Gilbert Crockett is easily Vans most iconic skater. Since joining the crew in 2009 he has been nothing shy of unstoppable. From the beginning Gilbert stayed true to himself and what he liked. He didn’t ride anything for a sponsor or for some money, he used what he wanted. He even skated all of 2015, including his parts in Propeller, without a sponsor. Which is rather unlikely for a professional. Right away the team at Vans realized he was not just a skater. He began helping the design team with ideas and colorways. Gilbert has always been greatly influenced by art, music, and simply expression. Which is why he was able to expand his repertoire from not just landing sweet tricks but also to design and art. He now has two pro pairs of vans that each have many of their own unique colorways. His true colors as a creator have been able to show more recently as he has started his own company called Quasi. Quasi is the fastest expanding skate company anyone has seen in years. Quasi boards, shirts, and caps have taken over the skate scene. As well as an increased popularity in their videos. With Gilbert’s background from working with Vans and for his love to create the company had a solid base. He started the company alongside his friends Tyler Bledsoe and Jake Johnson. Two people just as eager to make an impact as he was. Their journey as a company began after Gilbert was randomly fired off the Alien Workshop team. Alien workshop or AWS fired its team and shut down for about a year without any notice to its members. The crew was stranded but Gilbert did not wait for something to happen to him. He went out with his friends and followed his dream. In return we now have Quasi skateboards. Gilbert still rides for Vans, Spitfire, and Independent Trucks but now doing so while managing his business. Since Gilbert has gotten older and especially as Quasi has taken off  he has spent less time skating and more time creating. Yet his talent as a boarder is unquestioned. Vans archives show off his ability and skill and prove that over the years neither has faltered.

Kyle Walker was born on January 19th, 1994 in Oklahoma. As a teenager all he ever wanted to do was skate. His mom was worried about his grades and eventually he started homeschooling. But even that seemed to just be in his way, it was clear from a young age he was a talented skateboarder. When he was sixteen years old he left his family and moved to Los Angeles where he began his skating career. He quickly got picked up by sponsors and programs in LA. By 2013 he was riding for Vans and was beginning to appear in viral skate videos. And it was through Vans Kyle was able to really get his name out. With the release of Vans legendary video “Propeller” in 2015 Kyle became well known for huge grinds and daring tricks. He wasn’t just some kid from OKC anymore, he was a true pro and one of the best at that. He was already landing tricks that won’t be forgotten, such as his “six kink” 5050 grind (which hopefully you can see here). Around the time of propeller coming out Kyle got his first signature shoe with Vans. A simply beautiful shoe with a wafflecup sole. One of the first vans with such. He had traveled the world with the Vans team to film and to do a tour of Propeller. Skateboarding opened doors for him he only could dream of as a kid. Yet he never forgot about his hometown. The first ever “Kyle Walker Day” was held and celebrated at a skate park in Oklahoma. Where Kyle spent time with fans and gave away all sorts of gifts. With doing so much in 2015 it was looking like 2016 would be a big year for the young skater, which it was. He won Thrasher Magazine’s Skater of The Year in 2016 without any debate. With sponsors like Real, Thunder, and Spitfire, Kyle was all over the place and it was well deserved. Despite rarely competing in SLS competitions he is still known as one of the better skaters there is today. When he did take some time for the SLS he got 10th in a massive international competition in Copenhagen. Yet its Kyle’s ability to stay fresh and new with everything he does that keeps him among the best.  

           Kevin Bradley went pro in May of 2015 and has been affecting the community since. Much like his best friend Na-Kel Smith, Kevin began to get recognition after in appearing in Supreme’s video Cherry and the Nike SB Chronicles 3 video. Kevin was recognized for his unique tricks by SLS pros and street skaters all around. However he didn’t wait for another video to come out before he got his name out.

            Kevin alongside Na-Kel Smith and Tyshawn Jones created a skateboard company called Hardies Hardware. Hardies sells bolts and screws alongside griptape and trucks, and despite the name the brand also has a large clothing line. Mainly releasing creative t-shirts designed mostly by Kevin and Tyshawn but occasionally sweatshirts and miscellaneous items. Hardies is now working on a collab with Adidas and has worked with other LA local skate brands in the past. Hardies took off alongside Kevin, as Kevin went SLS pro in 2016.Street League Skating wasn’t as popular to street skaters as it took out some of the edge and was limiting in a lot of ways. However 20 year old Kevin proved that street skaters have a place in the Vert scene.  More recently Kevin has created a shoe collab with NikeSB. Kevin is also well known for his parts in Illegal civilization. Illegal Civ is a skate company in which Kevin has appeared with many times. He has been on trips to Japan with the company and appeared in many if not all of their skate videos. The beautiful thing about skateboarding is it allows professional skaters to be supported by multiple brands and work with people from different teams. Kevin is now affiliated with NikeSB, Illegal Civilization, Supreme, and obviously Hardies Hardware. Not to mention working with brands such as Adidas and being an SLS pro. KB is the perfect example of someone who went after everything they wanted and taking it all.

 

        If you look at Illegal Civilizations website today it says “ Illegal Civilization is a skate crew that makes Videos and Clothes”. Mikey Alfred technically started his company Illegal Civilization when he was twelve years old, but when he was 15 years old he started hanging out with Tyler The Creator and the ODD Future Group. Mikey from and early age loved cameras and skateboarding. His friends would skate and he would film and he even began to film his friends at all times. It was clear he was passionate about film and film making early and OF began to use that to their advantage. Mikey began to travel with Odd Future making videos for them and recording concerts. The whole time Mikey was brainstorming and creating his dream. He began releasing clothes and videos under Illegal Civilization around 2011 with skater such as Ryder Mcclaughin, Na-Kel Smith, and Kevin Bradley.  The brand really caught fire around 2015 as streetwear picked up and the brand was supported by more famous skaters. With bright colors and interesting designs the brand has been picked up worldwide. 

         As of late Illegal Civilization will soon be releasing another clothing line towards the end of October, however Mikey has been more focuses on his directing. He helped Jonah Hill direct a movie titled Mid90’s which comes out on October 19th. The movie is about a boy coming of age living in LA. The boy is a skateboarder and the movie revolves around the street skate scene. It makes sense Jonah Hill would want Mikeys help on the film because it’s a movie about one of his favorite things. And is much in a way about the life he lived and so many of his friends also experienced. The movie stars three skater who all have skated for Illegal Civilization. The skaters being Na-Kel Smith, Ryder Mcclaughin, and Olan Prett. The movie is said to be relatable not only to skateboarders but just more so for the younger generations. It’s a story about brotherhood and families and Mikey is proud that this is the first film he really got to be apart of.

Na-kel Smith is a  24 year old skater from Inglewood, California and it was clear that from a young age Na-kel, also known as Nak, was something special. The name itself means Now Allah King Equality Love. Nak had the drive and ambition from a young age but was surrounded by people with different ideals and objectives. His family was always his largest support group and helped him when he began to think of skating as a career rather than a hobby. After middle school he began homeschooling rather than going to high school but after a couple of semesters of balancing his time between homeschooling and skating he received his first box from a skateboarding company called Lakai  and realized that his path was in the world of skating. he then started to get more boxes from other companies and signed with his dream company at the time, Real Skateboards. Real skateboards treated him well and he began to travel for skating and making videos. Nak enjoyed riding for Real however most of his good friends rode for different companies.  After roughly two years with Real a new clothing brand called Fucking Awesome had began to surface and was really popular amongst Nak and his friends. They immediately began displaying the brand unintentionally and got close with the owner of the company, Jason Dill. Slowly Na-kel and his friends realized that if FA started a skate team they could all still get to do what they love but together and under something they felt they could shape and mold. Soon after Jason Dill approached Nak and his friends about being Fucking Awesomes first ever skate team. Although Nak could feel right away this is what he wanted but he struggled with the idea of leaving Real and all of the relationships he had created there. After some consideration he knew that starting a skate team with FA was his dream and his next step. Real skateboards understood where he was coming from and he left without any hurt feelings. Nak then signed with FA and soon after went Pro. Na-kel then got his own board as did each other skater on the team. Soon after he officially started riding with supreme alongside FA and starred in the Cherry video. Nak had started to take off as a skater and a public figure in the skating community. Then Adidas reached out to him and he got his first signature shoe in early 2017. Since then he has released 5 signature colorways with Adidas. Na-kel Smith is living proof that if you work hard enough to accomplish your goals, nothing can stop you and he inspires the youth with that message daily.

I feel as if it’s only right that the first skater I talk about is none other than the late Dylan Rieder. The entire skating community took a blow on October 12th, 2016 with the passing of the 28 year old professional skater originally from Westminster, California. Dylan began skating at the age of nine and became pro at age eighteen when he was Skateboard magazines amateur skater of the year in 2006. Dylan spent his early career inspiring skaters to compete and perfect their craft. Dylan performed for the US in many x games and constantly released skate videos with companies like Alien Workshop to inspire. However in 2014 Dylan starred in a video called “Cherry” made by the clothing company Supreme.  As Rieder began to skate for supreme he started to take off outside skateboarding. Due in large part to Dylan and the Cherry video Supreme became one of if not the top street wear fashion brand in the United States. He then went on to appear in Vogue, GQ, and DKNY as a fashion model. People began to see someone who is normally frowned upon in a more positive and powerful light. Skateboarders are usually looked at as slackers or delinquents and when Dylan was able to inspire not only the skating world but also the fashion world people began to see skaters as the artists they are. Whether it was setting trends by skating in them or by modeling directly for the companies themselves Rieder, had become an icon. Where skating is normally looked as if it is meant for outcasts and weirdos because of people like Dylan skaters are beginning to looked at as people with a signature style whether its something simple like a pair of old beat up vans or if its the newest box logo hoodie. Dylan was always confident in himself and it showed, while being interviewed about fashion he said “Fuck, you’re asking the wrong person. What does fashionable even mean?” Dylan showed skateboarders and people of many different backgrounds that its better to just be yourself. Dylan got an opportunity to inspire in a different way than most and he faced it head on. He was diagnosed with leukemia in July of 2014. He was not only a skateboarding legend or a fashion icon, but now he had become a symbol of strength. The skating community watched as his cancer went into remission twice over two years, however as it came back the third time Dylan’s body couldn’t handle the treatments as well as the cancer and ultimately he passed away on the 12th of October. Despite having left this Earth Dylan’s impact will last forever, as he helped shape the skating community and left a huge mark on the fashion world.