Do you like this? Share it with your friends and help Be-Mag to spread the word about Rollerblading. Like us on Facebook, add us on Google+ or follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates from the Blading world!
I guess I have to chose my words wisely, as I was just a flow rider back then, but I know an accurate account of the story. Basically to run a skate company you need a full time day to day feedback relationship with production and design.
Gage Luce: A lot of people are really wanting to know, what is the real story behind Randy and Louie being booted out of Deshi? Who owns what these days?
Oli Benet: I guess I have to chose my words wisely, as I was just a flow rider back then, but I know an accurate account of the story. Basically to run a skate company you need a full time day to day feedback relationship with production and design. Sadly skating doesn't really pay the bills excessively well, which means you need a fair amount of passion on a daily basis to work as hard as is necessary to run a company.
Marian Sorge in the studio shooting the Carbon.
I know that feedback became less and less as the company advanced, and Deshi began to loose its focus, with headquarters left with very little direction while Louie I believe was getting married and Randy was also involved with other design projects. With little time and focus on Deshi, the situation got a little out of control and to sustain release and continuation of the company, Powerslide had to hire designers inside the company to keep it going. Then contact between Louie, Randy and Powerslide became less and less, and to sustain a number of people on payroll with very little happening with the company became impossible, and after some pleas for help followed by some warnings, Powerslide decided to take the brand back in house to keep it running smoothly, as it really was the only option, because there seemed to be very little love or focus given to the company, and of course, skate manufacture is a very expensive project, and can’t just be left half attended to.
GL / Editorial note: I also asked Matthias about this is this is what he said:
Matthias Knoll: Louie was in our office when we got the first samples of the new USD soft boot. Mark Korte thought it would be a good idea to make his own soft boot brand. Louie was also fond of this idea and he went home and talked to Randy and from there Deshi was born. The designs were made by Randy, the first shoe design we took from Poytner shoes (similar to how skates are designed now, taking references from the shoe designs). Then Louie, Randy and us went to China to try to make the USD and Deshi samples perfect.
Oli Benet - Misfit
All worked out well and we were all were motivated, but with time and other duties the focus got less. I think I could bitch at Louie and Randy and they could do the same with me. As with every story both sides have their points, both sides made mistakes, times were hard too for all and so the focus on Deshi became less and less. The only fair interview would be to interview Randy and Louie and myself at once, so we could all give our point of view of the story, otherwise it is all just personal opinions. I have a lot of respect for Louie and Randy, I had then and will always have and the days we had together were great, in China and later and for sure, unforgettable memories. It is sad that it failed as brand as also 100% soft boots for aggressive are hard to do and I think finally with the Carbon we have found the only soft boot that really works well, I think even better than shell boots!
In a way, Deshi started with a USD soft boot and now it is back where it belongs, USD. But still I`m thankful for those two guys and I think we all learned from it and we all had some valuable and memorable experiences.
GL: Will the fact that the companies are going to now be one company mean the only Deshi skate to make the jump is the carbon? Will we see other forms of all of the Deshi skates under the USD name?
OB: Yes, The Carbon is the only skate from Deshi that will continue as USD. All other Deshi skates will be fazed out.
Kenneth Dedeu - Pool Transfer
GL: Why do a lot of the skates USD makes not make it to the U.S. shops? And does that mean that only certain Deshi type skates will be making it to the states? Are there new molds on the horizion?
OB: As we all know Powerslide is European based so for the US we use a Distributor, Integrated and they make the selection for the US market. In some cases for sure skaters would like to have more selection in the US and I hope down the road we could offer this. US and Europe is quite different, also for models selection or style or design. New models coming are the VII Carlos, Richie Thrones (we are so sorry for this extended waiting time), the green Hoois and Billys for X-mas. We will also try to have the USD carbons ready for X-mas. I think all these models should have no problem making it also to the US.
Do you like this? Share it with your friends and help Be-Mag to spread the word about Rollerblading. Like us on Facebook, add us on Google+ or follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates from the Blading world!
No comments yet! Login now and be the first.