Shanghai, ROC – June 1, 2019: Alexis Sablone competing in Women’s Skateboard Street during X Games Shanghai 2019
(Photo by Brett Wilhelm / ESPN Images)
Editor’s Note: All-world talent Alexis Sablone has carved a unique career with a resume that puts just about everyone else to shame. As a trailblazer in skateboarding, she’s been chosen for the first USA Olympic Skateboarding National Team to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. She recently joined the WKND Skateboards professional team releasing her first pro deck, and she designed her own pro model sneaker with Converse. In addition to her athletic prowess, she’s also crazy smart, graduating from Columbia, and holding a master’s degree in architecture from MIT. She’s combined her academic and athletic pursuits by designing and installing a skateable sculpture in Malmo, Sweden, and she has another project on the way in West Palm Beach, Florida. We caught up with the seven-time X Games medalist as she was preparing for this year’s Summer X Games in Minneapolis. Read Up.
Ari Nonahal, StockX: Thanks for talking with us today. Can you introduce yourself?
Alexis Sablone: My name is Alexis Sablone. I’m a professional skateboarder and designer.
Ari: First things first, Max needs to know this before any other question. Why did you choose Mambo Italiano in your breakout video?
Alexis: Funny story is I did not choose that. I wanted some kind of hardcore rap song at the time and the owners of Coliseum, the guys who put out the video, Matt [Roman] and Arty [Vagianos] were just like, “You know we got a song, we think you’re really going to be stoked on it.” The first time I saw it was at the premiere in the theater. I mean, I’m Italian so I think that was partly their inspiration. For years afterwards though when I would skate through the streets of Boston, at least everyday someone would start singing or yell it at me. It wasn’t my choice but in retrospect, they were right. It’s a very memorable song.
Max Lyons, StockX: That was the first thing I noticed. You don’t hear music like this often in skate videos *laughs*. So, what was it like doing King of the Road pre-Viceland?
Alexis: I think I was on the first King of the Road they ever did, and then I was on another one a couple years after that. It was kind of craziness. I think the first one I went on I was 16 or 17 years old. We started in Philly and ended up in San Francisco. Since it was a new thing, it just all seemed insane. There’s a playbook of ridiculous things to do. It was so much fun and such a blur. Recently someone put out this compilation of different videos I’ve been in, and in the thumbnail on Instagram is me holding this bottle of gasoline and throwing it into a fire. I had to do a double take and was like, “Was that me? Did I ever do that?” I didn’t even remember doing that. On that trip in Ohio, we went to this place called Skatopia and it was like 25 stray dogs, a bunch of ramps and all of these junkyard cars… and the challenge was “blow up cars.” *laughs* I mean my mom was great and basically let me do whatever I wanted because she trusted me, but the fact that I was 16… and throwing gasoline at cars…
Ari: That’s wild. Max is googling pictures as we speak.
Alexis: Yeah, it was very memorable.
Ari: You’ve been grinding for such a long time with skateboarding- what do you feel was a turning point in your career or the most surreal moments?
(Photo by Amber Maalouf)
Alexis: Definitely being in PJ Ladd’s “Wonderful Horrible Life.” I had no idea at the time that that video was going to be what it was. It always comes up in interviews. Not to take credit away from myself but it was also right time and right place. That was such a magical time in Boston and that was my crew, so that was a big one.
In terms of competition, I was working a restaurant job after college and the restaurant had a kitchen fire so no one had a job for a couple months. That’s when I was like I heard about this contest and I heard I could make a lot of money. I somehow weaseled my way into it and actually that one I didn’t do well in, but the one 2 weeks after that…that was my first XGames and I got second and made more money I could’ve ever made working a full year at a restaurant. That was a big moment for me and changed my life.
Obviously joining WKND SKATEBOARDS and finally getting a pro board is a big one for me, and being on Converse. And now, being a part of the U.S. Olympic Skateboarding Team.
Ari: We have to congratulate you on entering the Olympics. That’s sick. How does it feel to be picked for the first U.S.A. Team for skateboarding?
Alexis: It’s a huge honor and feels very surreal. I don’t think it will fully hit me, or everyone until I’m there. It’s so different. Skateboarding has changed a lot since I started in the mid-90s. If you were to ask me back then if skateboarding would ever be in the Olympics, I would have laughed. I just never thought that that was going to happen. It wouldn’t have made sense for skating at the time. Different time, different place. Just the fact that I’m able to overlap with this happening for the first time means a lot to me. It’s a big honor.
Ari: As far as your sneaker with Converse, what creative and technical design did you add to the one star to make it your own?
Alexis: Well the existing shoe is originally a 70’s basketball shoe and it eventually became adopted by streetwear. As a skate shoe, when I started skating for Converse that was the shoe I gravitated towards from the beginning because it’s such a classic. I tear through shoes pretty fast and I like having more grip in the front. So, I added a half rubber toe piece to the vamp of the shoe, double stitched the the body to reinforce it, and then I designed the colors. It was a process. I told them the things I wanted and then, with tape on a shoe, I would cut out where I wanted the rubber to be and sent it to them. I would send them drawings of color options until we landed on what we did. I got to really be hands on with it and they were open to all the things I wanted to do.
Minneapolis, MN – July 21, 2018 – U.S. Bank Stadium: Alexis Sablone competing in SoFi Women’s Skateboard Street during X Games Minneapolis 2018
(Photo by Eric Lars Bakke / ESPN Images)
Max: Did ES ever give any thought to creating a signature model for you? Or was Converse the first opportunity?
Alexis: No, that never came up. It was also funny timing. I think I got my first paycheck from skateboarding ever from ES, and I remember it showing up right after the Colosseum video. I wanted to go to college and I decided that I wanted to quit all my sponsors. I got a check from them and there was never any discussion about a shoe, but right as that was starting to build up I decided to do my own thing. Maybe there could have been more possibilities, but at the time I didn’t want any pressure attached to skating. I didn’t want to receive money and then fall short of what was expected of me. So I basically just skated for fun all four years of college. It wasn’t until after that when back in the real world and needed to make a living, so I started doing competitions and got back into the industry. So I don’t know if I would have had a shoe with ES, I quit right before things picked up.
Max: Can you explain how you got the opportunity to create your first skateable sculpture in Malmo? I know you got your masters in architecture from MIT. Were skateable sculptures always an end goal in your mind? Or do you have an interest in other areas of architecture as well?
Alexis: No, not at all. My thesis was on an international nuclear waste repository. I guess because I’ve had this background in architecture, people have been asking me for years if me my ultimate goal is to design skateparks. Honestly, I was never really interested in designing skateparks. I like skating at skateparks, but it’s a place designed for skateboarding and occupied mostly by skateboarders. Then I got this opportunity to design a skateable sculpture in Malmo. Malmo has a really vibrant skate scene for a relatively small city. Skateboarders have a very good relationship with the city, so it’s a unique environment. The fact that it was even possible is a dream project to me. I got to go there, scout locations, and pick where to put the sculpture in. We had to go through the process of getting everything approved, but it was all approved and underwent construction. What is really exciting is that it is situated in a public square with no fences around it. It’s unprescribed space. Obviously a skateboarder will look at it and see something skateable, but maybe someone else looks at it and sees something they want to interact with, or sit, or play on. I think that there isn’t enough of that in cities: large-scale public art that you don’t get kicked out for skating on. It was a great opportunity. I’m working on another skateable sculpture now in Palm Beach, so that’s in process.
Max: Can you divulge anything about that West Palm Beach sculpture?
Alexis: We are still figuring out funding and details but it’s exciting. I’m hoping I get to do more of those types of things. A lot of skate culture is born out of the street. The whole thrill of it is that you are skating spaces that were not designed for skateboarding at all. You are reappropriating space and doing something creative with that space with your skateboard as the medium. Skateboarders are kind of like scavengers, always looking through a city to find things. Not to put down skateparks, but they are spaces designed only for skaters and it is contained. These sculptures are something in between that can bridge the gap. They are just something that is part of the city that you can skate and not be arrested.
(Photos by Amber Maalouf)
Max: How did it feel to finally get a pro deck with WKND in 2017? We know you’ve done some art and creative direction for WKND, did you create your pro graphic on your own?
Alexis: Yeah, I designed most of the graphics for them but that was in the beginning. The design for that came organically. It’s funny because there were times when I was younger that I dreamed of having my name on a skateboard. I thought I had let go of that going through different life phases, but when it did happen it was a surprise how much it meant to me. I didn’t realize it would feel like a big moment, but it felt like a big moment.
Ari: How are you feeling right now as you’re about to enter the Summer X Games?
Alexis: I feel good. I think that in the days before I’m going to feel really nervous, because I’ve learned that’s how I always feel. Otherwise, I’m excited to still be a part of it. Everyone getting together and seeing people you don’t regularly skate with is nice, it’s like a ceremony. It’s exciting. We’ll see how it goes! I’ve been on the top, I’ve been on the bottom, you just never know. I always feel confident going into it at least.
Max: Have you seen a large cultural shift in how the X Games are received? Coming from your first X Games almost a decade ago to now.
Alexis: In the mid-90’s I was in Newport, Rhode Island walking with my mom and my sister and one of the early X Games was taking place right next to us. At that time it was rare to even see other skateboarders. Back then, X Games could fit inside of a parking lot. So the fact that it has grown from that to what it is now and now with the Olympics also, the state of skateboarding I think has become more mainstream. With that, there are some things the nostalgic part of me is like ugh. But the nice part is that skateboarding gets a lot more appreciation and respect from people outside of skateboarding who don’t know much about it. People in the past have been quick to niche skaters to being punk kids up to no good. There is so much more to it. Skateboarders think in such a different way and are very creative, offering a lot. It’s nice, even if it’s by way of mainstream contests on TV. People are able to see that it’s more than that.
Ari: As you continue to gain more recognition in the industry, what’s something you wish more people knew about you?
Alexis: Skateboarding and creative work are both really important parts of my life. I’m always splitting my time between the two. Skateboarding is the relief from other creative projects I’m working on. I get tunnel vision working on a creative project I’m obsessed with and skateboarding is the thing that gets me to get up and clear my mind. They help balance me out and compliment each other. I’m also a jock I guess. I love other sports; I play basketball all the time.
