HISTORY OF SKATE SHOES - PT 1

What did you think of the Nike Blazers?
We just thought they were for skating because they were just a high-top Vans style shoe, but it looked a lot better. It was leather, it had a really smooth appearance and the colour combinations were really classy – blue with a white stripe, white with the red stripe or the grey stripe or the black stripe. In the photos I remember the Nikes were all in perfect condition. And the Vans were a little bit thrashed so maybe that stuck in my head as well.

Nike is a fascinating company when it comes to skate. What did you think about the new brand? 
It was the marketing. The guys that were using them at the time, if they had tried to do that straight off the bat with this new range in the last decade, they would’ve been successful. Back then in the seventies there were only three brands – Vans, Nike and Converse – now there’s dozens.

Tell me about those Sparks, I remember shoes like that from my school days.
I never rode those but I used to ride Bata Bullets, they were a high-top version, canvas, very thin with no padding. But they were a good shoe, they were cheap, that’s what we had access to in New Zealand.

Can’t imagine kids putting up with that now. Do you remember seeing Jordans for the first time?
The first person I remember would’ve been Lance Mountain or Chris Miller. When it came out, everyone was still wearing Vans.