBEAST
We love ourselves some Goodhood! I just thought this was a cool article, featuring an OG heavy hitter so enjoy! -Guamstyles
Vans is proud to present A Look Back: DogTown and Z-Boys, a retrospective of Stacy Peralta’s award-winning documentary that marks the film’s 20-year anniversary. Directed by Glen E. Friedman alongside filmmaker Eric Matthies, A Look Back: DogTown and Z-Boys revisits the documentary’s original cast to explore the film’s impact—not only on their lives, but on the culture of skateboarding.
Many original Z-Boys return to the screen for A Look Back, including Peralta, Peggy Oki, Wentzle Ruml, Skip Engblom, Paul Constantineau, Jim Muir and Tony Alva. A Santa Monica native and one of Vans first skate team riders, Alva’s name is forever linked to skateboarding’s origins. As a teenager in the ‘70s, he collaborated with Vans to create the brand’s first true “Off The Wall” shoe for skateboarding. More than four decades later, Alva’s story is just as powerful, immortalizing him as a revolutionary who turned Dogtown into skateboarding’s intrepid capital.
“The original film not only shed light on the foundation of modern skateboarding, it showed us the stories of those who made it happen,” Friedman said. “Our film goes a bit deeper into what some of the participants thought of the film they stared in, and how it has since affected their and how it has since affected their lives and their brothers who have passed since its release 20 years ago.”
Friedman, who makes his directorial debut with A Look Back, is universally considered as one of the most prominent photographers of his generation, most well-known for his influential images of rebellious artists from skateboarding, punk and hip hop. Ranging from the Beastie Boys, Run-D.M.C. and Ice-T, to Z-Boys Alva and Jay Adams, Friedman’s photographs cemented the importance of these radical subcultures at their beginnings. His work is included in notable international collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Smithsonian Institution. Eric Matthies, who co-produced the film, is known for his broadcast, cinema and multi-media projects, and has produced globally recognized documentaries that have garnered a PGA Award, Grammy nomination, NAACP Image Award nomination, LAFF Audience Choice award, Saturn award, and Social Justice Fund nomination. A Look Back: DogTown and Z-Boys premiered globally on September 23 at the 2021 Paris Surf & Skate Film Festival.
“The Zephyr crew had an enormous impact on my peers and I, not only as skaters, but as artists and filmmakers,” Matthies said. “This project was a great opportunity to give something back to our skate community.”
The original DogTown and Z-Boys documentary rose to critical acclaim after its release in 2001, led by director and original Zephyr skateboard team member Stacy Peralta, and was co-written by Craig R. Stecyk III and co-produced by Friedman. Chronicling the rise of skateboarding in backyard pools in 1970s’ Santa Monica and Venice, the original documentary drew on a compilation of vintage images and video clips combined with present-day interviews, encapsulating how the Z-Boys ultimately created a skateboarding subculture that defined a generation and influenced those to come. The original documentary won two awards at Sundance Film Festival and an Independent Spirit Award in 2001.
Fellow Wafflehead, Clayton Boone (@wearingwaffles) and I get together for an hour long chat about Vans, Vans, and more Vans. He just started doing these Instagram Live videos, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each one he’s done. It’s grassroots and it’s simple, so don’t get turned off by the Zoom-esque audio and video quality! The content is still entertaining, I think? There’s no real format or style, other than just talking about Vans, and our love for them. We talked a little bit about how Under The Palms started. What a few of my favorite pairs are. Why I don’t care to show off my entire collection, and specifically my storage unit lol. I gossip a little. I name drop. I drop a little bit of a surprise at the end, in regards to this year’s 31 Days of Vans campaign. You don’t want to miss a second of this fun little interview we did. I’ll definitely be back to talk more with Clayton, and hopefully his following will have grown 10x in size! I’m stoked that he actually created something, that to be honest I’ve been trying to think of a way to do for a long time, but for one, I didn’t know where to start, but second, I just don’t like to be on the front side of the camera. I guess I need to work on that. Maybe we’ll start doing something like this one day. Maybe!
Vans is excited to announce the launch of Channel 66, a digital livestream network broadcasting weekdays from New York City, Chicago, Mexico City, and Los Angeles to audiences around the world. Vans version of community radio meets public access TV, Channel 66 is an embodiment of Vans’ commitment to support artists and creatives while also uplifting communities during such an unprecedented time. The COVID-19 pandemic has forever altered the events landscape and Vans has a deep history of reimagining event experiences and grassroots programs.
Channel 66 spotlights each city’s unique heritage in sub-culture by programming through the lens of the people who live it. Channel 66 offers a live audio and video broadcast featuring DJ sets, curated radio shows, talks, workshops, and musical performances across music, art, action sports and community. The General in Brooklyn, NY, House of Vans Chicago, Mexico City (broadcasting Spanish speaking shows), and Vans DTLA serve as Channel 66 studio locations.
Programming highlights include curated shows like Chessboxing with GZA, New Direction New York Hardcore show with Walter Schreifels, Afropunk’s Channel Interference, Poetry and lyricism by Young Chicago Authors, The Girl Ultra Show connecting music and fashion, and All Ages Show spotlighting Los Angeles’s rich heritage in DIY and punk.
Early show guests and DJs feature Japanese Breakfast, Channel Tres, Vic Mensa, Laura Jane Grace, Duckwrth, Rosa Pistola, Flea, Serena Isioma, Vans Pro skater Daniel Lutheran and many more. Additionally, Channel 66 turns over the airwaves to local skate shops, restaurants, music venues, and independent record labels.
Channel 66 went live on February 8th and will continue to broadcast starting at 11:00am EST / 8:00 am PST every weekday with Friday nights featuring marquee live performances and dance-oriented DJ sets. As distance and separation from others has become an unfortunate reality for everyone across the world, Vans strives to cultivate Channel 66 as a place where audiences from all walks of life can come together to find inspiration.
To stay up to date with Channel 66 broadcasts and upcoming events online follow along at vans.com/channel66.
Sep 17 20 under Events, Heritage, History, Interviews, Pro, Videos | Comments Off on Vans Presents: The Tony Alva Story – Premiering Worldwide Today at 5pm PST (9.17.20)
VANS PRESENTS
THE TONY ALVA STORY
Written and Directed by Coan “Buddy” Nichols & Rick Charnoski from Six Stair Productions
FOLLOWED BY Q&A SESSION WITH TONY ALVA AND SPECIAL GUESTS
The year-long wait is finally over! Skateboarding critics and fans worldwide can rejoice today, as Vans, the original action sports footwear and apparel brand, premieres the highly anticipated full-length Loveletters to Skateboarding feature documentary on the legendary “Godfather of Skateboarding”, Tony Alva. Tune in today on Vans’ YouTube at 5PM PST to experience the global livestream premiere of The Tony Alva Story. Following the documentary, a special Q&A hosted by fellow Vans skate legend Christian Hosoi will feature Tony Alva himself, original Z-Boy Peggy Oki, Vans Signature Pro Elijah Berle, and Six Stair directors Rick Charnoski and Buddy Nichols.
Vans is proud to present Credits, a full-length skateboarding film featuring an all-women’s cast, shot and directed by filmmaker and skateboarder Shari White. Watch the live world premiere and Q&A session on Youtube.com/Vans beginning 4/21 at 12pm PST.
Just under a year in the making, Credits celebrates the diverse energy and personalities of the global women’s skate community. With a talented cast led by three underground favorites — Una Farrar, Breana Geering, and Fabiana Delfino —the film highlights the unique, individual style and expression of a group of friends that skate, hang and travel together.
Credits marks an important milestone for the women’s skateboarding community, exposing a title that in jest challenges the idea that women have often only been showcased in the “credits” section of skate videos. Here, in stark contrast to the former status quo, Una, Breana and Fabiana emerge, gracing the screen with full, complete parts in their own major video.
“Everyone had the opportunity to film their best skating over the past year, with their homies cheering them on,” film director White said of the project. “That is what skateboarding is all about! The laughter and friendship, along with the battles—I hope viewers get a sense of that feeling.”
The film includes cameo appearances from Vans team riders and friends, Beatrice Domond, Cher Strauberry, Clara Solar, Poppy Olsen (who also serves as the film’s art director), Helena Long, Adelaide Norris, Dayana Young and director Shari White herself.
“Credits is just some best friends having a good time and making a skate video,” added Geering.
Credits was shot in 4:3 with a mix of HD and Super 8, with footage captured across the US and Canada, in addition to Melbourne, Australia and Barcelona, Spain between April 2019 and March 2020.
To learn more about the Vans skateboarding program, visit vans.com/skate.
Attention!! Calling on everyone in our Vans community and beyond! I’ve got an important mission that I’m hoping you all can get behind me on. I wanted to do something special for a special group of kids down in the OC, with a few of my friends from Waves of Grace, @ofthesamevein and @thelab_bp. These kids’ situation sucks, to put it lightly. If you have HBO, please search for the documentary “Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County”. The doc is about 10 yrs old, but the school still exists and supports new kids each year through their charity Hero For Kids. Let’s get together and show these kids that we fully support them and just show how amazing our Vans community is!
Who knew that what started out as just another brand of sneaker to collect, would grow into something as big and impactful, as what my friends and I have built over the past decade. Under The Palms was created as a Vans community gathering place, which slowly turned into a worldwide community, which turned into a culture. All over the world, there are now pockets of Vans collecting communities, with their own branding and names, and it’s growing each day. The more I learned about Vans’ heritage, I found that their same values of being original, authentic, and different, are ideals that so many others around the globe also believe in. So when my friends at Vans reached out to me to learn about collecting Vans, I was more than happy to introduce them to my long list of friends, but they wanted to hear it from me instead, and so here I am as one of the selected Vans Brand Ambassadors for 2019, representing the worldwide Vans sneaker collecting community, who are being dubbed #waffleheads. I hope I’ve represented us properly, and in a way that can speak for us all. We chose to go left, when everybody was going right!
Please feel free to share this video on as many platforms as you possibly can. Not for me, but for all of us. I’ve always wanted Vans to recognize us all, and to find a way to connect with their Vans sneaker collecting community, similar in how Sole Collector did with Nike. I want this campaign to reach all over the world, to show our strength in numbers. I promise to do my work and try to bring more of you on this journey, to tell some of your stories as well. It’s more than just buying sneakers. Oh and by the way, I’m actually from Glendora, not Ventura. I guess that sounded more glamorous, lol? Check out the rest of the waffleheads over at https://www.vans.com/waffleheads.
Check out our gatekeeper to Vans’ past, Henry aka @pillowheat, as his The Other Side Of The Pillow business is featured on INSIDER’s youtube channel. Gotta love our heritage, and it’s cool to see it being shared via new platforms!
“Instagrammer Henry Davies has a 5000-strong Vans collection, featuring nearly 700 pairs of sneakers. The bulk of the collection is in a store room in Clapton, east London, but items are also for sale at the Vans store in London’s Carnaby Street.”
May 22 17 under Friends, Heritage, History, Interviews, Vintage | Comments Off on Goodhood: A History Of Vans Interview With Henry Davies of @pillowheat #theothersideofthepillow
Goodhood recently caught up with Vans’ #1 vintage Made In USA collector/archivist, and a friend we know well, Henry, of The Other Side of the Pillow. If you want to step up your vintage Vans game, we suggest you take a lesson or two from @pillowheat, because we do, and we’re always learning something new, and uncovering new vintage Vans all the time. We don’t want to step on the interview, so we’ll just let you read it over on Goodhood’s site!
Check out and add to our collaborative playlist on Spotify. Let's hear some of your favorite, obscure, B-side, and personal selections. The funkier and more eclectic it gets, the better. Let's show everyone how much range our community has!
