A bit of history
It’s hard to think of two brands that have been as prevalent as DC Shoes or Venture Trucks over the past 25+ years. Both of these companies are steeped in skateboarding history, so when we discovered that these two iconic companies were collaborating, it was obvious that we needed to get it in stock.
Skateboarding is very much back into the baggy jeans and puffed-out shoes aesthetic at the moment and DC is diving headfirst into it. Bringing back shoes from their archive such as the Lynx OG, Versatile, Clocker and even melding a Kalis to a Lynx OG sole unit.
It is clear that they know what they are doing over there. If you look at the skaters that ride for both DC and Venture, you have Will Marshall, Jahmir Brown, John Shanahan, Kevin Bilyeu, Aleka Lang, and Brian Panebianco. That is a baggy collection of skaters right there. Just watch the edit they released for this collab and you will see what I’m on about, it just feels like the perfect time for a collab such as this to drop.
DC and Venture were pushing boundaries in the ’90s, DC was releasing incredibly high-tech shoes at the time and had arguably the best team in the world back then too. With dudes such as Carl Shipman, Mike Carroll, Stevie Williams, and Brian Wenning being the faces of the company. At the time, everyone wanted a piece of the action and the 1998 European DC Super Tour for example was absolutely massive.
How the stars aligned
Venture grew and grew throughout the ’90s, curating an incredible team consisting of Gonz, Ray Barbee, and Sean Sheffey to name a few. Oh, they also had Steve Rocco in charge of marketing the trucks, running ads that epitomized the street skating scene. Not only did Venture have their ear to the ground, but they also entered the street skating market with trucks that really worked for street skaters, whereas Indy, Tracker, or Gullwing, for example, had trucks designated for freestyle or vert skating. Nothing in-between.
By the end of the ’90s Venture was the main rival for Indy, originally designed to be one of the first truly high-quality but affordable skate trucks, Venture flourished into becoming a premium brand even though they were initially created to be an affordable alternative.
There are many different styles (or fits) in skateboarding, especially nowadays with the internet giving skaters an unlimited fount of skateboarding media to consume. Many skaters find themselves gravitating to a certain aesthetic or type of skater that can completely dictate their whole skate experience.
Watched Stay Gold a lot when you were a kid? There is a high chance you look at Leo Romero or Figgy as dudes you want to emulate, and that will inadvertently inspire what you skate, how you skate, what clothes you wear and the hardware you buy.
Why am I mentioning this? Well, not only are both Venture and DC both huge names in skateboarding themselves, there is a huge overlap in the relationship between the two. Generally, when I was growing up, the hesh dudes rode Indy’s and wore Vans and the fresh dudes were wearing DC’s and riding Ventures. After typing that, I have Andy Roy and Sean Smith in my head skating together, and it’s weird, but I’m not complaining. Basically, this collab was written in the stars a long time ago and it was only a matter of time until these two joined forces.
What about the product?
Let’s have a look at what we have got in from this collab then…We have three items in this drop, a pair of Lynx OG’s in a rad Grey/Dark Navy colourway as well as a hoodie and t-shirt both merged with the timeless Venture imagery merged with DC details.
Starting with the t-shirt, a heavy-weight cotton construction in a classic white colourway with the infamous Venture Awake logo placed on the front, the only difference is rather than ‘AWAKE’ being placed at the top of the logo, ‘DCSHOECO’ has replaced it. Nice and subtle.
The hoodie follows the same blueprint, taking the classic V Wings logo and placing the DC logo between the wings, with an extra touch of ‘VENTURECOUSA’ placed on the left sleeve. Both of these are super subtle and well done, I think it can be super easy to try and incorporate too much branding on collabs, but these have been designed perfectly.
I’ve got to say though, for me, the real statement piece of this drop is the Lynx OG, nothing on this shoe has been overdone. It has an off-white suede construction with grey leather panelling around the toe and heel, merged with slight navy and red details all over the shoe really works. Again, subtle Venture details have been used for these shoes, with the woven tongue pull, insole and heel being the only places on the shoe that mentions Venture.
The heel detail is super nice with VENTURE embossed into the suede and VENTURECOUSA placed on the vertical woven tongue pull. Neither of these details has been designed to pop out at you, quite the opposite, in fact, they blend in with the rest of the colourway perfectly. I get the impression that these are designed for those in the know, for those DC and Venture super-fans that will instantly recognise the colourway and know what they are even before they see a Venture logo.
Both of these companies are so well established, they don’t need to scream from the rooftops that they have made a collab. You can see that in the edit they made as well as the clothing and shoes released. They have supremely loyal fans, and that is who this collab is for. This is a coming together of two incredibly respected brands, creating something special to celebrate the fact that they have clawed their way back into the forefront of skateboarding. The kids have rediscovered the era of DC and Venture and they are grasping it with both hands.