Ah, Converse. Worn until worn out by everyone from Kurt Cobain to Justin Bieber, few shoes have been as culturally prominent as the Chuck Taylor, which began as the footwear of choice for basketballers and eventually ended up the go-to casual shoe for just about everyone. Chuck Taylor’s have been big on the skate scene since the 60s, when, as the story goes, the sport began as Los Angeles’ land-loving answer to the fairweather surfing. Skaters, sick of the temperamentality of the ocean, swapped the waves for the highways, hung their reef shoes to dry and laced up a pair of the ol’ Chuck Taylors. Avast ye Landlubbers!
It comes as no surprise then that the legendary label has tapped skateboard aficionado and filmmaker Ben Chadourne to create their first ever feature-length skate film, following the tricks and turns of the Converse CONS skate team. The film, affectionately named Purple, was shot entirely in a pair of purple Chucks, and stars all your favourites — including Sage Elsesser, Kevin Rodrigues and Sean Pablo.
“Filming with Ben is the best,” says LA-born, New York-based superskater Sean. He first got into skating after his dad showed him a couple of tricks, after which he honed his skills by binge-watching cult skate film Fully Flared. “The best thing about skating is being able to hang with friends and travel the world whilst doing so.”
In 2014, Supreme released the skate film Cherry, and Jenkem mag wrote, “Perhaps the smartest thing brands that are enormous outside of skateboarding can do to maintain a presence in our subculture is nothing. Take a more hands-off approach: let the director film, the skaters skate, and have it unfold organically.” This is exactly what Converse have done with their latest offering, giving us the chance to see an unadulterated vision of life on wheels.
First premiered across the globe last week, the film marks Converse’s debut foray into full-length feature filmmaking. Also, it has loads of fit skater boys in it, so what’s not to love? Speaking of fit skaters, fresh from the launch we caught up with two of Converse CONS finest, Sean Pablo and Jamie Platt.
Sean Pablo
Tell us a bit about yourself and where you grew up?
My name is Sean Pablo, I grew up in LA and now I live in New York.
What’s your earliest skate-related memory?
Watching Fully Flared on repeat.
How did you get into skating?
My dad showed me how to skate.
What is it about skating that you enjoy most?
Being with my friends and getting to travel the world whilst doing so.
What’s the best thing about being young in 2018?
Not having any real responsibilities.
What do you stand for?
Being able to do whatever you want.
What are your hopes and dreams for the future?
Hopefully I’ll still be living in New York. And I want to learn as much as I can about photography and art.
Jamie Platt
Tell us a bit about yourself and where you grew up?
My name is Jamie Platt. I grew up in Bournemouth, south of England and I’ve been living in south London for last two years.
What’s your earliest skate-related memory?
My dad teaching me how to boneless in the middle of a field.
What is it about skating that you enjoy most?
Being injured.
What’s the bravest thing you can do as a young person?
I couldn’t answer that in such detail. There’s so many different ways to be brave. To me, any form of courageous behaviour is enough to deserve recognition.
What’s the best thing about being young in 2018?
To be honest nothing really stands out to me. I guess with social media and the internet you can almost instantly create a platform for yourself and for your work, but I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.
What are your hopes and dreams for the future?
I tend not to think about the future. I just take every day as it comes.
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Credits
Photography Finn Constantine
Video David Spence