After much speculation, it’s finally official. World renowned skater Eric Koston is now a member of the Nike Skateboarding team.
Eric had this to say: “Not only am I psyched to be a part of the great group of guys that makes up the Nike SB team, but I’m equally as excited to work with them creatively. I’m sure many people know that a lot of different Nike’s have been the inspiration for my shoe designs over the last 12 years, so I feel like a fucking kid in a candy store when it comes to this partnership between Nike and I.”
Safe to say, we’re extremely excited to see what comes of this. Nike SB has already released an Eric Koston signature t-shirt in an LA Lakers colorway. Have a look after the jump.
Via Arkitip
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NIKE GOT THERE GROOVE BACK!
Koston owned a part of lakai and they have not been doing great since the economy fell…Rather than trying to help lakai and wait for things to get better he sold his shares of lakai then sold out to the highest bidder which was between Nike and Vans (Vans is also a huge corporate beast #2 Poser shoe IMO)…This year there will be some major shoe brands and skate brands go under…Nike is a major part of the problem…Call me fuckin gay or whatever you want, but the truth is that Nike forces you to buy so many of their shoes every season and small shops end up having to cancel orders from real skate shoe companies to give all their money to Nike…That is the truth and you cannot argue with that….The current trend will put out even more core skateshops out of business until the only place left to buy your skate shit is Sport’s Authority…That’s Fuckin Gay As HELL!!!!!!
I definitely think that it’s a great move from a financial standpoint. Koston stands to make a ton of money both from and for Nike, so both parties involved will win. Also, some of the original Koston shoes from his days on eS were straight-up Jordan rip-offs. So, even from a creative standpoint, the move still makes sense. He’s still on Girl, which is a part of the Crailtap family that owns Lakai, which at least suggests that he’s still cool with all of the folks over at Lakai.
For me, as long as Nike SB starts to step things up and comes out with an original shoe for Koston, then it’s definitely something worth paying attention to. But if they simply re-brand some Blazers or some Dunks with a new colorway and call them the ‘Kostons’, then it will come off as nothing more than a wasted opportunity for both of them.
But I don’t think that it’s really a case of him selling out or that it’s as simple as Nike trying to make a quick buck. It’s a smart move for both of them, and it shows that Nike is making an effort to invest in some of the premier athletes of skateboarding after having already put together a pretty solid team.
As for Lakai- their team is still extremely hot, even without someone like Koston. And the product speaks for itself. Skaters over the years have shown that they will consistently support the skate industry, regardless of what major corporations like Nike decide to do. The overwhelming majority of Nike SB purchases are made by sneakerheads and not skaters. Visit any public skatepark and you’ll notice that Nikes probably make up less than 5% of the shoes that the skaters are actually wearing and skating in. The remaining 95% are either Lakai, Circa, Vans (yes, another large corporation) etc.
Bottom line: Nike made a smart move by acquiring Koston, and Koston was wise to accept the offer. Lakai doesn’t seem to be in any danger of going under in the immediate future. And as long as skaters still exist, skater-owned companies will continue to succeed as well.
i think this is a poor decision for koston. it is indeed selling out, since nike has no intention of using koston’s input in designing HIS shoe. i know this because i have friends at both nike AND girl/chocolate. it is a simple money issue. nike is paying koston a LOT of money to be there, that’s it. no, i don’t believe that many skate shops will go under because of it, nor do i think any less of koston as a person. i just think nike has no deserving place in skateboarding.
when re-launching their skate shoe line, nike issued a 10-year plan to all employees working on the line. this was a cut and run plan based on how long the projected value of a skateboard related market appeared to be profitable. when it hit it’s peak, nike vowed to leave. apparently it hasn’t “hit it’s peak” yet.
vans, on the other hand (a huge corporation) started out as a skateboard shoe company. they got big because they make a good sneaker FOR skateboarding. they were there when skateboarding was at it’s least popular and nobody bothered to buy skate shoes, trying their hardest just to survive. (especially when the giants like vision street wear and airwalk fled with their tails between their legs only to re-emerge years later as retro, old school throwbacks owned by conglomerates like payless and wal-mart)
they bought their way in, as did nike. fuck ‘em. hopefully the skaters riding for nike make a buck or two then kick them to the curb where they belong for something better.