DC Shoes
The DC Shoe Company had two bright and talented minds behind it's conception, Ken Block and Damon way formed DC Shoes in 1993 where they established the company as a leader in performance skateboarding shoes. Since then DC has grown into the largest and most renowned action sports brands in existence, expanding naturally as they added more and more depth to their reach, DC began to support and dominate a growing number of action sports, from Snowboarding to Surfing, BMX to Motocross and more recently Rally.
DC originally stood for' Droors Clothing' and changed to DC Shoes when the Droors Clothing brand was sold and became defunct. DC Shoes continued to evolve and challenge those involved at it's roots, and it's the personal connection to the world of skateboarding and action sports that ensured it's early success.
Partner and co-founder of DC Shoes Damon Way grew up around one of the best skateboarders of all time; brother Danny is celebrating his 20th year Anniversary in skateboarding and holds the accolade for being the world record holder for distance and height on a skateboard. Damon himself was denied his aspiration to follow Danny to the top, partly by a brain hemorrhage caused by a fight in School. This coupled with the unexplained death of his father left Damon with a massive hill to climb. Climb the hill he did with a move into snowboarding to help with his mental and physical recovery that lead to a chance meeting with Ken Block who was already printing and selling snowboard inspired T-shirts.
Now a top level action sports competitor, co-founder of DC shoes, Ken Block abandoned early aspirations in architecture to pursue a snowboarding lifestyle and quickly teamed up with Damon to form 'Eightball Clothing' which became the original DC brand -Droors Clothing. The pair inspired each-others creative and active pursuits with Ken competing at a surprising range of action sports, mastering skateboarding, snowboarding and motocross. Ken Block is now renowned for his exceptional skills in a rally car and he combined snowboarding and rally back in 2007 when he joined the DC Shoes Snowboarding team in New Zealand to pull off huge jumps alongside aerial snowboard tricks with the assistance of his Subaru WRX.
Way and Blocks' realization was that the athletes in the action sports world had to have shoes that responded to their exact needs in order to compete at higher and higher levels. They produced skate shoes that prevented fraying laces and gave the correct support and ergonomics to give skateboarders and other actions sports people the confidence to push the boundaries harder. The company not only expanded across multiple action sports, the range of products has also moved on to incorporate men's and women's fashion as well as luggage and accessories.
DC Shoes is not just about Damon and Ken's collaboration, in 2003 they teamed up with the likes of Rob Dyrdek, Ryan Gallant, Josh Kalis and Colin McKay who joined Danny Way in making 'The DC Video'. The Video took the skaters to the choicest of the worlds skate spots including the DC "mega ramp" at Point-X camp, the collaboration ensured the marriage of the DC Shoe brand to the Skateboarding world remains ever true today.
DC Shoes grew to such a level that it attracted the attention of surf giant Quiksilver who bought the company in May 2004. Under Quicksilver The current range of DC shoes sticks to it's skate and street roots incorporating the latest technology coupled with style and durability to make any pair rocking the DC label functional for sports and looking great. Every pair of DC Shoes shoes is painstakingly developed to deliver immense details including the descriptive and inspiring names given to them. Take the new DC Base Hi Top for example; comfortable and stylish, the DC Base hi top features perforated upper panels, vent holes for increased airflow, foam padded tongue and collar for comfort and support, lightweight mesh tongue with spandex tongue holders, and a performance wrap abrasion resistant rubber cup sole - clean looking without sacrificing skate performance.
DC Shoes and Route One have been working together since the beginning of DC's rise in the UK; the partnership and collaboration continues to grow as Route One move alongside DC in the sphere of the action sports in the world. Route One stocks DC skate shoes, DC T shirts, DC Hoodies, DC Denim and DC Snow.