BoardSport Source Issue #107 July/August 2021

On the cover Lyndsay McLaren – Photo by Rafal Wojnowski

I’ll be honest with you – writing these editorials used to be pretty dull before covid – I used to dread writing them. My editorial’s mission is to sum up the flavour of the magazine while also taking the pulse of the industry. But despite our radical outward persona, the boardsports industry is a very conservative space, with very few radical technological advances and highly newsworthy stories were always hard to come by.

But since the coronavirus shook our industry to its core, there’s been plenty to report on. In order, our flow of communication was shattered, production soon became a real concern and then the supply chain and now fears of price rises are the latest massive issues to deal with. Brands are seeing huge ancillary cost rises, with shipping container costs up 500%, shipping bottlenecks, logistics companies hugely delayed, and a price rise in most raw materials. Things are shifting online at an accelerated pace and how the core board store survives in the future is becoming increasingly complex, but early adopters and good communicators who chase good margins will prosper.

But staring in the face of these issues, and indeed at the root of many of them, is an overwhelming demand for surf and skate product. Heck, the skate market has even had to shift to a pre-order model, something which would have sounded completely foreign to the industry just 18 months ago. In-season ordering is for now, just not possible. And the ride’s about to kick into overdrive when these two sports debut at the Olympics. The world stage. Hearing from skate parks on the front lines, beginner lessons of all ages are massively up and with the trend taking hold on the girl’s category in particular, this demand is only going one way.

And someone right at the forefront of this movement is Lyndsay McLaren from Out Of Step Ltd. Who when she’s not busy running UK marketing for HUF, The Hundreds, Poler, Brixton and Afends, or getting snapped for our front cover, Lyndsay’s now running a programme empowering female skaters through voice, movement and skateboarding in East London. Hit p.45 for a great read with SOURCE’s first female front cover shredder.

Elsewhere in the mag, we have a fantastically refreshing Big Wig interview with Element Founder Johnny Schillereff who talks about his new family-run venture, The Heart Supply Co and today’s business environment in general. We have brand updates from iconic brands Nixon and Lightning Bolt and feature a swathe of Retail Buyer’s Guides for the upcoming seasons. We also do the rounds with our regional Market Insight, which are a more important read now than ever before.

Always Sideways
Harry Mitchell Thompson
Editor