Sole Technology

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Sole Technology, Inc. is an American footwear company, specializing in skate shoe production and distribution. The company is owned and run by Pierre André Senizergues, a former professional freestyle skateboarder. The company's headquarters is in Lake Forest, California, United States (US).

Brands

etnies

The company's first and largest brand is etnies. Established in 1986, etnies produces footwear and apparel for skateboarding, BMX, moto x, surfing and snowboarding—the brand also sponsors teams in all of these "action sports." The brand's products are divided into three lines: "Mens," "Womens," and "Kids."[1]

etnies plus, a limited-edition designer line, was formed in 2005 and produced limited runs of men's and women's footwear. However, a catalog has not been released for the line since 2011 and, as of September 2013, news of the line's future has not been released.[2]

Skateboard team

  • Ryan Sheckler
  • Willow
  • Cairo Foster
  • Nick Garcia
  • Julian Davidson
  • Tyler Bledsoe
  • Jose Rojo
  • David Reyes[3]

éS

Founded in 1995, éS produced skateboarding footwear and apparel but, as of Spring 2012, the brand is on hiatus. The brand sponsored a team since it was founded and professional skateboarders such as John Rattray, PJ Ladd, Eric Koston, Paul Rodriguez, Justin Eldridge, Rodrigo Teixeira (TX), Arto Saari, Nyjah Huston, Tom Penny, and Rick McCrank rode for the brand.[4][5][6][7][8]

An announcement in mid-2013 revealed that, while the hiatus remains, the brand will be sold in Japan only from September 2013 onward.[9]

Emerica

Emerica was launched in 1996,[10] sponsors a team of skateboarders, and has produced the following videos: Yellow (1997), This Is Skateboarding (2003), Stay Gold (2010), and MADE: Chapter One (2013).[11] The 2013 video, MADE: Chapter One, was offered to consumers at a price of their choosing, with a minimum price of US$1.00 established.[12]

In July 2013, the brand released its "Workwear" line with the Andrew Reynolds "signature workwear denim capsule."[13] Reynolds explained in a promotional video for the product:

I'd say I've been with Emerica since ... 12, 15 years, something like that. It's never really gone, like, "Oh, now we're doing this! Now we're trying to chase that fad. Now we're doing that." It's just stayed true to skateboarding. It's just simple.[14]

Team

ThirtyTwo

ThirtyTwo, a snowboarding boots, apparel, and outerwear brand, was launched in 1995 by snowboarders and has been privately held since that time.[17] As of September 2013, the brand sponsors a team of snowboarders.

Global Pro team

  • JP Walker
  • Scott Stevens
  • Chris Grenier
  • Chris Bradshaw
  • Joe Sexton
  • Marie France-Roy
  • Ben Bilocq
  • Jake Kuzyk[18]

Global Am team

  • Brandon Hobush
  • Chris Beresford
  • Spencer Schubert
  • Chris Brewster
  • Toni Kerkela
  • Benny Urban
  • Dominik Wagner
  • Dylan Alito
  • Johnny O'Connor[18]

Altamont Apparel

Altamont Apparel was launched in October 2006 as a concept of Justin Regan and Reynolds,[19] who enlisted UK artist Mark "Fos" Foster as the head designer.[20] Reynolds explained in 2010:

I'd just been riding for Emerica and been with Sole Tech for quite a while and, uh, and was really interested in designing clothes, and everybody that I was skating with and hanging around kind of had a style of their own, you know? Looked a little bit different from everybody else.[19]

Regan, the brand's manager as of March 2010, explained that Reynolds is "a huge part of Altamont" and "what it is is basically his [Reynolds] brainchild."[19] Over time, the brand has expanded beyond skateboarding, and a large team of contributors in the fields of music and art are also involved as of October 2013.[21][22]

STI Lab

Sole Technology is home to the Sole Technology Institute (STI Lab), a research and development facility that conducts biomechanical skate shoe research. The lab's research has led to numerous developments: The STI Foam footbed, an insole designed to relieve pressure; Flo2, a heat reducing tongue; and System G2, a shock-absorbing gel cushion.

The facility has also been responsible for other technological advancements in footwear.<ref name="Street"/[23]

Headquarters

In addition to the Sole Technology Institute, the head office of Sole Technology houses a retail store and showrooms. The entrance of the premises has been described as the skateboarder's version of Ancient Rome's pantheon.[24]

References

  1. ↑ "Home". etnies. Sole Technology, Inc. September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Home". etnies plus. Sole Technology, Inc. September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Team - Skate". etnies. Sole Technology, Inc. September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  4. ↑ "eS Shoes". Skately. Skately LLC. September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  5. ↑ "P.J. Ladd Answers More of Your Questions". éS Skateboarding. Sole Technology, Inc. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  6. ↑ TheFluidskater (6 March 2010). "Nyjah Huston Back Lip 14 Stair eS Commercial |HD" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  7. ↑ Complex Mag (12 June 2009). "A History of Eric Koston's Signature Shoes". Complex Sneakers. Complex Media. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  8. ↑ eSeurope (3 March 2011). "éS Skateboarding introduces John Rattray's first éS pro shoe -- The Ecosse" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  9. ↑ "QUESTIONS AND RUMORS: ÉS RETURNS OUT OF HIATUS?". Ripped Laces. Ripped Laces shoes reviews. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013. 
  10. ↑ "Our Brands - Emerica". Sole Technology. Sole Technology, Inc. September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Emerica skate videos". Skatevideosite.com. Skatevideosite.com. 2005-2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  12. ↑ TWS (16 September 2013). "Get ‘MADE’ Pay What You Want". TransWorld Skateboarding. GrindMedia. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  13. ↑ "Emerica Reynolds Workwear". Thrasher Magazine. High Speed Production, Inc. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  14. ↑ emerica (24 July 2013). "Andrew Reynolds proudly introduces his new Emerica Reynolds Workwear denim.". YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  15. ↑ "Team". Emerica. Sole Technology, Inc. September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Emerica Made - Chapter One". Thrasher Magazine. High Speed Productions, Inc. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013. 
  17. ↑ "Our Brands - ThirtyTwo". Sole Technology. Sole Technology, Inc. September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Team". ThirtyTwo. Sole Technology, Inc. September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Active Ride Shop (3 March 2010). "Altamont Apparel - Industry Profile" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 5 October 2013. 
  20. ↑ Benson (20 August 2013). "Back To School Style Guide: Altamont". Tactics The Grind (A Blog). Tactics. Retrieved 5 October 2013. 
  21. ↑ "Contributors - Music". Altamont Apparel. Sole Technology, Inc. October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013. 
  22. ↑ "Contributors - Art". Altamont Apparel. Sole Technology, Inc. October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013. 
  23. ↑ Davis, James (2004). Skateboarding is not a Crime: 50 years of Street Culture. Firefly Books. p. 67. ISBN 9781554070015. 
  24. ↑ Malakye (2009). "Company Q & A*: Sole Technology". Malakye. Malakye. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012. 

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