From its origins in the California hills to its ubiquity on urban streets around the world, the history of skateboarding spans seven decades over which it has evolved from fringe sport to Olympics event.
Where once surfers nailed roller skates to makeshift wooden boards to practise their moves on concrete when there were no waves, the ongoing commercialisation of the sport has led to a booming industry.
Now a London exhibition is to chart the path from those humble homemade boards of the 1950s through to today’s hi-tech professional models.
Details of the Design Museum show, which opens in the autumn, have been announced to coincide with the one-year countdown from Wednesday to the start of the Paris Olympics.
The exhibition will feature about 90 rare and unique boards along with more than 100 other objects, including wheels and trucks, safety equipment, VHS tapes, DVDs, magazines and ephemera. Half of the skateboards will be on loan from the Skateboarding Hall of Fame Museum in California.
The sport originated in California, where skaters originally skated in pools or bowls. In the UK, skaters adapted the style to suit the British weather and urban terrain. A highlight will be a 1967 skateboard produced by the Newquay-based surf company Bilbo, thought to be one of the earliest examples of a commercial board sold under a British company name.
Also on display will be the famed skateboarder Tony Hawk’s first professional model, from 1982, with its adaptations for the vert style of skateboarding – using vertical ramps rather than surface terrain; early homemade boards from 1950s California modelled on the design of roller skates, scooters, and surfboards; and the first two models to feature a kicktail – the raised tail enabling skaters to pivot the board on the back wheels to perform tricks.
It will also feature Laura Thornhill’s Logan Earth Ski 1970s pro model, the first women’s pro model, and pro models from the biggest skaters of the 1980s to the 2000s, including Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Mike Vallely, Mark Gonzales, Matt Hensley and PJ Ladd. Sky Brown, who at 13 won a bronze medal for Team GB at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is represented through her first pro model, the Sky Brown x Skateistan Almost deck.
Tim Marlow, the chief executive of the Design Museum, said: “Skateboards, often misunderstood as being just toys, are now technically sophisticated products responding to constantly changing urban environments. This is a story of design, performance and communities evolving together.”
Jonathan Olivares, the curator of the show, said: “This exhibition is centred around a single question: how did the skateboard get to be the way it is?”
Tory Turk, a co-curator, said: “From Californian hills to British car parks, today the skateboard’s presence is ingrained in our everyday. This exhibition takes you on a journey through time, design and space – positioning the skateboard as a truly unique object.”
• Skateboard is at the Design Museum from 20 October 2023 until 2 June 2024
