This is a comment I left under the video of a youtuber named Dale Decker by the title of WHAT HAPPENED TO SKATE SHOES? I just wanted somewhere to leave my thoughts on skater owned brands so I found this website. If any skaters read this, just remember, support skater owned brands, not big wigs. I've skated Nike and Adidas trainers, and it doesn't take long to realise that the majority of the time they make far superior trainers (probably due to their big ass bank accounts). And after experimenting with various brands after my first year and a half skating I've personally settled on Emerica as my shoes of choice. I feel as if there is nothing wrong with choosing to wear Nike and Adidas or other corporate brand shoes as at the end of the day they have the money to let people live comfortably and do the thing we all love, skateboarding. Saying this tho, I will always back and suggest to others asking that they too back core skate brands. The reasons being that the people right at the top of these companies really love and understand skating the way that the average skater does, for the simple freedom of liberation and expression it gives us as people from our day to day lives, as well as the connection it brings us to others in the skate community. These people will always go further for skateboarding than the people at the top of the corporate companies. Now fashion these days is clearly a big part of skating, and young people and young skaters in general are vary conscious of how they look as well as fitting in (ironic given how skating and the scene surrounding it started), so if Nike and Adidas shoes and clothes make you feel better about how you look then for sure go for that, but the question you really need to ask when settling on what brand of skate product you are going to buy is, if skating stopped being trendy and fashionable and didn't rack in all the money it does these days and all the camo trouser wearing, toe capping, thrasher tee loving, nike match court wearing skaters suddenly upped and vanished, and the money was hard to come by even for the big corporates, who would really still be trying to make these shoes and clothes and boards etc? your Nikes and Adidas' and New balances? or the Emerica's, Es' and Lakai's? some of the core companies have gone under before and they still came back, why? because the real skaters REALLY love this shit man. So support their hussle, not a big wig stealing your money.