2015, for myself at least, went by in a flash. A lot of big things happened, starting with another great competition at SD, numerous street jams, a ton of amazing videos, and overall growth of the sport. Take a look back at the trends that made the year 2015 stand out from the rest:
1. The 2015 “Street” Uniform:
-Hightop Converse
-Dickies (slim straights, cuffed)
-Dad hat
-Coach jacket
-Polo shirt
Not too long ago this instead used to comprise of Janoskis and five panels. Instead, another Nike owned brand, Converse, took the scoot scene by storm, with riders everywhere lacing up a pair of hightops. Dad hats have been in vogue as well- spurred in part by Sky High’s limited release of a few different dad hats, and by secondhand shoppers everywhere. Or maybe it was an attempt to pull off the “dad bod” everyone was talking about like eight months ago. Clothing trends do stay for quite a while so I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of dad-fashion continuing into 2016.
2. The Sex Change
Probably my least favorite trend of 2015 has been the on purpose sex change. Into grinds, out of grinds, in spins, kids everywhere do them as if it adds any real value to a trick. These Caitlyn Jenners, as I call them, require little to no skill. It’s fine if you think they’re fun to do, but don’t act like a boardslide to sexchange out is any cooler than a plain boardslide. It’s a gimmick, and will surely die out. I have to admit though, Brian Chavez’s half cab sexchange to switch front board was an amazing use of a sexchange. Will it continue on in the new year? I’d say it’ll mostly die out, but keep living on through at least a few people.
3. The Feebzer
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| Nathan Flemongo ia Root Industries |
Already the topic of many discussions were “feebzer/hanger/feeble” and their smith counterparts. Tying into the “zeach” as well, the merit and actual existence of these tricks were debated widely over Instagram and Facebook. Regardless of what you call em, it seems these are here to stay. Lets hope the conversations about them are over, now that we semi-officially have proper names for them.
4. The Full Whip
Yet another trick with a big year is the full whip. Full whips have been utilized by a few riders for years, but it wasn’t until the past couple years that the average rider started throwing them. We’ve seen them thrown into feebles, 50s, out of grinds, manuals, in spins, in flat combos, switch...it even has its own hashtag, #fullwhipfam. Don’t expect to see these lose popularity anytime soon, they’ve definitely become a bread and butter trick.
5. Rider Owned Companies
A big growth in rider owned companies also highlighted this past year- out of the UK, companies like Elite and Revolution made waves on Instagram, especially after arriving in the US due to another new rider owned company, a distribution called Forefront Supply. Established rider owned companies like TSI, Proto, and Tilt had huge years as well- TSI moving into a new shop, releasing the Paramount, generally being the street deck of choice, Proto with the Intermission video dropping, as well as finally putting out the Orion deck, and of course Tilt with Tilt2 and all the new parts they produced. Affinity has grown by leaps and bounds as well, producing one of the best T-bars right here in the USA. Have to mention Hellagrip too, easily the most-ridden griptape out there. I'm definitely missing some here, but make no mistake, these companies will continue to flourish in 2016.
6. Rise of Crews/Crew Videos
7. Webisodes
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| Thumbnail Via Capron and Corey Funk's Youtube |
A few scooter riders started making webisodes this year. In a time where riders have more followers than their own sponsors, it’s been becoming less important to make actual edits and instead project a lifestyle out there that the scooter market (young kids) can relate to. Lucky’s Tanner Fox has found huge success with his webisodes, currently sitting at over 200k subscribers to his Youtube. These webisodes document the day to day life of scooter riders- from chilling around at home, riding hoverboards, going to the park, and generally just dicking around. The kids love it. This is so far fairly contained to SoCal riders, but as more realize the importance of connecting with their audience in a way that plain riding videos can’t achieve, We've already seen Jake Hershey take a more mature approach via his "Mondaze" series, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty more webisodes in 2016.
8. Overall Progression
The best trend, however, has to be the continued progression of scootering in general. People are doing pegless tricks like nothing, and pushing what can be done on various obstacles. One of the coolest spots people have hit this year are wall-rails. These are perfect for inside 50s, and 2015 has seen a lot of crazy wall-rail variations. On the park side of things, you got dudes throwing 540 double flairs and insane tricks over the mega (shoutout to Rwilly). It’s getting so hard to keep up, with people dropping bangers on Instagram like it’s nothing (“chill clips”). This is another trend I’m sure will keep going!
Honorable mentions: 5050 grinds, loose scooters, foot fenders, bs half cab manual fs 180, using Hollowsquad/Xavier Wulf/Bones in videos, charging 500 bucks to make an edit, and talking shit on the internet.
#fullwhipfam coming atcha
ReplyDeleteIndians should be another mention on the list, but either way I love these type of articles. Keep it up Gord
ReplyDeleteHaha 5000 bucks
ReplyDeletehaha i'm honored
ReplyDelete-.-y
ReplyDeleteits called a salad not a feebzer
ReplyDeleteily
ReplyDeletenice
ReplyDeletenice
ReplyDeletebro that 500 bucks thing kills me
ReplyDelete