988 – 2019 30 years after the first sessions at ‘Les bassins’ under the Eiffel Tower, new label Leroy Republique has gathered for it first opus 20 figures of the first Parisian skateboard scene, with their kids to celebrate the passing down of the skateboarding culture. If they all live different lives today, they still all share and own this culture that has defined them.

 “WE WANTED TO SHOW ANOTHER FACE OF THE SKATEBOARDER. NOT THE PERFORMER, NOR
  THE ARTIST DOING A TRICK BUT THE FRESH DAD WHO IS SHARING HIS CULTURE WITH
 HIS KIDS. NOT THE REBEL TEENAGER BUT THE NEW FAMILY MAN WHO HAS KEPT  A PART
 OF HIS RADICALITY.  IT IS THIS MIX OF TENDERNESS AND  INTENSITY THAT ARE WE
  LOOKING TO SHARE. WE WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE SINGULARITY OF THIS CULTURE TOO
                     OFTEN PERCEIVED AS A BAD BOY TREND.”

              say the founders Jean-Marc Druesne et Gwendaline Chauvin

We really think that skate is family, not only ours, but also all those you create with your skate friends and all the encounters you make skateboarding. Skateboard has inspired great artists and, we want to share this vision with our friends.

BENJAMIN DEBERDT is a photographer and a journalist. He is 47, Skateboarding has made him travel worldwide. He has funded Sugar magazine, French main print magazine since 1998, then Live skateboard media, online. He travels and collects portraits of all skate figures from multiple generations : Thomas Campbell, Mark Gonzales, Barry Mcgee or Kevin Rodrigues

Benjamin cruises between past, future and present. He loves arty crafts, he shoots analaog and prints the results in one of Paris most ancient and iconic photo lab, while he still follows skateboarding new generation in Paris. Working on sharing the immediately echoed with him.

Benjamin does more and more portraits nowadays .
He says that intrinsically skateboarding is a nostalgic culture.
We love the truth and the intensity of the look he captures. He was the perfect casting to work on this project with us.

    “IT’S ALWAYS FUN TO MEET UP NOW WITH THE ONE WE STARTED SKATING WITH,
                        SO MUCH AS THEY’RE DADS NOW !”