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Sage Elsesser – Interview

Posted on July 21, 2015March 8, 2016 by bythelevel

In July we had the pleasure of meeting some of the most renowned riders in the world during the London stop of Converse’s ‘One Star’ world tour. Not only did we see some mind-blowing skateboarding but also had the opportunity to have a chat with one of the most talked about young faces in skateboarding today, Sage Elsesser. When you’re one of the kids at the forefront Supreme’s ‘cherry’, there’s no doubt that you’re going to amass quite a fan base around the world. On the flipside of things, ‘cherry’ has had its fair share of scrutiny since its release and it was clear from the get-go that Sage had a pretty hard exterior. Nonetheless, after getting down to talking we had a great conversation with him and his friend Elliot that we’re happy to finally share. This is the Sage Elsesser interview.

There’s a lot of footage of you skating in NYC. How does skating in London compare?

Yeah I think it’s sick. I like the Palace shit, it’s real cool.

You and Sean [Pablo] seem pretty tight. Is he your go-to guy on trips like this?

[Laughs] No homo but yeah we sleep in the same bed.

As one of the most familiar faces in ‘cherry’ you’ve no doubt noticed all the kids playing dress-up. What do you think about all that?

It’s like a cool form of flattery. It’s sick but it’s cool to do your own shit… But then again imitating people – it’s what you’re supposed to do with the people you look up to. I dressed up like Dill you know what I mean? It’s kind of crazy though when they don’t know how to kickflip. I went to Southbank and saw like ten kids just all posted; FA, Supreme all that shit.. They were all just doing bonelesses on the bank but couldn’t really skate. I dunno, you’ve gotta learn the basics first. Don’t start no complying all over the place.

How about all the people biting it that don’t skate at all? You think the video has had anything to do with skateboarding being as popular as it is right now?

Yeah I think as far as Supreme’s concerned people just fuck with us because we make it look sick I guess; at least opposed to hypebeast kids wearing leather pants and shit. It shows a different side of it.

What’s it like riding for a big company like Converse?

It’s sick but at the same time it’s pretty hectic.

Yeah, it’s pretty crazy they’re flying you around the world for the sake of a shoe.

I guess you’ve got to understand the business side of it. They’re just doing what they’ve got to do.

What would your go-to shoe usually be?

I’d probably be wearing Chuck Taylors or something like that.

Do all the kids biting the ‘cherry’ thing ever make you think twice before putting on a pair?

Yes. I’ve definitely thought, “damn I’ve gotta think of a new shoe to skate”, but then again it doesn’t matter… I wear chucks because my friend Logan wore Chuck Taylors back in the day. This dude Logan started everything that you see now: Rails, colours, Dickies pants – he did all that first. Nobody was fuckin’ with that, then the whole grip tape art thing came about… it was all one dude.

If you look at old footage you’ll see Steve Cab back in the day, everybody wore them. It’s a classic shoe.

Do you ever feel those eyes on you? Like “here’s another dude in Chucks and Dickies skating around”.

Yeah it’s crazy. The thing I hate most is people thinking I’m white or something. They try to say I’m whitewashed or some shit like that when really it’s not the case. I’ve seen someone say like, “white kids always have a different section to the black kids in Supreme videos”. Just let a nigga put on some fuckin’ clothes; it doesn’t really matter at all. Really wanna know why my pants are so high? My Grandpa told me gentlemen’s pants are never supposed to touch their shoes. That’s some black people shit. I’ve been running these; I’m not about to let other people fuck it up for me. It’s what I like to skate.

Who’s been skating hardest on the trip?

Probably Louis Lopez, He’s the best skateboarder ever. Tom Remillard’s always ripping too

Who’s been drinking hardest on the trip?

Think Benny got pretty smashed last night

Raemers?

Yeah he reeks of alcohol right now [Laughs].

Your boys Nakel and Kevin have just gone pro for FA. See yourself joining them any time soon?

Fuck, hopefully. I don’t know [laughs], shit!

Elliot: It’s long overdue! You just impossible grinded a table!

You got any passions of your own outside of skating?

Yeah I paint

You’ve recently finished school right? Have you made the decision to go to college or are you putting your faith in skating?

I’m going to college. I got a scholarship to Pratt in New York.

Well congratulations on that. You got any projects in the pipeline at the moment you can tell us about?

If my friend Logan leaves Malibu and skates then hopefully his video…That would be the sickest thing ever.

Finally, are there any other independent companies you’re backing at the moment?

Honestly fuck everything else if it’s not FA. That’s for real…

Head to www.conversecons.com for more on the One Star World Tour

Words: James P.Lees

Imagery: Lily Brown

Converse Cons One Star World Tour – London with Sage Elsesser

Posted on July 18, 2015March 9, 2016 by bythelevel

On Wednesday (15th of July) we were down at Slam City Skates East and Mile End Skatepark for the Converse team’s first stop on their One Star World Tour. Celebrating the launch of the brands ‘One Star Pro’ shoe, we followed the team from their in store signing to the demo at Mile End, and was lucky enough to chat with team rider Sage Elsesser. Enjoy the video above and watch out for the full Sage interview coming soon…

www.converse.co.uk

Find out more on the Converse CONS ‘One Star Pro’ HERE.

Converse ‘One Star Pro’ – New Colourways

Posted on July 17, 2015July 17, 2015 by bythelevel

Last month saw the return of one of the Converse ‘One Star’, one of the brands most iconic styles since it’s initially release back in 1974, resurfacing as an updated skate ready pro shoe in two colour options. This week saw the introduction of three additional colour ways in the hugely popular silhouette as red, off white and navy joined the staple black edition.

The low-cut shoe features the brands iconic star logo, drawn from the Chuck Taylor’s famous ankle patch and placed into the mid-foot panels. All colours feature tonal lacing and piping, except the off white option which features complimenting red on the piping and white laces. The functionality arrives in the shoes lightweight lunarlon sock-liner which provides cushioning upon impact, the memory foam gusseted tongue that stabilises the foot and the grippy gum rubber outsole. Aside from the technical updates, little has been done to the look of the shoe, keeping it as close to the original as possible and because of that, it remains a highly wearable classic.

The Converse One Star Pro is available now at selected retailers including Slam City and Parlour Skate Store.

Converse presents #PleaseCharge

Posted on June 26, 2015June 26, 2015 by bythelevel

Converse develop their #PleaseCharge Instagram movement into a 21 minute skate video which introduces their talented European Team as they travel across several key cities in the continent.

Filmed by Ben Chadourne and James Cruikshank, the video follows team riders Remy Taveira, Harry Lintell, Felipe Bartolome, Jerome Campbell, Paul Grund, Greg Cuadrado, Kevin Rodrigues, David Stenström, Javier Mendizabal, Carlos Cardenosa, Danny Sommerfeld, Daniel Pannemass and Sylvain Tognelli, shredding spots in the UK, Germany, Spain and Netherlands. Filming for the video began in mid-February of this year and spanned across four months and several different trips.

Enjoy the video below which features an original score composed by Jean Louis Huhta. For more information, head over to www.converse.com

Converse CONS launch the One Star Pro

Posted on June 14, 2015June 14, 2015 by bythelevel

This weekend saw the return of the Converse One Star in the UK; one of the brands staple silhouettes since the 70’s. Following several years out of the limelight, Converse CONS present the updated One Star pro, reworking the classic style it into a skate ready pro shoe for the summer.

The One Star has always been hugely popular with both the lifestyle and skate market, but for its latest iteration, Converse have chosen to focus on the latter. Using the original shape as a guideline, a durable vintage suede has been applied to the upper while a premium leather lines the inner. The iconic Converse ‘Star’ brand logo contrasts the colour of the upper and is located on the lateral and media panels, with each colour option sittng on top of a stark white sole unit. Additional features include a moulded volt lunarlon insole for protection upon impact, tonal lacing, a perforated memory foam gussetted tongue that stops the foot from slipping and finally a lighteweight CONS traction, gum coloured rubber outsole for superior grip.

Arriving in limited numbers, the low profile Converse CONS One Star Pro is available in two colour options of Yellow Bird and Black and is released as part of CONS Quickstrike project. You can pick a pair up for £70 over at Welcome Skate Store, Note and Flatspot.

Converse Cons present the Breakpoint Collection

Posted on February 12, 2015February 13, 2015 by bythelevel

Converse CONS have announced the launch of the Breakpoint collection, which sees the brand link up with four of Europe’s most renowned and influential footwear stores to create an exclusive pack of limited edition sneakers.

Londons Footpatrol, Amsterdam’s Patta, Berlin’s Solebox and Starcow based in Paris all apply their own unique take on the silhouette which is made up of a premium mix of materials, including nubuck, suede, nylon and a heavy cotton twill. Each design pulls inspiration from the stores surroundings and local culture, adding their own colour applications and sole constructions based on the individual stores influences. All of the styles feature Converse CONS’ iconic Star Chevron logo and dual branding on the heel tabs and insole, as well as a choice of tonal or contrasting laces. The shoes functional features aren’t lost as a lightweight cusioning is added for comfort and a padded tongue provides protection for the top of the foot.

Converse CONS have also introduced a Breakpoint Zine which will be available in each of the partner stores. The zine gives a visual representation of each stores cultural influences with 20 pages of inspirational artwork, artist submissions, musicians, photographers and filmmakers. It’s a nice touch from the brand to round off 4 solid reworks of the low profile shoe.

The Converse CONS Breakpoint collection will be available exclusively at the four locations in limited numbers from Saturday the 14th of February. The blue suede rework shown above will be available at Footpatrol London.

Converse CONS X Polar Skate Co.

Posted on September 19, 2014November 19, 2014 by bythelevel

Following sneak peeks of the collab surfacing on social media on Monday night, Converse CONS and Polar Skate Co. offer a closer look and set a release date for their first collaborative effort and we couldn’t be more excited!

Taking each brands artistic direction into consideration, CONS and brand ambassador Pontus Alv (founder of Polar Skate Co.) deliver a seven piece collection featuring footwear and apparel pieces based on subtle designs and performance.

Starting with the footwear, the CONS CTAS Pro undergoes its latest rework with all of the shoes performance features in tact. Sitting on top of a clean white midsole and complementing toe cap, the collection offers black, natural and blue colour options with additional detailing in the happy/sad logo on the heel tab and inner tongue labels. Despite the subtle approach to the shoes design, there is no lack of technical features, with durable premium suede uppers, moulded multi-density Lunarlon sockliner for added comfort and impact protection, as well as traction rubber vulcanised outsole and waxed laces. The result is an extremely wearable, skate ready shoe.

Rounding off the collection is a complimenting apparel collection made up of four t-shirt designs, with illustrative back prints on white and heather grey crew necks and full-body abstract prints on black and white collared tees.

Polar Skate Co. founder Pontus Alv had this to say on the release:

“We are stoked to work with Converse CONS on our first collaborative collection, we’ve wanted to create a super-clean Chuck Taylor Pro in suede right from the beginning of working together. They skate really well, they look great and they last”

The Converse Cons X Polar Skate Co. capsule collection is available in limited quantities exclusively in Europe from Friday the 26th of September and will be released globally on Saturday the 4th of October. The collection will be available at the following stockists;

Slam City Skates

Flatspot

Consortium