Skate style, from Tokyo Olympics to the fashion runway: why Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Fendi and other luxe brands are leaning into skateboarding

Hermès sells skateboards, Louis Vuitton has skate-inspired sneakers – luxury fashion has embraced skate culture, but some skaters wonder how long that will last

Famed skaters such as Dylan Rieder, Blondey McCoy and Evan Mock regularly front ad campaigns and walk runway shows for brands like Gucci, Burberry and Prada

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Japan’s Sakura Yosozumi in action at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Fashion has embraced the skateboarding culture, but some skaters are sceptical at how long that love can last. Photo: DPA

Abid Rahman

Published: 7:45pm, 30 Aug 2021Updated: 8:21pm, 30 Aug 2021

Delayed, disrupted and debt-riddled as it was, the Tokyo Olympics may never be seen as a success in the host country.

Still, there was one unqualified source of joy for Japan at the Games – the first ever skateboarding events, where Japan-born skaters won six of the 12 medals on offer.

The image of 19-year-old Sakura Yosozumi, Kokona Hiraki (now 13, but 12 when she won) and the Miyazaki-born, 13-year-old British skater Sky Brown on the medal podium for the women’s park skateboarding event pointed to not just Japan’s strength in skateboarding but also the youthful vibrancy of a sport at the peak of its popularity.

Unlike most other events at the Games, skateboarding received as much coverage in the fashion press as it did in the sports press. The likes of Hypebeast, Teen Vogue, GQ, Dezeen, Highsnobiety and Nylon all posted rolling coverage on the striking, street-ready uniforms of the skaters – which inevitably sold out in hours.

Cory Juneau of the United States competes in the men’s park skateboarding final at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: Kyodo

Driving this media attention has been high fashion’s embrace of skateboarding and its culture over the last few years. Famed skaters such as Dylan Rieder, Blondey McCoy and Evan Mock regularly front advertising campaigns and walk runway shows for luxury brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Burberry and others.