Thanks To The Olympics, Skater Style Is Very Much Back In Fashion

When skateboarder Sky Brown made her Olympics debut, she did so as Team GB’s youngest ever summer Olympian. The 13-year went on to win bronze at Tokyo’s Ariake Urban Sports Park amid tricks to make your stomach flip and camaraderie to make your heart soar. 'It feels unreal,' she told the BBC. 'It was a super sick final.'

But you don’t need to know the difference between a fakie and a fliptrick (let alone try them) to want to take style notes from Sky and her cool cohort of fellow skater girls (see also 14-year GB teammate Bombette Martin – an excellent name isn’t a prerequisite for being a whizz on the ramp, but apparently it helps).

Hot on the heels of HBO series Betty and Netflix’s Skater Girl, fashion has also been wooed by the new addition to the Olympic line-up. According to global fashion search platform Lyst, searches for the Nike SB range have soared by 35%. For SS21 long-haired, long-socked Gucci models posed with skateboards – watch Lords of Dogtown if the ’70s Cali vibe is your jam – and you can also find haute decks at Versace, Fendi and Saint Laurent. American skateboarder Briana King, who looks as good in Dior as she does in her excellent collection of headscarves, is a must-follow for inspiration.

You can see skater-style being writ large across our wardrobes right now: think baggy chinos and jeans, vests and short-sleeved shirts, tie-dye and hoodies. It’s a natural evolution of our lockdown loungewear, offering the comfort we’re reluctant to let go of with a newly adventurous spirt. Anyway, doesn't it feel great to see girls flying high in a sport we traditionally associate with the guys (pre-Olympics how many skateboarders could you name, other than Tony Hawk?). No wonder we want in.

Not going to be separated from your skinnies and heels? You can still adopt a bit of Sky’s spirit. Following a 15-foot horror fall last year, she landed in intensive care and was nearly counted out of the Games altogether. That wasn’t to be: “It’s OK to fall sometimes and I’m just going to get back up and push even harder,” she toldThe Guardian in August 2020. Seems like a "super sick" motto for 2021.