Emerica

Emerica is a skate shoe and apparel label that has been at it since 1996. Its own line is that everything is designed by skaters, for skaters, and built for the rigors of the streets. It came out of the Sole Technology camp a year after éS appeared, and Slam City Skates calls its shoes 100% skateboarding. It has always backed a heavy team, and newer additions such as Jon Dickson are described as ushering in the next chapter for what Slam City calls an institution. The current slip-on gets a lot of attention: G6 cushioning, a double-wrap vulc sole, Desert Grip and a locked-in fit. If you want skate shoes from a label that does nothing else, start here.