Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has been spotted wearing Vancouver skateboard brand Skull Skates in a press photo, and the founder of the company is loving it.
Promoting his latest album Justice, which was released last week, photos of Bieber wearing a vintage Skull Skates varsity jacket were posted to his Facebook Page as well as his Instagram account, where they garnered more than 5 million likes.
Skull Skates picked up on it and shared one to their social media accounts as a nod back to the star, and it got fans of the brand talking. Some found it "embarrassing" while others commented that they supposed "the Beebs ain't so bad after all," because he knows what's good.
Vancouver Is Awesome spoke to Peter Ducommun, the proprietor who founded the iconic brand back in 1978, to get his thoughts.
Ducommun tells us that the jacket is a vintage one that was produced in a limited batch in the late 1980s. As he tells it, "ten, maybe fourteen" units were manufactured in East Van back then. They were distributed to sponsored team riders and staff, and Ducommun still has his in his closet.
He's not sure how Bieber got his hands on one of the rare pieces of skateboard history, but he appreciates it, despite there being a seemingly wide gap between Bieber's pop personality and Skull Skates' hardcore ethos.
As Ducommun sees it, "Skateboarding welcomes everybody. It always has."
He goes on to say "The dude's a skateboarder, he's from Canada, I have no idea what his motivation was or how he got the jacket... but I appreciate the gesture."
This isn't the first time a star has been pictured supporting the brand, and it certainly won't be the last. They're the oldest skateboard brand in Canada, and over the 43 years they've been around they've been worn by Adam Ant, Eddie Van Halen, INXS, Milli Vanilli, Axl Rose, Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and countless others.
Ducommun says "I always just feel flattered," to see people wearing it.
So far Bieber wearing Skull Skates hasn't resulted in a flood of new customers, like what happened when the singer wore a Thrasher sweatshirt in 2018 and set off a tidal wave of teenagers going out and buying them.
However, if you're interested in purchasing their go-to sweatshirt (the closest thing to this varsity jacket as you'll get), they're available for mailorder through their website and at their retail store P.D.'s Hot Shop at 3734 W 10th Ave in Vancouver.
Tell them Bieber sent you.
