Skate brands with the most history
Share
What you're buying when you buy Dogtown, SMA, Alva, Vision, Hosoi, Independent, Santa Cruz, Powell Peralta, Blind, Black Label, Zero, or New Deal.
Published by NO23 Skateboards
When you buy a deck or a pair of trucks from a brand like Dogtown, Santa Monica Airlines, Alva, Vision, Hosoi, Independent, Santa Cruz, Powell Peralta, Blind, Black Label, Zero, or New Deal, you're not just buying skateboard equipment. You're buying decades of culture, of skaters who invented modern skateboarding as we know it, of stories that were filmed, photographed, and told to the whole world.
In Portugal, it's easy to go for the cheapest and most generic option. But there's a real difference between a brand with history and a brand without it. This article exists to tell you that difference.
Gordon & Smith (1959): the first to take skateboarding seriously
Founded in 1959 in San Diego by Larry Gordon and Floyd Smith, Gordon & Smith is one of the oldest companies in skateboarding history. It started as a surfboard brand, but was one of the first to realize that skateboarding wasn't a passing fad: it was a serious sport that needed serious equipment.
G&S sponsored skaters who would go on to define generations, including a young Stacy Peralta before Powell Peralta even existed. Their commitment to quality materials and direct connection with the riders who rode their boards established a model that all brands after them would follow.
Sixty-five years of history. When you pick up a G&S deck, you're holding the origin of everything.
Santa Cruz (1973): the oldest still active
Santa Cruz Skateboards was founded in 1973 in Santa Cruz, California, by Richard Novak, Doug Haut, and Jay Shuirman, three surfer friends who started by making surfboards. By chance and by challenge, they produced the first 500 skateboard decks with the excess fiberglass they had in stock. They sold out immediately. The rest is the history of the world's oldest continuous skateboard brand.
What made Santa Cruz truly iconic was the arrival of Jim Phillips as art director. Phillips redefined what was graphically possible on a deck: explosive colors, bold lines, characters that leaped from the wood. In 1985, he created the Screaming Hand: a severed, blue hand with a screaming mouth in its palm. It immediately became the symbol of Santa Cruz and one of the most recognized graphics in all of skateboarding history. In 2017, Phillips was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.
Santa Cruz was also one of the first brands to introduce concave decks and a raised nose, technical innovations that the entire industry eventually adopted. The collab with Stranger Things, available at NO23, is proof that the brand knows how to connect its visual identity to pop culture without losing an ounce of authenticity.
Dogtown (1970s): where skateboarding was born
Dogtown's story begins before the brand even existed. In the mid-1970s, a group of young people from Santa Monica and Venice Beach, California, formed the Zephyr team, known as the Z-Boys. Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Stacy Peralta, Jim Muir, Peggy Oki among others. Kids from tough neighborhoods who transformed skateboarding into an act of rebellion, expression, and art.
Their style was completely different from anything that existed: low, aggressive, inspired by surfing. When the historic California drought in the 1970s emptied pools across the state, the Z-Boys saw an opportunity. They invaded backyards and invented transition skateboarding as we know it today. Craig Stecyk photographed everything and published it in Skateboarder Magazine in a series called "Dogtown Articles."
Dogtown Skateboards was formally born with Jim Muir and Wes Humpston, continuing the Z-Boys spirit in brand form. The Dogtown Cross became one of the most recognized symbols of skate culture. Today, under Dogtown x Suicidal, the brand remains in the hands of the very skaters who founded it.
The 2001 documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys," directed by Stacy Peralta and narrated by Sean Penn, won the Audience Award and the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival. If you haven't seen it, watch it.
Vision Skateboards (1976): where skateboarding met fashion and art
Vision was founded in 1976 by Brad Dorfman in Southern California. What distinguished Vision early on was its ability to understand that skateboarding wasn't just a sport: it was a culture with its own aesthetics, music, and visual language.
The brand was one of the first to introduce double concave decks and created the world's first skateboard clothing line with Vision Street Wear. The skaters they sponsored say it all: Mark "Gator" Rogowski was the first pro model in 1984. Mark Gonzales signed in 1985. In 1986, the Psycho Stick arrived, an asymmetric and radically original shape that appears on the cover of INXS's 1987 album "Kick," one of the best-selling albums of that decade.
Gonzales eventually left Vision to found Blind Skateboards: Blind is the opposite of Vision. In 1989, Vision grossed 89 million dollars. Its legacy in the history of skateboarding and streetwear is undeniable and permanent.
Alva Skates (1977): the first brand by a skater for skaters
Tony Alva was one of the most explosive and charismatic Z-Boys. In 1977, at just 19 years old, he was already a world skateboarding champion and did something that had never been done before: he founded his own skateboard brand.
Alva Skates was the first skateboard company founded and run by a skater. Before Alva, skateboard brands were business corporations. After Alva, the idea that a skater could own their own brand became real. Without Tony Alva, the business model that sustains virtually all independent skateboard brands today would not exist.
Alva was also one of the first brands to use layered Canadian maple for its decks, setting the construction standard that the entire industry would eventually adopt. The Alva Flame deck became the visual symbol of an era. In the 1980s, the team included Christian Hosoi, Ray Barbee, and a young Mark Gonzales.
Santa Monica Airlines (1978): the Z-Boys spirit in brand form
Skip Engblom was one of the three founders of the Zephyr shop where the Z-Boys were born. In 1978, he founded Santa Monica Airlines, known as SMA, shaping decks by hand in the back of a surf shop with the same rebellious energy as the Z-Boys.
The arrival of Natas Kaupas in the 1980s transformed SMA into one of the most important brands in the history of street skating. Natas is considered, alongside Mark Gonzales, one of the inventors of modern street skating. His pro model Panther became a symbol of a new way of skating: in the streets, on ledges, on stairs, on handrails.
It was Skip Engblom who suggested to Steve Rocco that he buy 500 decks on credit and found his own company. That conversation was the origin of World Industries, which spawned Blind, 101, and Plan B, completely transforming the skateboard industry in the 1990s. Without SMA, the street skate revolution might have taken much longer to happen.
Independent Trucks (1978): built to grind
Independent Trucks was founded in 1978 by Fausto Vitello, Eric Swenson, Richard Novak, and Jay Shuirman. The origin was direct: existing trucks either broke too quickly or didn't turn well. Fausto, who was a skater, decided to build his own.
Stage 1 was introduced at a competition in Newark in 1978. Bobby Valdez switched to Independents at that same event, landed the first invert in history, and won. Within six months, the brand had 50% of the North American truck market.
The Cross logo was designed by the same Jim Phillips from Santa Cruz and became one of the most recognized symbols of skate culture. Fausto Vitello also co-founded Thrasher Magazine in 1981. Almost fifty years later, Stage 11 continues to be the truck of choice for professional riders worldwide. "Built to Grind" is not just a slogan, it's a verifiable fact.
Powell Peralta (1978): the legend factory
Stacy Peralta co-founded Powell Peralta in 1978 with George Powell. The smartest decision he made was to gather the best skaters in the world into a team called the Bones Brigade: Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Tommy Guerrero.
The Bones Brigade videos were the first great skateboard videos in history. They changed the way skateboarding was seen, filmed, and distributed. They were YouTube before YouTube existed. Pro model decks became coveted items for an entire generation of young skaters worldwide.
The old-school reissues available at NO23 are faithful reproductions of the original 1980s shapes: the Steve Caballero Dragon, the Steve Saiz Totem, the Mike McGill Snake Pit. Buying one of these decks is holding a piece of that moment in your hand.
Hosoi Skateboards (1984): style, air, and redemption
Christian Hosoi grew up in the skateparks of Los Angeles with Tony Alva as his idol. At 14, he was already a professional. In 1984, he founded Hosoi Skates, and in 1985, he released the Hammerhead, one of the most revolutionary shapes in skateboarding history. The Smithsonian Institution has a Hammerhead in its permanent collection. It's the only skateboard deck that deserves such status.
Hosoi's story also has a deep human side. In the late 1990s, his career collapsed due to drug problems and a conviction that resulted in five years in prison. He was released in 2004, rebuilt his life and his brand. His story of redemption was documented in the 2006 film "Rising Son." Today, Hammerheads continue to be produced with the original shapes, signed by Christian himself.
A Hosoi deck isn't just a deck. It's one of the most recognizable forms in skateboarding history.
Black Label Skateboards (1988): total independence from the start
John Lucero is one of the most respected names in Californian skateboarding history. In 1988, he founded Lucero Ltd., which quickly became Black Label Skateboards.
What defined Black Label from the beginning was its total refusal to compromise the brand's identity for commercial reasons. Bold graphics, punk and dark aesthetics, never trying to please everyone. The team over the decades is a who's who of street skating: John Cardiel, Jason Adams, Matt Hensley, Salman Agah, Jeff Grosso, Mike Vallely, Gino Iannucci.
Still led by Lucero himself today, Black Label is one of the purest examples of a skater-run brand that has survived commercial pressure without losing its soul.
Blind Skateboards (1989): the opposite of everything
In 1989, Mark Gonzales was fed up with Vision and thinking of retiring. Steve Rocco convinced him to found his own brand. The name was deliberate: Blind is the opposite of Vision.
With Jason Lee, Guy Mariano, Rudy Johnson, and Gonz himself on the team, Blind released "Video Days" in 1991, directed by Spike Jonze, considered by many to be the most important skateboard video of all time. In less than thirty minutes, Video Days redefined what street skating was, how it should be filmed, and what music should accompany it.
The grim reaper, the symbol of the brand, was designed by Gonzales himself and continues to identify Blind worldwide today. For those who know the history, buying a Blind deck is buying a piece of 1991.
New Deal Skateboards (1990): when skaters decided to make their own rules
In 1990, at a competition in Del Mar, Steve Douglas, Paul Schmitt, and Andy Howell grew tired of the big brands and founded New Deal. Andy Howell brought an aesthetic inspired by graffiti and hip-hop that swept away the dragons and skulls of the 80s. In one single move, New Deal signaled that street skating had arrived.
The videos "15 Minute Promo" and "Useless Wooden Toys" were filmed on home cameras, focused exclusively on skateboarding. At a time when Powell Peralta was producing videos with cinematic production, New Deal filmed in the street with what they had. And they won.
From New Deal also came Element Skateboards and 411 Video Magazine. In 2019, the brand returned with its original founders to celebrate thirty years of history. A brand that changed skateboarding twice: when it was born and when it returned.
Zero Skateboards (1996): the punk of modern street skating
Jamie Thomas left Toy Machine in 1996 to found Zero Skateboards. The "Chief" brought a raw, aggressive energy to 90s and 2000s street skating, committed to high-risk tricks in real urban spots.
Zero became known for its iconic skull, its punk and dark aesthetic, and videos that stayed in the memory of a generation: "Thrill of It All," "New Blood," "Cold War." It won Thrasher Magazine's King of the Road three consecutive times between 2004 and 2006. Chris Cole won Thrasher Skateboarder of the Year twice, a feat only four skaters in history have achieved.
Jamie Thomas continues to independently lead the brand, faithful to the original spirit with which he founded it almost thirty years ago.
What changes in practice when you choose a brand with history
When you buy any of these brands, you're buying:
Construction with real quality control. Selected North American or Canadian maple, controlled pressing, consistent pop. It's not marketing, it's the difference you feel under your feet.
A graphic with context. The Dogtown Cross is fifty years old. Santa Cruz's Screaming Hand was designed in 1985. Hosoi's Hammerhead is in the Smithsonian. Alva's Flame was the first skater brand logo. That matters.
A connection to the culture. When you ride a deck from these brands, you're part of a lineage that starts in the 50s and continues to today. It's not nostalgia, it's identity.
Resale and collector's value. Limited editions, reissues, historic pro model decks: these brands have a life beyond skateboarding itself.
The story continues
The skateboarding that exists today only exists because of what happened in Santa Monica and Venice Beach in the 70s. Because of the Z-Boys and empty pools. Because of Tony Alva founding the first skater-owned company. Because of the Bones Brigade filming on VHS. Because of Video Days being filmed on a handheld camera in the streets of Los Angeles.
Buying one of these brands isn't buying the past. It's recognizing where you came from.
Article written by the NO23 Skateboards team
