For Skate Shop Day 2023, éS Skateboarding blessed us all by bringing back the legendary Koston 1, now known as the One Nine 7 (inspired by the year it was first released, 1997). Now, a year on, it only made sense for éS to re-release the much-loved Koston 2 for the 2024 Skate Shop Day celebrations! Aptly renamed as the Two Nine 8 due to it- yep you guessed it, being initially released in ’98, straight off the back of the huge success the Koston 1 generated the year before. The Koston 2 was loved just as much if not more than the Koston 1, and Eric himself was very much becoming skateboarding’s poster child during this time, making the Koston 2 one of the most nostalgia-inducing silhouettes ever made. The OG’s reading this and looking at the images will instantly notice some differences with the modern version, but don’t stress, I will delve into these differences later on.
I’ve got to say it is a huge shame that we cannot continue to refer to these shoes as the Koston 1 or 2 outside of this blog, but sadly Eric is tied up with another shoe company at the moment and I imagine when éS asked if they could use Koston’s name, they sadly did not say “Just Do It”. 😔
Table of contents
Who is Eric Koston?
Early ’90s – Early 00’s
Back in the day, the lifespan of a pro skater’s career was incredibly limited. By the time you had reached your mid-20s, you were seen to be way too old to be marketable. Nowadays, this is very, very different. So different in fact, some pros are now finding themselves spreading across generations of skaters, and in some cases, being looked upon in an incredibly different light depending on what age the skater is. Eric Koston is hands-down one of those dudes.
After being handed a skateboard from his older brother in 1986, Eric was seemingly always destined to end up where he is today. Eric was naturally gifted when it came down to skating and it wasn’t long until he found himself mixing with the big dogs of the skate industry. His first real encounter was with Eddie Elguera at a skate camp. Eddie, aka El Gato, noticed Eric’s ability and decided to help steer him in the right direction to becoming a pro skater. Funnily enough, there was a lot of vert skating going on between the two of them during this time, and Eric’s ability on vert would shock a lot of people to this day, I think.
By the early ’90s, Eric had moved to LA and was skating with Natas and the 101 team as well as the H-Street guys too. During this time, Koston was really honing in on his switch skating and eventually became renowned for his ability to skate switch. His Goldfish part, for example, is insane, the dude was popping switch tres over walls, in ’94! You’ve got to say, hanging out with legends such as Eddie Elguera and Natas Kaupas at such an early age definitely helped give him a cutting edge over a lot of skaters his age. By 1993 Eric was obviously part of the first Girl Skateboards team, which didn’t take long to become one the most well-received brands in the industry. From there up until around 2007/08, Koston was unstoppable. He had established himself as one of the most gifted skaters on the planet, with both ground-breaking video parts and competition wins coming thick and fast.
This is the Koston skaters from the ’90s and early 2000s know and love.
2007 Onwards
2007/08 onwards, Koston transitioned slightly into becoming more of a personality within skating rather than an ‘athlete’. Unveiling the Berrics with Steve Berra was absolutely huge news within skating. Nearly every single day there would be a new video uploaded onto the Berrics website, featuring the most popular skaters of the time. The chase to be one of the best skaters seemed to simmer down for Koston, instead being the best outlet for kids to watch new skateboarding seemed to be the new priority. Oh boy did he manage that. For a good few years, the Berrics was one of the most discussed things within the industry.
Koston throughout his career obviously oozed fun, his video parts were full of mind-blowing tricks, but there were also a lot of things included that were obviously not serious, his Chomp On This part is a perfect example. That was released in 2002 so around the peak of his career and although the skating was impressive, it was mainly him dicking about in a Lakers kit, if we are all being honest. By 2007/8 he was fully invested in the having a good time skating vibe. His Lakai Fully Flared part was incredible but felt as though that was his last truly serious video part and from there on out it was early grabs and just generally doing whatever he felt like. The perfect way to summarise this is to watch one of his winning Tampa Pro runs and then watch any of his runs after 2008. None of this is a problem with me, by the way. I truly believe he has earned the right to do whatever he wants, and I’m thankful to say that is exactly what it seems like he is doing! So kids, Eric isn’t just a goofball, he really did earn the right to finish last in every Tampa pro event onwards.
The Original – Koston 2
Now you are all up to date with Koston, let’s get our heads back into the game and look at what this whole blog post is actually about, the Koston 2/Two Nine 8.
As previously mentioned, the Koston 2 was originally released in 1998 a year after the incredibly popular Koston 1 was released in ’97. During this time éS were absolutely crushing it, not only was their team possibly the best on the planet, but the technology they used and introduced to their skate shoes was something that really set the tone for skate shoe standards from then on. In fact, the K2 was the first shoe to include an EVA midsole, something that is used in nearly all high-quality skate shoes nowadays!
Modernising an Icon – The Two Nine 8
So, before we delve into the technology of the Two Nine 8, let’s address the elephant in the room. The sole unit may look slightly off to you, and you would be totally right! éS shoe buffs will instantly recognise this as the Evant sole unit, which many may be disappointed about. I’ll be honest, I was one of those people. I was too young to be able to own a pair of the OG Koston 2’s and one of the big things I really like about the OG shoe is the runner-style sole unit. However, after speaking to the Supereight overlords, the original sole looked great, but there were issues with it. The outside of the sole near the front had an ollie protection gimmick which protruded out in an angular fashion, causing issues for skaters maintaining a consistent flick on their board. So functionally, this shoe is improved rather substantially with the Evant sole unit, and let’s face it, it still looks banging.
Beneath the surface of the shoe, there are of course plenty of modern upgrades throughout. Not only does this shoe have an EVA midsole, but the footbed is now also a moulded EVA construction and the rubber used for the cupsole sole unit has been upgraded to the premium 400 NBS rubber, again due to the addition of the Evant sole unit. Above the sole unit, tongue straps have been added for a supremely secure fit around the foot. New additions aside, this shoe features all of the much-loved original upper features such as the ghillie lace system, padded yet breathable mid-panel and tongue as well as premium materials used throughout.
éS have done a fantastic job bringing back some of their most iconic silhouettes over the past few years, obviously, the One Nine 7 was hugely popular, as was the Muska reissue that dropped last year too. The nostalgia hit when you see any of these silhouettes is like a warm blanket, helping you ignore some of the modern monstrosities being released at the moment and help remind us all of the golden years of endemic brands such as éS reigning supreme. Perhaps even giving hope that one day these times will return, and skateboarders will once again be in control of the industry, maybe even allowing Koston to put his name back on his previous pro-models such as these. I can’t wait to see this shoe out in the wild, and I can already see dudes like TJ Rogers and James Bush absolutely killing it in these and looking the business whilst doing it. Keep them coming éS!!
