Wheels (and shoes) of Fortune
Ian Browning talks shoes at Wheels of Fortune 13, Lakai is either done or free, Lau Willems is really good at skateboarding, Gui Khury doesn't know who Arto Saari is, and more.
The definitive weekly ranking and analysis of all the skateboarding and other things online that I cannot stop consuming and how it makes me feel, personally.
Wheels (and shoes) of Fortune 13
A special correspondence by Ian Browning
Skateboarding continues to grow in all directions. Olympic athletes who film legit street parts, novelty Instagram skaters, and despot-aligned elected representatives who can kickflip would have all been inconceivable 15 years ago. Here we are, though. Yet, there’s still one thing that unites all of us: nerding out about skate shoes.
Another thing that unites skaters is Wheels of Fortune, Skate Like A Girl’s sort-of-annual global gathering of non-traditional skateboarders, which happened last weekend in Seattle. It was a weekend of community, friendship, and hijinx. I was out there to soak up the vibes and eat West Coast oysters, but also hit the streets to see what was afoot.
Vans with signs of flowers. Most of my shoes are for skating.
Do you see value or benefit in having all of these people converging together?
Oh yeah, it helps to grow skateboarding, especially for skater girls. We need more skater girls going out there, you know? Trying something new every day, from the beginners to the pros. Yeah. The environment is really nice — it doesn't matter if you are new to skating or not. The point is about having fun here all together.
What part of the weekend are you most excited for?
I would like to see the winners of the Witch Hunt and watch the videos.
I don't mind at all, but it's a lame answer: they're from Nordstrom Rack. They're Adidas. They're cute, they're pink, they're suede. Got a little pop of yellow in there. I haven't skated them until today.
What's your impression of the weekend so far?
This sounds corny, but it’s soul-fulfilling for me, because I'm seeing all my friends. I'm meeting so many new friends as well, and I'm stoked on that. It's a really fun weekend. The Witch Hunt was super cool. I felt like I was dorking around. I was chilling. I was goofy and filming my friends doing their stuff.
We did the Witch Hunt and did the Woman Ramp [challenge]. Three of us lined up against the wall with plywood against us and a new friend named Nugget did a little kickturn on it. We had to hop the fence at Garfield to get the plywood. I don’t know what the challenge was called, but my friend Alé also did a little rock-to-fakie lying on the board on her stomach. She just looked like a seal. She also shaved her head.
I'm not skating. I'm working. I’m wearing Converse, the 1970s. The rubber [foxing tape] is higher, like a skate shoe, but they’re not Cons, they’re just normal ones.
So what brings you here? Is this your first Wheels of Fortune?
No, this is my eighth. I've been working Wheels of Fortune since WoF five, and I am one of the main event organizers and executors of WoF 13. It's been really fun so far. The irony is, the first time I was really on a board was when I went to a Skate Like A Girl clinic 11 years ago.
2026 hasn’t been easy for a lot of people in a lot of ways. Seeing people making time and a financial commitment to come to W.O.F. is awesome. Seeing the community come out, and seeing some folks make it happen. I've seen it progress over the past 12 years, and it's kind of cool that I get to put my name on this one.
What makes this weekend special?
My friend Kava Vasquez brought this up the other day, and I really like the quote: to make a village, you gotta be a villager. So I think people in this community are down to be villagers and that's why they get to enjoy the village that they're in. We curate a space, and safe is a word we use a lot, but "safe" looks different everywhere. Safety means that we make things safe ourselves as well.
Nike SB Blazer Mids. I really like that they're padded but they're also thin enough that I can feel my board. I tweaked my ankle before I came here, so the mid helps me.
Is this your first Wheels of Fortune?
Yes, it is.
What brought you here?
I was lucky and I got a travel scholarship through my local shop, No Comply, and Nike. I wanted to come out here; my grandmother lives north of Seattle, I got to visit for a week, and then come down for the event.
How has it been so far?
I’d say it’s the most welcoming event [I’ve] ever been to as far as skate things. Everyone's super supportive and just really hyped on everything. Also, [it's] a good mix of people who make and do things outside of just directly skating.
The Curren Caples [Vans]. They're pretty sturdy — I've skated a lot of Vans, but some of the newer skate shoes, they just feel different. More support or something.
And is this your first Wheels of Fortune? What brought you up here?
I had a friend that had been to it before. She couldn't go this time, but she told me about it, and it looked fun. There honestly aren’t too many women skaters in southern Oregon, where I live. I mostly skate with guys at my local park. It's not a queer scene — or there are pockets — but it's cool to come to bigger cities every so often and see more of that.
I got out of my skating shoes. They're the Nora Adidas, but my feet are all blistered, so I needed something to breathe. These Timberlands are perfect; nice and big. I really like them and got ‘em for so cheap at Goodwill. I thought there were fakes, showed my roommate, and she was like, “dude, they're like bone in!”
What's been your highlight of the weekend?
Meeting all of my idols. Being able to meet Lizzie Armanto on the first night and see how cool she is. Because of my dog Lady, I got to meet Beatrice [Domond], Nicole [Hause], Fabi [Delfino], Ruby [Lilley], Lady [Meek] and Nora [Vasconcellos]. And the community of everybody — Lady got out, and the whole community was like “No, I've seen that dog around here. We're gonna, like, make sure she doesn't cross the street.” It’s really been the people all around. I have a new group from the last [Wheels of Fortune], and everyone's so sweet and cool and supportive. And that's why I drove a thousand miles from San Antonio, Texas: for that kind of connection.
Some more, less intensive, on-the-ground reporting
Rank: 📽️
Mood: 1
On Tuesday, I attended the Vancouver premiere of Lau Willem's debut There Skateboards video part, held at Antisocial Skateboard Shop. This was the last stop on There's Pacific Northwest tour, coming out of Wheels of Fortune in Seattle, and by right, there were free Lucky Lagers on hand for attendees.
The primary takeaways from the event and the video are that it's great to see skateboarding teams tour with regularity again, the There team are a lovely bunch who were great with fans and put a hurting on Vancouver's skate plaza, and Willems is incredible. This is her second part in two months, following the release of L.A.U. (Love And Unity) in March, and it is her best yet.
Cole Nowicki
She delivers her expected level of technicality while taking those tricks off of much bigger, wilder obstacles. The handful of enders will be sure to cause some scrubbing and rewinding in your YouTube player whenever the video is uploaded online.
That's all I have to report. I was just there to have a nice time. If you'd like some additional colour, prior to the premiere, I had a pretty decent rib sandwich at a restaurant down the street, whose ingredient list reads as such: "Roasted pork ribs on a brioche bun with salsa negra, white onion, pickled cucumber, and kale slaw, served with shoestring fries." Was it worth the $23 CAD? That question can't be answered without first posing another: Is any sandwich or burger worth $23 CAD?
Inversal's reversal
Rank: -1999
Mood: 🌀
A universal sign that Things Aren't Going Great is when they require you to record a front-facing video from the driver's seat of your car.
Video: Luis Mora on Instagram
That is what Luis Mora, a filmmaker and co-owner of Lakai Footwear, felt compelled to do this week to address the "talk and speculation" going around about the longtime shoe brand. For those unfamiliar, following years of financial struggles and various acquisitions, Lakai, founded in 1999 by professional skateboarders Rick Howard and Mike Carroll, was purchased by self-described "turnaround" specialist Marc Roca via his firm Inversal in late 2024.
Cole Nowicki
The deal quickly soured when Roca ousted Howard and Carroll, which resulted in the company's entire roster of contracted skateboarders following suit in protest. In an effort to right the ship, Roca offered Mora — whose own brand, Erased, had collaborated with Lakai in the past — a role as a team and brand manager. According to Mora, he "refused" unless he was given equity in the company, and Roca agreed. Who maintains a controlling stake was not made public, though one assumes Roca.
Since then, Mora, who has nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers, has used that substantial platform quite liberally to promote his involvement with Lakai.
...ALONG WITH OTHER INVESTMENT PARTNERS
The specific "talk and speculation" Mora references in his video from earlier this week is unclear; however, the Lakai website is currently advertising a "warehouse clearance sale" with every shoe reduced to $50 USD and apparel prices significantly slashed, as "everything has to go."
Mora goes on to poke vaguely at Roca's alleged financial struggles, which he says are "connected to his other several investments." Those other investments include Tactics, a Pacific Northwest skate shop chain, which Inversal acquired last year. In the past few months, two of Tactic's three brick-and-mortar American storefronts have closed. There have also been recent layoffs on the marketing and management side of the business.
Cole Nowicki
Making this situation more confusing, Inversal, Roca's investment and turnaround firm that acquired both Lakai and Tactics from TSI Holdings, wrapped up operations in April, according to Roca's LinkedIn page, and the Inversal website has been scrubbed. What that means for either company is uncertain. Roca has also removed all mention of Lakai from his LinkedIn page, where he previously listed himself as CEO. The sole role on his page is currently CEO of Tactics.
Spurred by what appears to be the collapse of Roca's network of financial interests, Mora's video is both an attempt to dispel "bullshit random rumours" and a bargaining tactic, as he publicly declares, "it is our intention to have Marc step out of Lakai... We have been talking and working together with Marc and the other parties connected with this about fully acquiring [and] fully controlling Lakai."
Mora goes on to say that, "In the last three months, with our leadership alone, we've been able to stabilize the company, improve operations, logistics, and also just rebuild trust. There is a future now for the company. In [that] future, the company falls back completely into the hands of skateboarders. That's what we're fighting for."
Rushed warehouse clearance sales don't scream "stabilized." Nor is there evidence of restored trust, as this zombie iteration of Lakai is widely considered toxic, despite the effort Mora has put into rebuilding its team and brand. The prospect of being "skater-owned" is a nice marketing angle, but it doesn't automatically mean what they'd do will be good. Because if that future is just more two-page Lakai x RipnDip ad spreads in Thrasher, is that a future anyone really wants?
From the March, April, and June 2026 editions of Thrasher Magazine.
Struggling for a view
Rank: ...
Mood: 🙈
Gui Khury, 17-year-old skateboarding phenom and first person to land a 1080 within the confines of a vert ramp, doesn't know who Arto Saari is. We learn this when 51-year-old vert skating icon Sandro Diaz presses the teenager during a Red Bull tour through Florianopolis, Brazil, or, as the YouTube video title originally put it before being A/B tested out of existence, "12 Pro Transition Skaters Hit Legendary Brazil Spots."
Current
Brazil spots. Spain spots? Lithuania spots! Anyway. Time, like SEO best practices, changes quickly. Sand through the hourglass. What you thought was a given is fragile, likely to give way, no matter how desperately you hold on.
Don't blame the young man. He merely lives in the world we created. Not everyone will watch Flip Skateboards' Sorry every day for three years in the early aughts. Arto Saari, 2001 Thrasher Magazine Skater of the Year, is just a photographer in the van. Nothing is as you remember.
Consider 8-10 MMA fighter Chris Avila, who lost a decision in the curtain-jerker of last weekend's Rousey vs. Carano MVP MMA event. This below-average fighter, a friend of washed-but-popular journeyman Nathan Donald Diaz, secured a sponsorship with Santa Cruz Skateboards, including a patch on his fight shorts, after being seen wearing a Santa Cruz t-shirt while sitting in as a guest with Diaz on alleged comedian Theo Von's podcast. The skateboard company would reach out to Avila themselves, according to the fighter.
Could that money have been better spent on Santa Cruz's rostered team of skateboarders rather than an MMA fighter with a sub .500 record? Probably. But what we've come to learn, or really, what we've always known but preferred not to admit, is that it only matters what we look at now. Screaming hand on Netflix. Gui Khury 1080 remix on TikTok. What we should be looking at is what has changed. The thing you thought skateboarding was has never really been that. Or it was, but only when you were looking at it from the provided vantage of traditional skateboarding media.
That doesn't exist in the way it once did. The vantage has become flattened, and now we can see in all directions, like a burning prairie skyline. With so much to look at and all those eyes scattered, you can't count on cultural hegemony, a shared cultural understanding, or a 17-year-old skateboarder to know who Arto Saari is. That means when your vision does come into focus, you're not always going to like what you see.
Georg Szalai
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Some things to consider:
Luke O’Neil
Mary Turfah
Very good thing:
And a write-up on Today Tomorrow Forever from last week:
Cole Nowicki
A fantastic thing from Farran:
Snack
And one from Ted:
Guardian staff reporter
And Anthony!:
Anthony Pappalardo
And Mike!!:
Mike Burrill and Village Psychic
A good thing about trying and succeeding and what comes after:
David Roth
Another good thing: Adjacency Bias announced their lineup of panels and presentations for the second edition of Adjacent, and it is stacked.
Alex Fazekas-Boone
Mo Crandall talking 250:
Until next week… it's okay to be a pants person in the summer. Just be prepared for sweaty, chaffed legs and crotch.
Laser Quit Smoking Massage
NEWEST PRESS
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A collection of essays that I think you might like. The Edmonton Journal called it a "local book set to make a mark in 2024," The CBC said it's "quirky yet insightful" (lol), and it won Trade Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2025 Alberta Book Publishing Awards.
Book cover by Hiller Goodspeed.
Right, Down + Circle
ECW PRESS
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I wrote a book about the history and cultural impact of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater that you can find at your local bookshop or order online now. I think you might like this one, too.
Photo via The Palomino.
