Skate Update: New Blood, New Balance and Old London Town

Back in June, you might recall Austyn Gillette, Mark Appleyard and the rest of the Globe lads popping by our London Store for a meet and greet, before venturing over to Finsbury Park for what was one of the most enjoyable demos of the summer. What you might not know is that the guys were in our nation’s capital for the best part of a week, enjoying the typically un-British summer, cycling about and shredding our spots.

Now, as the last remnants of that glorious weather make their final appearance, Globe have dropped their edit from the trip, Smokescreen, and it’s full of bangers-a-plenty!

Austyn and Apples lead the charge in this Free Skate Mag-hosted edit, backed up by Christian Maalouf, Val Bauer and Sammy Montano. And whilst the runtime is way shorter than we would have ideally liked, you can’t front on skateboarding of this calibre. Click play and enjoy the Globe boys’ London summer!

It's no secret that Japanese skateboarding has taken over the world in recent years. From Yuto Horigome's double Olympic gold and honourable SOTY runner-up placing, to the perma-grin-inducing tech wizardry of Aimu, Japanese skaters have progressed the sport faster than just about anyone else over the past decade.

And whilst skateboarding has existed in the Land of the Rising Sun for longer than most of us have been alive, it's through Shinpei Ueno's amazing Tightbooth brand that the international shine really first developed. Founded in Osaka back in 2005, their video output is responsible for showcasing the very best of the country's talent and, in turn, developing its industry. One might even say it's directly because of Shinpei that nobody else comes close to the skaters of Nippon right now!

Ryuhei Kitazume is one of the new breed coming through (though, truth be told, this lad has been killing it for years), and his new part, curating the very best of his footage from the past three years – directed and edited by Shinpei himself, no less – is every gobsmacking thing we've come to expect from this legendary brand. Japan really does continue to produce the finest of goods!

Another week, another New Balance edit. They've almost become as regular as our heatwaves this summer!

Let's be honest, it's not really a surprise, is it? The team is STACKED with the best of the best of the best, and they spend the dollar keeping their guys out on the road. When we met up with the boys back in May, they were hitting up fine dining spots every single night – much to the chagrin of those who just wanted a Maccies burger - New Balance does not mess around when it comes to looking after their team!

Which is why the likes of Foy, Tiago, Villani and Reynolds are on pretty much every trip, meaning the NB Top Brass can drop that amazing content every single month and leave pretty much every other footwear manufacturer scrambling in the dirt. And it's win-win for us, the viewer, as the video production levels of Kyle Camarillo are amongst the best in the world right now. Basically, their footy never gets tired!