The First Abloh Invitational Photos
12/13/2022
When Chloe and Mahfuz from Architecture asked me to help put on the First Annual Abloh Skateboard Invitational, I was so down. Virgil loved skating and he always let the world know this, whether it was in his footwear/apparel designs or getting Lucien Clarke a shoe on Louis Vuitton. I also recall him having Ishod Wair, Stevie Williams, Evan Mock and Kareem Campbell walking a runway and helping with the build of Ghana’s first skatepark. The list goes on and on. So we got the Virgil dream team to put on a demo at Lot 11 in Miami with pros like Eric Koston, P-Rod, Alphonzo Rawls, Sal Barbier, Ishod Wair and so many more A-listers. Leading up it, his friends all agreed that Virgil would be freaking out about this, and I know somewhere he is. Inviting the people of Miami to hang and watch some of the best skateboarding on Earth only made it that much better. Scroll through to see the magic from this year’s event. —Atiba Jefferson
Just a small sample of the line walking in
Love seeing Virgil’s son Grey on a skateboard
First up, we got Eric Koston rocking the mic photo: O’Connor
Then it's straight to the course. P-Rod warms it up with a nosegrind photo O’Connor
Great turnout for Virgil
Marcos Montoya gets a back Smith on the Abloh ledge
Bringing worlds together, we got Pedro, Dashawn, Mahfuz, Benji, Bita and his amazing wife Shannon
Lowe, Grey and Shannon enjoying the demo
Community organizer and ripper in her own right, Briana King gets her roll on
Dashawn hits it with a long front feeble
Koston made sure everyone got paid for their tricks
The masterminds behind today's occasion—Chloe, Mahfuz and Benji
Local homie with a $20 varial heelflip
Nikolai pop shoves through the crowd
Over in the bowl, it was great to see the legend Sal Barbier scooping some backside airs
The always-stylish and not-so-superstitious Alf with a red-topped back Smith
Keeping the session stoked, we had Miami’s finest DJ DZA on the ones and twos
Gettin' in on the action, Koston Smiths the deep end in his Sandy Bodecker eBay Dunks. Bid on this!
P-Rod is for the kids
Nichole Hause catches a fakie stalefish
Some great kids got free shirts
Florida legend Blake Carpenter with a big nollie 180 into the replica triangle
Good vibes all day with Mahfuz and Koston
Let's take a skate break to catch up with some familiar faces. Looks like we got switch gods Blake and P-Rod
H-Street reunion—Alf, Koston and Sal
Honored to have Jim Thiebaud in the building
A lot of positive energy with these two—Jim and Theotis
The homies in the green room, Sal, NAK, P-Rod, Theotis and KB
The green room party continues—Glen, Lui, Koston, Jolly and Dashawn
So many dope shirts for the invitational
KB, Thomas and Ishod catch a hang before the stair session
Put on your jumping boots...
"Let's get it, let's get it, let's go!"
Chris Blake with a big 50-50 over the whole thing
Ishod coasts through a smooth nollie crooks
Florida man Jamie Foy always finds his front crooks
Switch heel was just one of the many tricks Robert Neal did down the set
So many homies itchin' to skate
Ish with the smooth fakie flip
Malto switch flipping for the people’s phones
"You wanna skate this thing, Eric?"
Dashawn with the kickflip demo ender, fatty to flatty
Theotis and Sal, all they need next time is two mics
Let's close it out with the group photo. Grey and Lowe, ya’ll got a lot of pro skater friends now!
Thanks to all the skaters, Chloe, Mahfuz, Architecture, Jolly, Kasper, everyone at Nike, Lot 11, the Andrew crew, Shanon, Grey, Lowe and the whole Abloh family. I can’t wait to do it again next year.
Just a small sample of the line walking in
Love seeing Virgil’s son Grey on a skateboard
First up, we got Eric Koston rocking the mic photo: O’Connor
Then it's straight to the course. P-Rod warms it up with a nosegrind photo O’Connor
Great turnout for Virgil
Marcos Montoya gets a back Smith on the Abloh ledge
Bringing worlds together, we got Pedro, Dashawn, Mahfuz, Benji, Bita and his amazing wife Shannon
Lowe, Grey and Shannon enjoying the demo
Community organizer and ripper in her own right, Briana King gets her roll on
Dashawn hits it with a long front feeble
Koston made sure everyone got paid for their tricks
The masterminds behind today's occasion—Chloe, Mahfuz and Benji
Local homie with a $20 varial heelflip
Nikolai pop shoves through the crowd
Over in the bowl, it was great to see the legend Sal Barbier scooping some backside airs
The always-stylish and not-so-superstitious Alf with a red-topped back Smith
Keeping the session stoked, we had Miami’s finest DJ DZA on the ones and twos
Gettin' in on the action, Koston Smiths the deep end in his Sandy Bodecker eBay Dunks. Bid on this!
P-Rod is for the kids
Nichole Hause catches a fakie stalefish
Some great kids got free shirts
Florida legend Blake Carpenter with a big nollie 180 into the replica triangle
Good vibes all day with Mahfuz and Koston
Let's take a skate break to catch up with some familiar faces. Looks like we got switch gods Blake and P-Rod
H-Street reunion—Alf, Koston and Sal
Honored to have Jim Thiebaud in the building
A lot of positive energy with these two—Jim and Theotis
The homies in the green room, Sal, NAK, P-Rod, Theotis and KB
The green room party continues—Glen, Lui, Koston, Jolly and Dashawn
So many dope shirts for the invitational
KB, Thomas and Ishod catch a hang before the stair session
Put on your jumping boots...
"Let's get it, let's get it, let's go!"
Chris Blake with a big 50-50 over the whole thing
Ishod coasts through a smooth nollie crooks
Florida man Jamie Foy always finds his front crooks
Switch heel was just one of the many tricks Robert Neal did down the set
So many homies itchin' to skate
Ish with the smooth fakie flip
Malto switch flipping for the people’s phones
"You wanna skate this thing, Eric?"
Dashawn with the kickflip demo ender, fatty to flatty
Theotis and Sal, all they need next time is two mics
Let's close it out with the group photo. Grey and Lowe, ya’ll got a lot of pro skater friends now!
Thanks to all the skaters, Chloe, Mahfuz, Architecture, Jolly, Kasper, everyone at Nike, Lot 11, the Andrew crew, Shanon, Grey, Lowe and the whole Abloh family. I can’t wait to do it again next year.
-
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