Woolf + Lapin was recently in Southern California and had the pleasure of hanging out at Tony Hawk’s installation in Vista, north of San Diego. Though we didn’t get the pleasure of meeting Tony in person we were given a tour of the place by head of production Irene Navarro and Angela Rhodehamel. We visited the offices, (Hawk has a #23 signed Bulls jersey of Mr. Air himself behind his desk) as well as the warehouse area where ramps take up most of the space where employees get to go for a skate and test the merch…
Incidentally, it is this very warehouse space that director Patrick Boivin will use to film a spot for an upcoming Tony Hawk product.
Hawk has been a skate icon since he was fourteen. And he has branded his pro skater name prolifically : video games, decks, shirts, vitamins, websites (check out shredordie.com), his own skateboard team Birdhouse, his production company 900 films to his own radio show. But what’s most impressive is his Foundation, which promotes and finances public skateparks in low-income areas across the United States.
Volunteers of the Tony Hawk Foundation like in the image below are responsible for the building of over 450 skateparks in the US.
“If it’s done right, a skatepark project can teach young people a lifelong lesson in the power of perseverance, and remind adults that kids with funny haircuts and pierced lips not only can be good people, but also can get things done.”
Ride on!
