Lucas Puig Interview

It’s not often that one of the best technical skaters in the world also has one of the most unique and fluid styles in existence. Not to kiss too much butt, BUT you’d be hard-pressed to find a skateboarder that isn’t a huge fan of Lucas Puig. After smashing an epic part for Adidas’s Away Days video last year, Lucas has found himself a new board sponsor with Palace. We spoke with Lucas about what’s been going on lately and got a little insight about his newest power moves. Check out our collection of Lucas' shoes here, or shop our entire adidas footwear collection here.

All Photos By Sem Rubio

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Hey Lucas, congrats on the new Palace board! How did that end up happening? Were you already friends with Lev or any of the dudes, or did they hit you up cold about the whole thing? Bonjour and merci! It happened like this: I have been hanging out a lot with Chewy and Benny on Adidas trips and I’ve known Lev for a long time. So basically Chewy (Cannon) was asking me every time I saw him, “when you gonna ride for Palace?” I did a tour with Lev when he was team manager for Adidas Skateboarding in the UK around when Palace was starting and the doors seemed to be already open at that time.

How long did you ride for Cliché before that? Forever, ahah. More than 15 years.

Can you tell us anything about how or why Cliché ended? I have not been involved in the process of ending Cliché. I think Al (Boglio) and Jeremy (Daclin) have tried everything they can to keep Cliché alive and keep us feeling great.

We’re seeing an increase in pro’s leaving bigger brands to ride for up and coming board companies these days. Do you have any opinions as to why that is happening? I can’t speak to everyone, but maybe it’s because in the past, the bigger sponsors were board sponsors, but nowadays it’s more the shoe sponsors or other companies that are non-skate companies that give you wings, ahah. So now, skaters can choose board companies, which they think, represent themselves the best.

What was it like helping to design an Adidas shoe? It was really interesting and stressful at the same time because it was going to be my one pro model and I would like it wearable for every situation. Skate or Chill ;)

What was some of your inspiration behind the way the shoe looks and feels?The Adidas designers brought me a vintage tennis shoe and we started from that solid base. We transformed it into a technical and durable skate shoe that at the same time is a classic must-have.

Who do you skate with the most on the Adidas team? Since I skate for Palace now, I think it’s Chewy (Cannon) and Benny (Fairfax).

Do you have any good Mark Gonzalez stories? Yes, you can see the video of this on my Instagram. It was at the Away Days video premiere last year and all the Adidas team were waiting in front of the theater. He arrived driving a Porsche and when he parked it, he had a quick run and jumped over it like a ninja. Pretty G!

A lot of pro’s from Europe have felt the need or pressure from sponsors to relocate to America to have a career in skating over here, but it seems like you’ve always just held it down in Europe. What do you think keeps you over there vs. making more of a life in America? Also, why do you think you have been able to do it when so many have not? I had that chance because Cliché was based in France. Lakai is an American company, but I guess they liked my French flare so I never felt any pressure to move to America to keep my sponsors. Plus, I do a lot of skate tours all around the world so I feel I need to live in France, to keep the perfect balance for me.

You tend to get pretty deep into the technical cave of skateboarding sometimes. What is the longest, or most times back to a spot it has taken you to film a trick or a line? Weirdly it wasn’t for a technical trick but I think I came back 4 or 5 times to get that switch front heel over that bump to rail in L.A. for the Transworld cover.

Is there any Holy Grail ledge or many trick that is still running away from you that you hope to achieve one day? Yes, luckily many of them. That’s what keeps me hyped to go skate. I always have ideas for tricks, but they’re not always easy to achieve.

When your skateboard career is all said and done, what do you see yourself doing? Where will you be? It’s never gonna end mate ;)