Dailystoke will be doing a Contest & Giveaway next week with AIRWALK, one of the sickest skate/surf/snow brands. Ahead of this ridiculously stoked giveaway, we sat down with Eric Dreyer, VP of Brand Management, to get the skinny on the company that defined skateboarding culture. Read on to hear about the new Airwalk styles, what Airwalk looks for in skaters/surfers they sponsor, and how the Unsigned Hero Contest could launch you in musical stardom…so you can give up that day job. Read on, the secrets are all here….
dailystoke: Tell us about how Airwalk got started….we remember back to the '80s, vulcanized soles, then Tony Hawk and a time when it seemed like Airwalk sponsored literally every skateboarder…
AIRWALK: In the late 1970’s skateboarding took off as surfers in Southern California searched for another means of expression on flat days. As skateboarding continued to grow, it experienced a rift with two distinct groups being formed. One group, skating in debris basins and drainage ditches, became the “soul surfers” reaching for nirvana through style and grace. Another group, however, decided to use skateboarding as an expression by highlighting bravado and technical proficiency. Spending most of their time in backyard pools throughout SoCal, this second group literally leaped to new tricks that demanded personal athleticism and spawned the type of skateboarding that is today considered standard.
Then enter 1986. Skateboarding’s new movement continued to push the boundaries of what was done before and, in response to these demands, Airwalk was born. Airwalk was the first brand to combine innovative styling with high performance features, including rubber soles for better deck grip and the use of reinforced materials for those parts of the shoe that were getting destroyed by aggressive new tricks. At the same time, the brand’s innovative imaging acted as a loudspeaker for the independent and rebellious voice of the movement. With all of its efforts focused on this new stream of consciousness, the Airwalk brand quickly became a symbol of the cultural re-birth of skateboarding and, with time, was recognized as one of the pioneering leaders of the industry.
dailystoke: and then came the alternative dream team? how and why did the Airwalk sponsored team get built?
AIRWALK: Airwalk quickly established itself as a brand that stood for what was authentic and pure about skateboarding. As the company continued to develop new products built specifically for skaters, it helped them achieve higher levels of performance. At the same time, youth culture was beginning to celebrate the skaters that invented new tricks and always seemed to be pushing the boundaries of what could be done on a skateboard. These skaters, true athletes who were becoming household names, and Airwalk worked closely with them. Airwalk became the brand identified with individuals that stood for the best of performance within skateboarding, including the very first Airwalk team
member. . . Tony Hawk.
In the years that followed, Airwalk continued to work with some of the most important riders in the industry including Christian Hosoi, Jason Lee, Mike Vallely, Tom Curren, Rob Machado, Eric Koston, Danny Way, Colin McKay, Geoff Rowley, Noah Salasnek, Todd Richards, Tina Basich, Andy Macdonald, Jamie Lynn, Shaun Palmer, Dave Mirra, Matt Hoffman, Felix Arguelles, Jason Dill, Tarquin Robbins, Dave Durren, Neil Hendrix, Christian Fletcher, Bucky Lasek, Van Homan, The Foster Brothers, Matt Cummins, Kalani Robb, Dave England, , Rob Roskopp, Peter King. Matt Mumford, Steve Berra, Don Szabo, Simon Woodstock, Andy Hetzel, Andrew Reynolds, Mike Frazier, Cain Gayle, Terry Kidwell, Erik Leines, Shannon Dunn, Neil Drake and Devun Walsh.
dailystoke: Holy sh!t, you guys really did work with everybody! There are some legends on that list….OK, so what does the Airwalk brand represent now?
AIRWALK: As a brand Airwalk is really not that different than we were back in the day. At our core, we have always been, and continue to be tied to action sports. Which is why we do things like sponsor a sick team of skaters, surfers, snowboarders and motoX guys. At the same time, we know that a lot of the people who love Airwalk have other things they are really into, like music, art and design. So, we are heavily into music, for example, with our Unsigned Hero Contest http://www.airwalk.com/ush/ each year and our partnership with AP magazine. Basically, the brand is all about supporting and progressing the things that matter to youth and finding ways to use these same things to inspire the shoes and apparel that are designed by Airwalk.
dailystoke: What surfers is Airwalk sponsoring now, how does the sponsorship process work, how and why does Airwalk choose who to work with?
AIRWALK: Airwalk sponsors pro surfers Anastasia Ashley and Warren Metcalfe, both based in Southern California. Anastasia and Warren have been with Airwalk for three years now and are great ambassadors for the brand because not only are they well respected in the surf community but they also have a mainstream following. When looking for athletes to add to the team we search for riders that are skilled in their discipline and garner a lot of media exposure in magazines, online and on TV. It is also important that these athletes have a great personality and look and are involved with multiple things not just their one sport. We try to find well rounded riders that are passionate about what they do and speak highly of the brand.
dailystoke: Is skateboarding Airwalk's core sport, and how does Surfing fit into it?
AIRWALK: Airwalk originated as a skate brand but quickly made its way into other action sports like surfing, BMX, and snowboarding. Surfing has been a part of Airwalk’s history for a long time sponsoring legends like Kelly Slater, Tom Curren and many others. Nowadays skate still remains the authenticator for the brand but the surf lifestyle is engrained in everything we do.
dailystoke: Where can our readers buy Airwalk?
AIRWALK: Shop the new Airwalk e-commerce experience at http://airwalk.com/shop/
dailystoke: The decision to sell at Payless, how to you avoid going mass market but still reach everybody? Would Airwalk ever consider just selling in skate and surf shops?
AIRWALK: Honestly, we are focused on our brand first. Building a great brand that is authentic, relevant and meaningful to youth consumers. We think that if we do that right then people will want the brand. If people want the brand then we have a something to talk about, or to offer retailers to help them grow their businesses, regardless of what type of retailer they are. We think we are doing that from the brand side, we have worked with lots of different types of retailers, and continue to be open to working with any retailer and trying to find a way to make the brand make sense to their type of business.
dailystoke: Tell us about the Prototype high top design, the Protoype 600 Fahrenheit as its known?
AIRWALK: In the late 80’s the Airwalk brand took it upon themselves to look at skateboarding footwear from a technical aspect. Until then skaters were rocking stripped down suede vulcanized shoes or basketball hi tops like the early Jordans. It was now time to look at ways to improve the skate characteristics of these shoes like greater durability and grip in the ollie area, increased padding in the collar and tongue and really stylizing the shoes to go along with the rest of the crazy gear associated with the 1980’s.
The Prototype 600 F Series Design features positioned flex grooves for increased forefront mobility, textured outsole design for maximum grip on all surfaces, full EVA midsole with removable molded footbed for maximum cushioning, comfortable and soft padded collar, speed lacing system, durable ollie protection, thick toe wrap for protection, and ankle flex point for maximum tweak.
dailystoke: What is Airwalk ‘Doing Your Part' about?
AIRWALK: The world around us is changing and Airwalk will do everything it can to support our communities and environment in a way that stimulates positive change.
Doing Your Part is an Airwalk cause program that empowers our consumers to give back to the environment and community through a simple interaction on Airwalk.com. In 2009, consumers could come to the airwalk.com/doingyourpart website, enter their email address and Airwalk would give that consumer $1 to donate toward one of the specified causes in our new cause menu. The cause menu consisted of two incredible organizations that are relevant to Airwalk’s youth consumers…..Music for Relief and Surfrider Foundation. It was a simple program that empowered and engaged our consumers to do their part while interacting with the Airwalk brand. The consumers drive this program, Airwalk makes the donation in their name and everyone wins! Airwalk will have a similar Doing Your Part program running at the end of 2010.
dailystoke: good stuff, thanks Eric.
i Had a Pair before, Great shoe, really solid. i wore them every day for well over a year.