Converse Skateboarding introduces Parlour
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For months before Converse Skateboarding officially launched, the brands program was engulfed in a thick, wondrous cloud of mystery.
Rumours went wild detailing the design specifics of the highly anticipated line of shoes, as well as who would be the companies very first riders. Doubters and haters were quick to pass judgement and perpetuate the hearsay.
In time, countless notions both reasonable and ridiculous passed until one day, when it all became official. Converse Skateboarding's official website launched, "Cons" ad files were sent off to the major mag presses and seemingly overnight, a new shoe brand was born. And as it turned out, it was all worth the wait.
Not only was Converse's team top freakin' notch - Pappalardo, Fowler, Molinar, Trapasso and Baca, their shoes were cleanly designed and manufactured strictly for skateboarding. In my mind, there was no question. Converse Skateboarding was on it.
And now, with the release of Parlour, the brands first installment of a zine, mag, kinda timeless-coffee-table-book, my respect for the brand continues to grow.
Parlour is a super nicely put together, beautifully bound book that's available in select skate shops for free. Yep, for nothin'. It's available in 5 different covers (a different one of their riders on each cover) and gives a unique look into Converse's ecclectic team, as well as some other things. On the rider side of the book, there's a Polaroid photo essay from Raymond Molinar, an in-depth look at Pops and his Brooklyn wood shop, a glance at Nick Trapasso's T-shirt collection, words and sick photography of Ethan Fowler and a little profile on Las Vegas madman, Samma Baca. In addition to team stuff, there's stories on Sa-Ra, Sid Abruzzi, the KCDC crew, OG Shut member Jeremy Henderson, Quim Cardona and the king of Queens, Rodney Torres. Plus there's artwork by Mr. Bingo, Dennis McNett, Jeff Proctor and more.
In skateboarding, respect can rightfully only be earned. And from the way Converse has entered skating, they without a doubt have my blessing. Now let's just hope these Parlour issues keep coming.
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Converse Skateboarding introduces Parlour (text) by Jay Riggio is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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