Lakai's origins
Lakai Footwear was launched in 1999, by '90s skateboard legends Mike Carroll and Rick Howard. Both Rick and Mike were skating for DC Shoes in the late '90s until a good friend of theirs, Tim Gavin, convinced them to start their own skate shoe company and run it through Podium Distribution, which also owned brands such as DVS and Matix clothing.
DC was at its absolute peak in the late '90s, their team was one of the best in the world and it felt as though few brands could truly rub shoulders with them. This would all change once Mike and Rick jumped ship and utilised their popularity within the industry to shift a lot of focus away from DC and onto their very own, very exciting and of course very new shoe company, Lakai.
After deciding on the name Lakai, as well as designing the now iconic 'Flare' logo with Andy Mueller, it was time to build a team. Rick and Mike were of course the first two names on the list, with other initial riders that included Scott Johnson, Jeff Lenoce, Rob Welsh, Anthony Pappalardo, and Cairo Foster. The likes of Marc Johnson, Brandon Biebel and Danny Garcia then joined the team shortly after. At the time that was a skate team that could compete with any other skate shoe company on the planet, especially when you consider the amount of hype Lakai was just effortlessly exuding during its inception.
Fully Flared, a cinematic masterpiece?
As we all know with skateboarding; filming, editing and releasing full-length videos is the absolute bread and butter of the industry, even more so back in the early 2000s. With this in mind, it didn't take long for Lakai to announce that in 2005 the first Lakai full-length video would be released. During the filming of this video, there were a good few tour videos released, with videos such as their “Australia Tour” video from 2001 and “Beware the Flare” (euro tour) in 2002. These tour videos were a great way to introduce the team and showcase the vibe of the brand, but most of the truly substantial clips filmed during these tours were almost definitely saved for the big release in 2005.
2005 quickly rolled around and after looking at all of the raw footage filmed over the past few years, Lakai quickly realised that Marc Johnson not only had around 15 minutes of footage, he was also effectively making everyone else on the team look like they were barely trying. After seeing Marc's footage the rest of the team instantly found motivation they had never experienced before, so Lakai decided to delay the release of the video for another year or so, giving the rest of the team a chance to try and catch up with Marc. Eric Koston, Mike Mo, Alex Olson and Guy Mariano also got on the team during this time and instantly started filming for the video too. By 2007 “Fully Flared” was finally released and quickly found itself considered to be one of the best skate videos ever created, not only due to the unbelievable skating featured throughout but also due to Ty Evans' successful quest to film the most cinematic skate video ever.
Unfortunately for Lakai, gradually after the release of “Fully Flared” many of the team riders that made the video as prominent as it was were snatched up by various other shoe companies such as Vans, Adidas and Nike. However, as with most scenarios like this, it may be sad to see legends leave the team, but at the same time, it was also a great opportunity to refresh the squad with skaters that could quite possibly be the next Marc Johnson or Mike Mo. With the next full-length video from Lakai not dropping until 2017 with “The Flare”, Lakai gave themselves plenty of time to re-establish their team of rippers such as James Capps, Vincent Alvarez, Griffin Gass, Simon Bannerot, Stevie Perez, Riley Hawk and Jimmy Wilkins.
Lakai shoes, an evolution in design
Over the years Lakai shoes have developed countless popular designs that have defined the brand's DNA. In the early years (1999-2003), Lakai shoes looked very much like you would expect from that era. Chunky technical skate shoes were the order of the day and Lakai had some standout silhouettes such as the "Fade" and signature shoes for Rick Howard and Mike Carroll.
During the mid-2000s Lakai refined its offering, sliming down some of the profiles and introducing shoes like the Staple and the original cup sole iteration of the Manchetser. From there, they introduced new signature shoes from Marc Johnson, Cairo Foster and ultimately Eric Koston while developing other key team shoes such as the Soca, Telford and Kingston.
Fast forward a little to the 2010s and 2020s and Lakai's look has been refined even more with the introduction of shoes like the Griffin and Cambridge take inspiration from Lakai's heritage but push the aesthetic forward into more modern designs. Lakai will continue to develop and evolve, but it is the classic look and feel of their shoes along with the prominent "flare" logo that has not only resulted in instantly recognisable shoes but also serves to define the branding that represents a company that many recognise as making skate shoes, designed by skateboarders, for skateboarders.
