The Story
Mike Vallely is a name that needs no introduction in skateboarding. Pro since 1986, founder of Street Plant, longtime vegan, and one of the loudest voices in the sport for animal rights — Mike has spent his career using skateboarding as a platform for the things he believes in. When we sat down to plan a collab, the message wrote itself.
We dropped one custom pizza box. The "Please Don't Eat My Friends" box featured the art appropriated in PIZZANISTA! colors and branding. Flipping the box open revealed a classic picture of Mike and the curb flying behind his head previously published in a skateboarding magazine.
The Barnyard
We couldn't talk about Mike without nodding to the Barnyard. In 1989, World Industries released the Mike Vallely Barnyard "double kick" deck — the first professionally endorsed symmetrically shaped deck, and the first to rattle street skaters out of resigned complacency with scaled-down vert shapes. Designed by Rodney Mullen, bankrolled by Steve Rocco, with art by Marc McKee, the Barnyard is the universally acknowledged forerunner of the modern popsicle stick shape, and one of the most important deck designs in skateboarding history.
The Night
January 7th, 2016 — 6 to 9PM, Long Beach, CA. We packed the shop wall-to-wall: friends, skaters, Street Plant family, and anyone who showed up hungry and curious. Mike came in as de facto guest chef, we served his custom pie, then he sauced up the mic to talk story — the origins of the Barnyard, the significance of those early World Industries days, and the message behind "Please Don't Eat My Friends."
Credits
- Guest Chef
- Mike Vallely
- Partners
- Mike Vallely, Street Plant
- Event
- Guest Chef / Talking Story
- Launched
- January 7, 2016 · 6–9PM
- Location
- PIZZANISTA! · 1837 E 7th Street, Long Beach, CA 90813
- Art Direction
- Alex Aranovich
