The Skater Before the Brand – Huf
Has there ever been a skateboarding company like HUF? We’d dare to say “no.” There may have never been a skater like Huf, the namesake of the company, in fact. For those who don’t know, Huf is a nickname bestowed upon the famously raw street skater Keith Hufnagel. Whether or not people knew in the 1990’s, Huf would not only become an epic professional skateboarder; he would go on to become a successful entrepreneur, husband, father and icon of the skateboarding and fashion industries. His entrepreneurial reputation was born from his skateboarding company HUF, and though the company started in footwear it now focuses on apparel and has one of the best skateboarding teams in all of skateboarding.
The Film Behind the Squad
Just earlier this month, a couple weeks after its IRL premiere, the video was released online. This HUF skate video was titled “Forever”. We are so glad to see a video that would have made Huf beam with pride. From start to finish, the creator filmer and director, Tyler Smolinski, maintained a palpable energy and art direction that kept the viewer’s attention in all of the the best ways. The video was classic yet progressive, just like the skateboarding brand’s team. Some of them have been on the team since the days of HUF Shoes, like Tyler Bledsoe and Brad Cromer. Others are gifted in their own right, like Mason Silva or Nick Matthews. Regardless of the clips, whether they be of Sam Narvaez or Caleb McNeely, the aesthetic stayed true to Huf himself and made an impact rarely seen from a full-length video of this era.
Because Huf is originally from New York City and then emigrated to San Francisco, the visuals of cities like these have always dictated the footage contributed by HUF’s skaters. This general look did not change, but this video brought more video clips from each skater’s home city. For example, we saw much Chicago footage from Nick Matthews and plenty of Los Angeles clips from Erik Herrera. The theme worked beautifully to keep the brand true to form but also highlight such a diverse and talented team. Smolinski aced his job of scoring the film, using music that complemented each skater, their style, trick selection and locations perfectly. And what many people consider the most important part of the video, the caliber of difficulty of tricks landed, was off the chart in “Forever”. Forever transcending.
Where To Go From Here
How to describe the product that is HUF’s “Forever”? How to effectively “sum up” the collective years of work put into a full-length skateboarding video project that caused blood, sweat, tears, injury, headache, heartbreak, etc? Well, we’d say that it met some pretty ridiculous expectations. And what more could you ask for?