Appetite For Destruction: Catching Up with the Converse Skate Team at Coastal Carnage

Nice Kicks: Outside of your own signatures, what other shoes are you rocking on board?

Rune Glifberg: Kenny?s shoes and the Trappaso?s are really good. The CVs are a classic, just like a beach style chilling shoe.

Nick Trapasso: I like the skate Chucks, Kenny?s shoes, any of the homie?s shoes. I skate the skate Chucks and my shoes, but I?m down to hit all those other shoes up!

Converse KA-One “CVO” LS

Nice Kicks: About how many pairs of kicks do you skate through in a year?

Rune Glifberg: I don?t know, 30 maybe? I don?t know, it?s a lot. I go through like 30-50 pairs maybe. Plus, I get my shoes for skating in and then I also get all the rad Converse stuff for going out in. What I?m wearing right now is all messed up, but a classic white pair of Chuck Taylors are rad for going out.

Kenny Anderson: I?m known to wear my shoes forever. I wear them until they?re done. So, probably about 15 pairs a year.

Nick Trapasso: About two a month.

Nice Kicks: Unlike basketball or even running, skate shoes seem to have longer shelf life with signatures lasting more than one year or season. Why do you think that is?

Kenny Anderson: I think skate shoes stick around longer because of the mass culture of skateboarding. It?s a lifestyle. I?ve been skateboarding for 26 years. That?s my life. It?s not a sport; it?s my whole life, my lifestyle. Every kid that does it past that one to two-year mark becomes addicted and it becomes they?re lifestyle too. Culturally too, you want to support all that. I think the shelf life and people involved all relies on each other. That culture, that fire of real skateboarding lives within.

Nice Kicks: What attracted you guys to Converse as a brand?

Rune Glifberg: I joined with Converse three or four years ago. To me, the Converse heritage and the clean looks of the Chuck Taylor and the Pro Leathers were so timeless that I wanted to make a signature shoe that had some of those attributes. Just make it a true Converse shoe that?s unmistakably Converse. You?ve got to look at the history of the company and then make a design that?s inline with what?s been going on with the company. It?s over 100 years old, the oldest sneaker company in the world, so obviously you want to think about the heritage and history of the company when you design your shoes.

Kalani David: My dad. We were going go with Vans and my dad said let?s try Converse. We hooked up with Steve Luther, he?s the man, and he?s been taking care of me ever since.

Nice Kicks: This past weekend the Pro Leather returned. Is that a model we can expect to see any of you wearing these? Perhaps skating in them?

Kenny Anderson: Of course. We wear our product, my signature stuff, but for sure I?ll be wearing those. I remember when I rode Chuck Taylors before I was on and then when I got on Converse back in the 90s it was the Pro Leathers. The Pro Leathers were kind of in skateboarding too and we were trying to make it a skateboarding shoe back then. That shoe is pretty amazing.

Rune Glifberg: I like the vulc outsoles that have good grip, but having a nice cupsole like the Pro Leather just gives a little more support. You can jump down stuff and it doesn?t hurt your feet as much. It?s good for going big.

Converse Pro Leather

Nice Kicks: Pro Leather aside, any kicks from the Converse vault you’d like to see brought back?

Kenny Anderson: I know the Weapon came back. It?d be nice to see an updated version of the Weapon because a lot of my friends skated them. It?d be nice to have a nice, updated Weapon that?s toned down for skateboarding.

Nice Kicks: The Weapon has a ton of history. Any colorway in particular?

Kenny Anderson: Yellow and purple, gotta do the Magic Johnson.

Magic Johnson in the Converse Weapon