Marc, Paris

We spoke to Marc, a skateboarder from Paris, about sustainability, inclusivity, and the culture and community in skating, and what big brands like adidas can do to support it more in the future. 23-year-old Marc Alexandre Barbier has been skating since he was 8. “It's really my passion, my lifestyle. I live skate, I eat skate,” he told us, admitting, “a little less now because I grew up but it’s still a big part of my life.” Skateboarding has taken him all over the world, but it’s in his home city that we sit down to talk to him.

Looking at the culture of skating right now, what’s exciting about it as a culture to you? And what are the things that disturb you, and why?

I am excited by the fact that the enthusiasm about skating has grown a lot in Paris. Now there's a lot of kids skating in the street, and like 10 years ago it wasn’t that cool to go skating. I think that’s the coolest thing, people are more into it. Skateboarding evolves with clothing and sportswear. If we’re talking about it so much it’s also because skateboarding is now at the Olympics. People are more curious than before.  It also has downsides, right now it’s looking cool and some people might think that it’s a trend, but trends don’t last. Skating is more than that. It’s a culture. As a skateboarder, I've seen a lot of skateboarders who taught me how to listen to music, or how to listen to people, and how to deal with certain situations. I learned values through skateboarding. 

What’s the best and worst parts of the culture for you? 

The best part of skateboarding is that we are on the streets, so we see and meet with different people. My greatest source of inspiration is the street. I feel as good in popular neighbourhoods like Barbès as I do in fancy places like Trocadéro. The bad side is that multinational sport brands try to appropriate skateboarding. They pay skateboarders to ride for their brands, and when they have this credibility they’re just like, “Okay guys we had enough”. It just made me realise that these guys are like “okay, you’re passionate, you’re doing it 100%, every day you go street skating, meet new people” the guys who run the company and pay you are guys wearing suits and only caring about numbers, they don’t care about you. It’s ruled by people who don’t even know you are. It happened to my friends so now it’s my biggest fear and now I am like fuck it, I just want to skate for myself. I don’t want to skate for brands. Or maybe for something more authentic, not a huge brand buying us. 

We talk about making a commitment and not appropriating culture a lot in our work… Were you aware of the moment that bigger brands began to get more involved in skateboarding?

Reese Forbes, Todd  Jordan and Chet Childress were probably the first skateboarders to be endorsed by big companies. Those guys weren’t the biggest skateboarders, but the brand put them on top just to gain credibility. I think that’s what skaters fear the most, especially because skateboarding is now at the Olympics and I am seeing commercials on social media saying, “Yeah let’s bring skateboarding together”. It’s cool but I feel like people are starting to see skateboarding as a sport. When you’re gonna be skating you’re not in competition. You’re supportive, you’re caring, you’re being inclusive to all people you meet. 

That’s a really nice way of looking at its community, who do you see within the skating industry as being on the cutting edge of the  culture? 

Two of the greatest skateboarders are Grant Taylor and Howski. They are supported by Nike and Nike paid them a lot of money. They’re gonna use them to the end. You also have brands like Converse who have Kevin Rodrigues, Jake Johnson. Vans also have a lot of people. What’s interesting is that big companies pay the skateboarders to skate, they make them travel the world. It’s considered as a job when you have the opportunity to sign a contract and this is awesome, it’s the coolest thing that can happen to a skateboarder. 

Would you say those people are originals?

I would definitely say all those people that I mentioned are very unique. They have their own style, their own way of skating. They all have a different vision, that’s why the sponsors are looking for them. They don’t all have the same style, but they’re all wearing the brand’s products, using it their ways. That way young kids or potential customers would think “I want to be like this guy”. Also they’re very good at skateboarding. They’re doing something new, something that hasn’t been done in the past, they have their new way of creation and enjoyment.

What would you like to see more of from big brands in relation to skate? 

I want people to be more generous, caring about each other. Since money has entered the skateboarding world we have to be more intelligent, less selfish and narrow-minded. We have to be more open to more ideas. I personally proposed some projects to some brands. I spent time preparing those projects and they told me they had no budget and I was disappointed. I am trying to do something cool for the skateboard community and for you as a brand. Brands have to be open to our ideas. They have to make money for sure but they’ll make money in all cases. Brands do not open their mind to skateboarders whereas we do.

You’ve spoken about the community of skateboarding, do you think skate culture on the whole is inclusive?

I think skateboarding is inclusive, for example when a kid doesn’t know how to do a trick, I’ll teach him how to do the tricks, I would help him, even if we don’t know each other. If you have a skateboard you’re with us. Skateboarders, we like to share things and feelings. In other disciplines, people don’t really share. So, in my opinion skateboarding is really inclusive. It’s not perfect but a skateboarder would always invite someone who’s skating alone for example. Skateboarding taught me to be generous, honest, and patient. All those values come from the skateboarding culture. Big brands obviously discuss inclusiveness because they're here to make money, they don't care if we get food on our plates. Now it's the crews who make an impact and who can make a difference. There are also the Youth and Culture Houses (MJC in French), which are in many cities. They are popular education associations that work for the individual and collective emancipation of all. This is how a lot of skaters started.

How can adidas do a better job? How else can they support the demands of the audience and culture when it comes to inclusivity? 

adidas could do better by being honest and communicating and listening more to the people they support so that in return there is a healthy relationship. If you want it to be authentic, work in a human way. Skateboarding is human, you have to meet people, listen to their story and share it in a natural and authentic way. I hope in five years’ time there will be brands like adidas that are genuine with the people they want to represent. May the skaters born after me keep those sharing values. I hope it will continue and that it will not turn into a trend since skateboarding has entered the Olympic Games and everyone is doing it for the hype.

How else can they help bring about possibilities for people? 

Brands like adidas can help by bringing together people from different backgrounds. I was in Argenteuil, a small town in the Parisian suburbs, skating and everyone was welcoming. Some kids were looking at us, cheering us on. They approached us, the kids asked us if we were thirsty, so they decided to go buy soft drinks for me and my friends. In Paris nobody would do that. There was an 8 year old kid I helped and his mom came to thank me. It would be cool to come back to this suburb and skate with these kids. Let everyone come together.

Does skating as a sport have a role or responsibility within sustainability at all? 

When you skate in the street, you have to watch out for a lot of things. Your stuff for example. You become aware of the environment; you tell yourself that we already pollute so much. If I lose my water bottle tomorrow someone is going to throw it away. We make you believe that it is recyclable but it will end up in the Pacific Ocean. As skaters, we must try to use our things as much as possible, and if you don't want it  anymore you pass them to someone. The skateboard itself is an object, we bring it to life with our feet. I believe that objects have life. You have so much choice today that you give up on yourself. Sustainable development means slowing down this consumption: keeping an object longer, taking care of it.

Are there any skate brands that have impressed you  when it  comes to showing their commitment to acting sustainably?

There is this French brand called Requiem Skateboard, it’s still a niche market but it’s a former skateboarder who opened his own skateboard production company.  Everything is made in France, from the design to the production.  There’s a Swedish brand called Polar Skateboard, and the same person behind them, a Swedish skater called Pontus, made a shoe brand called Last Resort AB. He's an independent and he made his shoe brand. It's incredible, it’s super original and more meaningful for me to buy his product rather than giving credit to multinationals. It's legitimate because he's a skater who makes shoes for skaters. It’s inspiring. I'd rather buy a friend's brand t-shirt than a big brand. Then you tell yourself "I can do this too". He’s coming from big multinational brands, but he’s versatile, he can do everything and he’s doing it in authentical way.

Any others?

There’s also the brand Elements, with their motto “Heart, Wind, Water, Fire”. Nike did something called Orange Label, it's a programme in partnership with skate shops. The idea was to make new recyclable orange shoe boxes, but it seems like greenwashing, just a marketing thing. Sneaker addicts who don't skate will find it too cool. I haven’t seen anything from adidas when it comes to sustainability. Or they didn’t communicate properly about it. I don’t know… 

What role could adidas play around issues of sustainability in skating?

When you're done skating your pair of adidas and they're dead, it would be nice to be able to give them to a skate shop so that they send them back to adidas. It will allow the brand to collect the materials, make new shoes and communicate about it. Brands should consider sustainability right at the heart of the problem and not focus on doing it because it seems cool, it should always include young people because if we start doing that at 15 years old, then at 25, 35 people will make real behavioural changes in their way of “consuming” sneakers… At the moment, brands like adidas are at the source of the problem since they’re doing mass production and they always want to sell something. We don't realise how polluting it is to do just a couple of shoes out of the hundreds of billions produced each year in factories. We sell those products for more than 100 dollars for it to perish. We don't even know where it comes from. It would be interesting to know where things are coming from. If brands persisted in doing this, it would be nice to really explain how, where and when it’s produced instead of doing advertisements with musicians.

Thinking about the presence of “hype” or “avant-garde” within streetwear, do you think hype can ever be compatible with sustainability? 

People don't really care about sustainable development. You have to make it cool to get the hype interested. You can make everything cool. Even some of my friends who are eco-responsible order on Amazon because it’s convenient, it’s cheap and they sometimes purchase products that are only available there. Everything is possible. If adidas wants to make sustainable looking cool, they have to go for it, do it thoroughly, believe in it, and it will work. They need authenticity in their approach and good communication around their actions. They should try to create clothes and shoes with renewable and natural materials. Going to the countryside, meeting with craftsmen and experts to get information. Develop local know-how even if it is expensive. We have to stop thinking about numbers and money, of course the world is capitalist, but the world is not eternal. We have to go local, see how it works. I would expect adidas to produce things locally per country. It would make me want to wear adidas if there were local factories, which would be a professional reintegration programme. They should get information, find a place, a big enough factory, buy machines. Then there’d be a factory with people who need to work, who are in precariousness. Sell them the project by explaining the whole process to them. Let these people know that they are going to do something right. Let it be something benevolent. Then what’s made in Europe should be sold in Europe, same for Asia and for each continent.

At the moment, everything is done in Asia because it's easy and cheap. It's just thinking of numbers.

adidas can help by not investing in technology but in people. In 2019, adidas closed down two futuristic factories in Germany and in the USA, laying off more than 200 people. This is the perfect example of going backwards. Forget about technology; people won’t buy a pair of shoes made by a robot, they don’t care. People will buy shoes that have a history and that are helping communities.

And looking at the culture of skating, how connected do you see adidas as being to that culture? 

I think adidas is already well connected with the skate scene since they’re connected with mega-legends. It's easier to be connected with people already in place than with people who are willing to make a real change and rise with the brand. Moving forward, they need to have better communication with videos, photos, and highlighting less famous people. People who skate for adidas, not being paid a thousand but who represent the brand well, who have values and something to say. It will create curiosity and interest in these unfamiliar skaters. In 2019, adidas created a skatepark in Paris, but nobody knew about it, the communication around it was not on point, but the project and the idea itself is amazing!

Compared to 10 years ago when I started skating, adidas didn't have as much notoriety as they do today. They have evolved, they’ve started to pay their skaters well and we can see that they’re trying. An old friend of a friend used to be a skater and videographer. He was hired as the team manager France for adidas. It's cool to hire guys who know the skateboard world. In European countries, there is a guy in every country and that's good. I think the role of adidas is to represent their customer target within their management team. Hire people who know the people you’re selling to.

Do you think Nike are better connected, then? 

Nike are no better connected, no... Today they communicate a lot with the Dunk in the Nike SB programme. But it remains superficial. Nike has done more events than adidas but adidas has built a skatepark in Paris, it’s a real thing. Nike has had so much marketing at once, and they are affiliated with Supreme so that you feel like they are more present. I think it’s also an age thing, you see more kids wearing Nike than adidas.

What do you think adidas could do next within skate culture?

adidas should focus on authentic communication with storytelling and more creative advertisement. Then there’s a part of going back to what’s essential. Meaning, focus more on the people, on their employees and less on the margins. Lastly, go back to what made adidas a success in the beginning, their old school image, success stories, and iconic products. adidas needs to go back to the basics, stop trying to be innovative and technology driven, let Nike do that. adidas should take  Converse as an example. Converse has only done one pair of shoes: the Chucks. They never changed models. They have the same colours. They released the 70's with the thicker sole, but there are still the Chucks. They don't make immovable, disgusting new pairs. We must revisit the classics - Stan Smith, Superstar and the tracksuit with the three stripes - that’s the end of the story. This is what makes a brand credible. Go back to classic models and classic colours. Go back to the beginning, give it a quick talk and put a slogan "it's more than original… it's adidas". Advertise in the metro, show that skateboarding is cool. To get back to the idea of inclusivity, adidas should put skaters in the lead and pay them well. You can't ask someone who doesn't know skateboarding to think of skateboarding. adidas should work on co-creation projects with skaters and go in the field.