Dont Go Barefoot: Skating the Top 10 Most Influential Non-Skate Skate Shoes

In honor of Jonah Hill’s directorial debut with his coming-of-age skateboarding film “Mid90s,” I put together a list of non-skate specific shoes that have been popular throughout skating, especially in its early days. Many of these shoes went on to influence the skate shoes of the late 90s and 2000s (anyone remember that Duff’s KCKs were the spitting image of a Reebok Workout?).

Who knows, you might even catch a few of these on the feet of the many characters in “Mid90s.”

In 2018, you can look around and see a litany of skate brands available at stores all over the world. This includes the ever-growing market of skateboarding sneakers, from core skateboarding brands like Emerica and Lakai, to the big sneaker companies like Nike and Adidas.

In the 1980s, when street skating began being popularized, many of these skate brands were missing from the scene or not producing sneakers yet. Skaters had to be creative with their selection of sturdy shoes, that also provided some boardfeel. Skaters did what they always do: they worked with what was available and improvised.

Here’s our top-ten list of some of the most unique and influential non-skate skate shoes that have been used over the years:

10. Fila Original Fitness

This one may seem a bit out of left field, but Fila’s Original Fitness is everything an inexpensive skate shoe should be: sturdy leather or suede, decent grip pattern, and enough ankle support make this shoe easily skateable. In fact, I’ve been looking for a black pair of the DGK collab in my size, and they’re pretty hard to come by.

In 2015, Fila got together with DGK to put out two pairs of the Original Fitness, with only 250 pairs of each colorway. While this collaboration is Fila’s only real recent interaction with the skate world, the Original Fitness will always be held in high regard because of its popularity in the late 80s and early 90s.

DGK x Fila Original Fitness Pack

9. New Balance Pro Court

New Balance has always been seen on the tennis court, but what you may not know is that New Balance actually created their own skate division several years back: New Balance Numeric. Their first foray into skateboarding came when skaters began to utilize some of New Balance’s popular tennis models as skate shoes. The Pro Court was an easy crossover model due to the similarities of older tennis models and early skate shoes. Tough materials like leather or suede, with a pretty thin sole, allowed for satisfactory boardfeel and control.

Connor Kammerer can be seen skating the tennis version of the Pro Court below (along with a variety of other obscure shoes):

8. adidas Samba

Another model that has been tweaked for skateboarding is the adidas Samba indoor soccer shoe. A favorite of many skaters due to the durable and supportive leather upper and for the boardfeel that most skaters desire. This shoe was also a clear influence for famed German skater Dennis Busenitz’s signature pro model, which has gone on to be one of the more popular adidas Skateboarding models.

OG adidas Samba

adidas Busenitz

7. Asics/Onitsuka Tiger Fabre BL-S / Tokuten

It might surprise you to see Onitsuka Tiger/Asics on here, but many of their lower cut lifestyle models contain the elements of a worthy skate shoe. You can even find some of these models advertised on Amazon with words like “skate” in the descriptions. According to Ripped Laces, there were even talks of Onitsuka Tiger putting together a skate team in Japan, but unfortunately, it looks like the project fell apart before it could launch. Connor Kammerer, who we know takes pride in skating nonconventional shoes, can be seen skating this model as well in his “Tengu: God of Mischief” cameo.

6. Puma Suede/Clyde

Puma has some love in the skateboarding world. Connor Kammerer, best known for skating all kinds of unorthodox shoes, has been seen rocking Clydes. Puma’s Clyde and Suede models have been popular with skaters for a while now, as evidenced by legendary skater Mike Carroll in the skate film “Questionable.” 

Puma is another larger shoe company who tried their hand in skateboarding but weren’t ready to commit fully to the category. Apparently, samples were made of a Puma Suede Vulc, but it never really made it any further than that. It’s an interesting story, and worth a read-through of the full interview with Joey Brezinski, former team manager of Puma’s skate division/project on Ripped Laces here.

Puma Suede Vulc sample

Mike Carroll can be seen skating Puma Clydes in “Questionable” below:

5. Converse Pro Leather

Legendary basketball player Dr. J’s famous Converse Pro Leather. Loved for its simple design, the Pro Leather translates beautifully into a higher-cut skate shoe. It gives you strong ankle support, has a grip pattern that is conducive to skating, and finds a perfect medium between comfort and boardfeel. Clothing and Skate brand Babylon out of LA (owned by members of the punk band Trash Talk) has done a few collaborations with Converse, one being a pack of two Pro Leathers that were inspired by Bryce Kanight’s photograph of Julien Stranger’s first frontside boardslide on a railing in 1987. Converse now has a fully developed a skate program, and sponsors many local skaters all over the world.

Converse x Trash Talk Pro Leather White

4. adidas Superstar

One of adidas’ best selling models of all time, this low-cut basketball shoe was first introduced in 1969 and quickly became a staple both in the basketball and hip-hop world. Run-DMC famously rocked these kicks in many of their videos, usually sans laces. Given its history, would you really be surprised to hear they had another life in skating? You shouldn’t be, these shoes have been skated in since it first came out back in the late 60s. With durable leather and an even more durable shell-toe, this shoe was perfect for skating. The Superstar and a few other classic models have been reworked as a part of adidas’ skate division.

A personal favorite Superstar model is the Alltimers x adidas skateboarding collaboration. Not only was it well done and comedic, it shows the importance of the shoe to core skaters all around the country. Alltimers had been skating Superstars for their whole existence, and Adidas showed their dedication to the skate category here by collaborating with them. Alltimers may be a smaller company in the skate world, but their impact on the NYC and Boston skating scenes is easy to recognize. In fact, I know some guys back in Boston who skate on the Alltimers team, and they’re the ones who turned me onto the shoe in the first place.

Also, the commercial for the collection is hilarious:

3. Reebok Workout

A brand that one might not expect to have such a large footprint in skateboarding is Reebok. Their most recent association with skating was the Sneaker Politics x Humidity NOLA x Reebok Workout, tying in both skate and hip-hop culture for a beautiful No Limit inspired shoe.

Reebok Workouts first gained a lot of popularity back in the early 90s when larger-than-life skaters like Stevie Williams and Kareem Campbell embraced the shoe as their daily driver. Not only were Kareem’s first signature on Duff’s (Duff KCK’s, Kareem Campbells Kicks) shoes clearly based on the Workout, but Reebok actually ended up working with Stevie Williams’ Dirty Ghetto Kids (DGK) brand to produce upwards of 10 different DGK Reebok skate shoes. Reebok even tweaked their branding for the skate world, shortening it to “RBK” with a silhouette of someone ollieing next to the letters. Guess which model Williams picked to be the canvas for about 70% of those shoes? Yup, the workout. It does make sense though, proper cushioning and ankle protection, reinforced suede or leather uppers, and a solid grip make this shoe reliable on the streets. He also shows some love to the Reebok Club C with two Reebok Pump Club C iterations, one made of incredibly durable basketball leather.

These kicks are quite hard to come by nowadays so make sure to check out a handful of the collaborations on StockX!

2. Converse Chuck Taylor All Star

While we already established Converse’s unintentional foray into skateboarding in the early years with the Pro Leather, it goes without saying that the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star is a shoe you will see on the feet of most skaters. Many of Supreme’s and Fucking Awesome’s riders use the Chuck Taylor because it is cheap, provides non-restrictive ankle support, its canvas uppers are durable, and the grip works well with skateboards. Chuck Taylor All Stars date back to the early days of skating in the 1980s, and the use of converse shoes in general dates back to the days of the Z-Boys.

While Converse has officially waded into skating waters in recent years, one collaboration, in particular, is a utilitarian collection with core skate brand Chocolate. The One Star and All Star in the capsule release are both made of rough textile fabric, to stand up against repeated wear, they include vulcanized ollie-pads on the outside of the forefoot, and can be seen on the feet of many skateboarders, including Supreme riders Sean Pablo and Sage Elsesser.

Sean Pablo skating Converse All-Stars

1. Nike Air Jordan 1

Not only is the Jordan 1 an icon on the court and in the fashion world, but it also holds the top spot as the best non-skate skate shoes of all time. The Jordan 1 is perfect for someone like me, who’s looking for strong ankle support, durable materials, solid grip, and accurate boardfeel. Skating in Jordan 1s date back to Bones Brigade’s “The Search for Animal Chin” video, and are still quite common today. Many skaters I know will buy the Jordan 1 colorways that end up flopping or going below retail. For instance, I know the Jordan 1 High Storm Blues ended up being a favorite for many skaters last year when it dipped below retail and could be bought for steal prices.

The Jordan 1s’ legacy in skateboarding is so prevalent, that Nike has created two separate skate-centric collaborations of the Air Jordan 1 Model. First was a collaboration with skate and art legend, Craig Stecyk. He worked with nike to create an Air Jordan 1 High. Following this collab was two colorways of Bones Brigade alum Lance Mountain’s Air Jordan 1 Highs. These came in a white or black upper, which slowly weathered away while skating to reveal Bred 1’s on one side and Royal 1’s on the other.

Bonus shoutout to Bronze 56K for their recently released Reebok Club C collaboration, another Reebok athletic shoe that doubles as a skate shoe with its durable leather upper, comfortable cushioning, and grippy sole.

Light me up in the comments if you think I’m wrong.