IN CONVERSATION: DOYENNE SKATEBOARDS
Sport
IN CONVERSATION:
DOYENNE SKATEBOARDS
March 8th marks International Women’s Day 2020 with this year’s theme being #EachforEqual, an idea of encouraging everyone to tackle gender inequality and ensure conversations are happening, however big or small. The idea of collective individualism is a powerful one and looks at individuals who look to make a difference, both within their own communities and helping to shift perceptions in others. To celebrate IWD2020, we chatted with Doyenne, a female led and driven skateboarding brand based out of Glasgow, Scotland. Their values around diversity, equality and inclusion are what drive them and are using the medium of skating to bring together communities, spark conversations and push for change
Words:
Nathan Tuft
Artwork:
Tom Shotton
NT: Why did you start Doyenne?
DS: When I started skating 3 years ago, there was a general trend of not many female skaters, either in the media, videos or represented within brands. When buying skateboarding labels, the relationship between the brand and the customer is pretty tight because you’re buying into their brand – supporting their team, style of skateboarding, style of clothing etc. So when I was buying these brands, I didn’t feel as though they were supporting me – they don’t sponsor any females, any queer person, they were focusing on other things and thats fine. But I thought it would be nice to have a skateboarding brand that actually supports people like me and that we wished had existed for us when we started out.
NT: When creating the brand, who/what were you looking at for inspiration?
DS: At the start, we ran a session with Unity Skateboard, a queer skateboarding brand from California who just happened to be in Glasgow. We reached out to them and ran a queer skateboarding session, something which had never been done in Glasgow before. That session itself served as one of our first inspirations and it was well attended by people from all walks of life. Meow Skateboards, which is run by and supports women in skateboarding, was also a big inspiration. So for us, it was about taking those elements that we admired and liked and bringing them together to create Doyenne.
NT: With a mission that looks “give a voice to the underrepresented”, what are the key points you are looking to raise awareness around and why do you believe these to be so important?
DS: Our key points are inclusivity, accessibility and sustainability and we try to push these through in everything we do. With inclusivity, we try to include the marginalised and represent them through our marketing, our models, our social media. We want to let these people shine through our platform and by showcasing that these people exist, it helps our brand to exist and show others about the people who we aim to represent.
Our beginners sessions are open to all and is a space for people to try skateboarding, hang out and meet people in a safe environment. Skateparks can be imitating for anyone so we aim to promote inclusivity with regards to how people view skateboarding as accessible and give it a go. With some people who have attended our sessions, it’s great to see how they have grown and are continuing with skateboarding and knowing that they may not have started if we were unable to create that space is a great thing. Marginalised groups already have a lot of barriers and disadvantages so if we can do anything to make it a little bit easier, then we are doing something right.
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PEOPLE ALSO HAVE TO RECOGNISE THEIR PRIVILEGE AND ACCEPT THAT THEY MAY BE OPPRESSING SOMEONE ELSE, WHICH ISN’T ALWAYS EASY TO ACCEPT. BUT BY UNDERSTANDING THIS AND EDUCATING OURSELVES, THAT IS THE ONLY WAY WE CAN TRULY MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
CAPTION GOES HERE: LORUM IPSUM
CAPTION GOES HERE: LORUM IPSUM
CAPTION GOES HERE: LORUM IPSUM
NT: ‘Across the Board’ is your ambassador network project which was set up to support people from around the globe with setting up their own training and beginner sessions in skateboarding. How is the project coming along and what cities are you currently involved in?
DS: With our latest collection, our aim was to raise money to help start the project, which will hopefully launch in Spring. We had a lot of applications and messages from people who wanted to set up a project in their city so we are in the process of deciding where our first 3 cities will be. The main thing is trying to have it where there isn’t a lot currently there so we can have a massive impact – which also shows the amount of groups already there tackling similar issues which is great. Ideally, the project will grow organically after the initial 3 cities but we need to grow along it to ensure that sustainability is there.
DS: The theme of IWD2020 is “#EachforEqual’ and promoting the idea of collective individualism. Within the realm of skateboarding, do you think enough is being done to promote the rights of all genders and what more do you believe could be done?
DS: I think that the action should come from the people who don’t do what we do. For example, if someone attends our beginner session, they know that it is a safe space but that doesn’t mean that everywhere is. So there is a need that everyone has a responbility, regardless of gender, sex or race and most importantly. People also have to recognise their privilege and accept that they may be oppressing someone else, which isn’t always easy to accept. But by understanding this and educating ourselves, that is the only way we can truly make a difference. If we keep flying around ignorance and don’t want to take responsibility, nothing will change. We can create all these spaces but it shouldn’t just be the marginalised who are tasked with this – people with power and influence should also be involved. And for the people with power, they have to give some of this power up or nothing will truly be equal. Everyone should try to make equality happen.
NT: You have done a lot of work in reaching out to other organisations. Why do you believe it is so important to connect with other organisations and are you particular about who you work with?
DS: We are not picky and it’s more of who we support that we like to work with – that is why it was so important to work with the likes of Skatepal and Skateistan. We live in such a lucky and privileged part of the world and by working with these brands, we have been able to give back and also showcase their work to a larger audience. I was able to go and work with Free Movement Skateboards where they were teaching skateboarding to young refugees in Athens and the work they were doing was incredibly stressful, tiring but ultimately rewarding as it was a release and an escape from their situation. That’s why we cant be hypocritical and focus solely only on problems at home – they need to be shared and for people to understand and appreciate the hard work that goes on.
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WE FEEL THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO SHOW THAT BY US EXISTING, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A SAFE SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO BE THEMSELVES AND EXIST.
NT: What have been your proudest moments with Doyenne to date?
DS: One time, someone told me that they were at a skatepark while on holiday and they saw someone wearing a Doyenne hoodie and went up to them and had a chat – because they knew that there was an alignment in beliefs and values. The connection that can just come from a logo is just wow. We have people in Alaska and New Zealand who are willing to pay £16 for postage and to do that, be part of the community and support us always means a lot.
NT: Your social media accounts are usually full of people who have found Doyenne and what they represent as a “second family” – what do you do/want to do to ensure that you are consistently engaging with your network?
DS: We treat everyone like our friends and do everything we can to connect and support them. With regards to social media, it is great to connect with people, brands and organisations from across the globe. We also keep the community going and connected through our sessions and our events, even helping with connecting with each other as well. Once we got a message from a young guy who was unable to come out to his family and friends but was happy that brands like us were there for him. We feel that it is important to show that by us existing, there will always be a safe space for people to be themselves and exist.
NT: With 2020 in full flow now, what’s the vision for the next decade?
DS: We just want to grow as genuinely as possible. We have never looked to sell out or do anything that was against our values. We aren’t perfect and are still learning and whatever happens in the next decade, I just want us to grow as a project and as a brand.
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