This story appears in i-D 375, The Beta Issue. Get your copy here.
written by Steff Yotka
photography Finlay Flint
Zion Effs is everywhere for those with eyes to see: cruising through Lot 11 in Miami, riding rails in Copenhagen, chasing heroes in Syracuse, jumping out of an RV in a seedy area of Texas.
The first time I meet the 16-year-old skate sensation, he’s perched on top of an SUV at a drive-in theatre in Miami. The light of the projector flickers through his afro as he watches himself on the big screen. William Strobeck’s HEADBANGER, a 31-minute skate video for Supreme, is playing to a hundreds-strong crowd, whooping and cheering as Zion and his skateboard dance across the giant screen. The film announces Zion as the newest member of Supreme’s skate team.
Today, Zion and I are walking down St. Mark’s Place in New York City, following the path from Tompkins Square Park to Astor Place. It’s a sacred pilgrimage for skaters: skate, hang, stroll, snack. photographer Finlay Flint and his crew walk with us, snapping photos here and there. Even with a Supreme beanie shrugged down to his eyebrows and a box-fresh tee, Zion is noticeable. People wow when they see him.
Zion has always stood out. Born in Miami, he began skateboarding at the age of three and first went viral at five years old, when his dad Richie, a restaurateur and man-about-Miami, posted a video of him ollieing off a curb on Instagram. Hundreds of thousands of people saw Zion do that trick, filmed on his dad’s GoPro. “I realised I had to change my Instagram name from Richie Effs to Zion Effs,” his dad tells me proudly, as he quickly began to amass thousands upon thousands of followers.
By age 11, Zion was traversing the United States in an RV his dad rented to film Zion skating the nation. They drove from Miami to California, stopping at 37 different skate parks. In Texas, Zion was skating in a rough area when “a car pulls up in the parking lot fast and a dude jumped out and started running towards him,” Richie remembers. “I was worried about what was happening, but the guy starts screaming, ‘That’s Zion Effs, right?’ He wanted a picture with him.” The videos shot along the way—part family reality TV show, part skate video—were posted to YouTube as a series called Zion’s Way. In total, the series has over one million views.
For basically his entire life Zion has been a legend among skaters. “When I was in Copenhagen last month, there were a bunch of people coming up to me,” he says as we walk through New York City. “It’s honestly kind of, like, crazy.”
So you’ve gotta wonder: What makes a 16-year-old kid a global skateboarding superstar?
William Strobeck, the American photographer and director whose work for Supreme has chronicled legends from Mark Gonzales to Beatrice Domond, says Zion was just born with it. “Zion was already really good as a little kid,” Strobeck explains. “He’s [been] growing into it since I first met him. He’s not an outrageous kid or, like, somebody [who’s] trying. He’s just naturally cool.”
He’s just naturally talented, too. To layfolk who use our legs to walk rather than skate, the best skateboarding looks like a feat of physics dreamed up by Stephen Hawking: a tiny piece of plywood with plastic wheels taking a 72-kilo dude from hulk to Hawk.
At the opening of Supreme’s new Miami store, I watch Zion and his younger brother, Jax—just 10 years old—skate the bowl effortlessly, like they were just floating over the plywood. No friction, no fear. Whether you are a professional skateboarder or a wannabe, you imagine this as exactly what the best version of skateboarding is. Gliding—free and easy.
It takes some pressure to be that free, but it doesn’t faze Zion. “I mean, I’m pretty normal,” he laughs. “I just wake up, maybe go to the skate park—sometimes for like the whole day, sometimes just an hour. It’s just fun to skate. The career comes with it, I guess.” That career can consist of travelling abroad for a Supreme trip, as he recently did to Marseille, or just shooting videos at a local park. He’s been signed to Supreme for almost half a year, a role that entails skate trips, wearing clothes, and appearing in promotional materials. The career of skateboarding obviously plays a bigger part in his life.
Since Zion has been skating, what was once a subculture of cool kids linked by a network of VHS videos and indie skateshops has become a global phenomenon. Supreme’s value wavers around the $1.5 billion mark. Luxury fashion brands, from Lanvin to Valentino, make imitation skate sneakers and place them at the front of their advertising, splashed all over social media and on gigantic billboards. Tony Hawk Pro Skater released its biggest update ever this summer, following a 2020 remake that sold over 1 million units in a matter of weeks. Even a 16-year-old can feel the shift. “Skateboarding is definitely getting bigger—it’s in the Olympics,” Zion says.
“One of my goals is just to go pro and see what I can do after that,” he COntinues, “maybe one day be Skater of the Year,” an annual honour awarded by bona fide skate bible Thrasher magazine. “I guess it is kind of like a career, but I try not to think of it like that,” he adds. “I mean it does add a little bit of pressure, but I like the pressure.”
At this point, Zion, finlay, and friends have stopped at the chicken shop Raising Cane’s and are eating burgers, chips, and sodas in the centre of Astor Place. We talk about his skating playlists—there’s two he shuffles between——and what he listens to off-board: “rap, [and] older music sometimes, like The Smiths.” If he could be the face of another brand he’d want to be the face of Ferrari (he just got his driver’s licence). Would he want to skate in the Olympics? “I don’t know.” As for his sense of style, “I kinda of just put on, like, whatever I see first.” We also talk about the wisdom imparted from his dad, one of the most gregarious and generous people I’ve ever met. “He just always taught me to be kind to people, always give out kindness and it’ll come back to you,”—and what he’s learned from skateboarding legends like Strobeck and Todd Jordan, the Brand Director of Supreme. “I kind of just learned to not care.”
He has many heroes in skateboarding. “There’s a bunch of people I look up to,” but for making a career in skating, “Tony Hawk. He’s, like, the biggest there is.” And if there was a signature Zion Effs trick, what would that be? “Dang, I never thought about that,” he laughs.
“Do you have any words of wisdom for other young skaters?” I ask. He pauses.
“Probably try not to get frustrated too quickly. In skating, you get really frustrated, and it helps a lot if you try to stay calm while you’re trying to skate because, you know, you fall a lot.” Zion has busted his cheekbone; Jax has broken an elbow. But every day they’re back on their boards. “Deep breaths,” he says again smiling.
Failing is integral to skateboarding. The chance of biting it is what makes it fun. I imagine being on the edge of the bowl waiting to drop in is one of the most thrilling, yet terrifying experiences. You will either fly or you’ll fail—and everyone is watching.
In the five months I’ve known Zion, it’s been amazing to see a kid who used to fall asleep at night watching skate videos on YouTube become a kid who is the subject of those very videos. Other three-year-olds, other five-year-olds, other 11-year-olds, other 16-year-olds idolise Zion. And he’s just at the start of something new with Supreme, growing up and growing into another stratum of his success.