Eric Koston Interview on SOLE

Here’s an Eric Koston interview from SOLE Collector.

As you can see, beards are in.

Highlights of the interview:

Retrokid: How do you feel about skating nowadays, as compared to like back in the day? With X-Games, all these tours, demos, Pac-Sun, and Zumiez?

Koston: It’s crazy, those mall stores, they start small, and they blow up. Then they become chains, and all the skate stuff’s in there. It’s hard, if you’re a company also, you basically either grow or you go, so what do you do? You kind of have to take the money from these people that are like, your Pac-Suns or your Journeys and stuff like that.

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Retrokid: What do you think of all this, major companies getting into skateboarding?

Koston: You know, it’s weird just because it always goes back to, “they weren’t there” you know what I mean? Then they try … both Reebok and Nike they tried. And adidas, they’re still … I don’t know what the $#@# they’re doing. You know, all these companies had such an opportunity, you know, with what they have to make it right. But that’s a whole different story. They come in and it’s like they tried it that one period where like X-Games just started, skating was getting big, they came in, they @#%@#ed up, and they peaced it out. Now, they just found the right people, where you either have to do it the right way, or you’re going to do it like you did, and you’re going to @#%@# up again in sales, and now they are doing it the right way.

Nike did it the right way, Reebok did it the right way, but it’s like, you don’t know what they’re going to, I don’t know, it’s hard to put a lot of trust into something like that, as far as I’m concerned. I was like, if Nike was like, here’s an offer for you, I don’t know, I wouldn’t do it, it would just be sketchy. I wouldn’t, I couldn’t trust that, especially with skating. Look how much time I’ve put into it, and where it’s gotten me. Those guys don’t really…the pie is only so big, and when they jump in, they’re just taking a piece of our pie in a way. It’s the way I see it, but you can’t stop them, they’re going to do it, and they did it.