One of the hottest new skate brands to emerge in recent years, Limosine (yes that's how you spell it!) burst from the still-warm corpse of Alex Olson's Call Me 917 like a fledgeling xenomorph, hungry for blood and ready to unleash terror on the streets of New York.
The split came about as a result of a lack of proper management as well as creative differences among the team, with some of the skaters wanting to design their own graphics while Alex allegedly wasn't a fan of their ideas, which lead to Cyrus leaving the team and many of the others following. Fast forward a few months, and rumours of a new company with the Big Apple's fastest flicker, Cyrus Bennett, at the helm were floating around SLAP, supported by sightings of mysterious ads branded with the name 'Limosine' helping to further stir up hype.
Limosine 'Paymaster' Video and First Drop of goods!
The brand officially premiered on the 17th of December, with their first impeccable collection of skateboard decks and clothing going live alongside their video, 'Paymaster'. Clearly unafraid of making controversial decisions, Limosine hosted 'Paymaster' exclusively on their own site for the first few days of its release - and via Vimeo rather than YouTube - as well as making it available for purchase as a DVD hardcopy.
While the decision to release a skate video as a DVD is definitely pretty edgy in this day and age, it seems like it was a pretty good call seeing as the DVDs sold out pretty much instantly on their site. I guess you can take some risks when your roster boasts the incomparable duo of Cyrus Bennett and Max Palmer.
Alongside the dynamic duo, Limosine also features some notable 917 alumni including Genesis Evans, Hugo Boserup, Aaron Loreth, and of course Logan Lara behind the lens, alongside several exciting new additions: Nelly Morville, Karim Callender, and Santino Gagliarducci.
The fact that Limosine burst out the gates with an extremely enjoyable, and lesser-known, female skater on the roster is a powerful move that's indicative of the brand's progressive attitude, and arguably reflects the ongoing steps being made to rectify gender imbalances in the skateboard industry. Politics aside, Nelly's just sick to watch, and probably had one of my favourite parts from the video, with her style reminding me of a cross between Maité Steenhoudt and Aidan Mackey due to her beaming smile and propensity for self-inflicted violence.
It's not 917 v2.0
While I'm sure Cyrus hoped to distance himself from 917 with Limosine, it's undeniable that 'Paymaster' shares many similarities to 917's videos in the overall feel of the video - arguably thanks to the number of ex-917 skaters, and Logan's iconic filming, but also due to the strong homie vibes the video exudes.
Yet, despite these resemblances, Limosine still feels refreshingly new thanks to Cyrus' noticeably grungier art direction - with Cyrus himself designing many of the company's graphics, including Max Palmer's pro-model deck - which is in turn reflected in the video's dark and gloomy soundtrack. The quirky, up-beat soundtracks which came to characterise 917's videos have instead been replaced by a more angsty ensemble, which leans more towards the emo and punk side of things, featuring delightfully sombre tracks from VilluVilduVeta and jonatan leandoer96 (Yung Lean's emo side project) - although Max Palmer is a notable exception to this with his typically jazzy accompaniment.
As to be expected, Limosine's products are all premium quality with exceptional attention to detail in their skateboard decks, T-shirts, hoodies, and beanies. Their decks are manufactured by BBS with steep concave, popsicle shape and various top graphics.
As previously mentioned, Cyrus designs some of the graphics himself, and they're as tasty as you'd expect from one of the most stylish skateboarders of the modern generation, with subtle logos, pastel artwork, and embossed graphics. Limosine has already been selling like hotcakes since it landed in store and it's safe to say they're one of the most exciting brands in skating right now. You really don't wanna sleep on this one.
History of Limosine Skateboards
Following the demise of Alex Olson's Call Me 917 in early 2021, speculation about where the team would end up set the internet (well just SLAP really but whatever) ablaze with rumours with the world (again, just SLAP really) eager to know where Max Palmer and co would find a home.
One SLAP user claimed to have found a 917 deck which had been sprayed over with a 'Limosine' logo, which added some serious fuel to the speculative fire with people now believing that the former 917 boys were planning on starting their own company, and others thinking that this would be the long-rumoured third brand under the FA/Hockey camp, although it seems like we're gonna have to keep holding our breath for Funeral Home.
A month after these decks were found, Limosine's first ad was spotted in the East Coast skate mag, Skate Jawn. At first glance, the ad features Max Palmer doing a backside tailslide on a step, but if you look closely, rather than mindlessly flicking past like I did, you'll see that it's actually a blow-up doll painted to look like Max; and if that isn't one of the best ads you've ever seen then you're lying.
After these past few months of speculation, Limosine was finally revealed to the public on Friday 17th December with their first collection of skateboard decks and clothing going live alongside their new 20-minute video, 'Paymaster', which is available to watch online for free, or for purchase as a DVD which is a serious flex in 2021.
They've already sold out of DVDs on their site too which is basically unheard of in recent years. Respect.
Limosine 'Paymaster' Video
The video, filmed by Logan Lara, features Cyrus Bennett, Genesis Evans, Aaron Loreth, Nelly Morville, Karim Callender, Santino Gagliarducci, and Hugo Boserup. The soundtrack bangs, with some hectic emo numbers, along with some other obscure, moody bangers and a typical upbeat tune for Max Palmer, but the overall feel of the video basically sums up what Limosine is: the natural evolution of the best bits of 917 into a more cohesive, and all-together edgier, brand.
Of course any video boasting the dynamic duo of Max Palmer and Cyrus Bennett is gonna be an absolute treat, but the new, non-917 additions, Nelly Morville and Karim Callander, are the cherry on top. Nelly's footage got me so hyped, kinda reminded me of a cross between Maité and Aidan Mackey, definitely one to keep an eye out for in the future, and Karim's got crazy style.
ATV monster, Hugo Boserup, has the honour of bringing the video to a close, which makes a nice change from his previous appearances where he often shared a part with someone else, and he absolutely shuts it down, big fan of Hugo's skating and he's recently become a father too which makes it even sicker. That ender's bonkers, but the kid who tried it in Michael Nicholas' 'Untitled' is probably absolutely tamping right now.
Limosine Skateboard Decks
Loads of the artwork for Limosine has been done by Cyrus himself - something that seemingly caused conflict at 917 with Cyrus wanting to do his own graphics and Alex not being keen on the idea - including Max Palmer's 'Lord of Rats' deck, available as an 8.25".
The deck features an original pastel artwork by Cyrus, which depicts a monkey sat by a fire in front of a brick wall, and has some amazing details on it, including a subtle carving of 'Limosine' into some of the bricks and tiny figures dancing round the fire. Not gonna lie, I love this graphic - almost as much as I love Max Palmer - so you know this one is going straight on the wall.
Cyrus' own board is a far more subtle design, with the 8.5" black deck featuring an image of a horse in motion (that looks suspiciously like a Fore-Cast design) printed in a bangin' metallic blue, surrounded by embossed barbed wire and a bold, red Limosine logo. Super clean and simple, kinda like Cyrus' skating, this one's an instant classic.
The collection also features the 'Snake Pit' 8.5" team deck, which features the 'Snake Pit' artwork from their first ad in Skate Jawn printed on a metallic silver deck. The deck also features a unique top graphic with a black and white picture of a young, and very emo-looking Nelly Morville complete with a My Chemical Romance tee and tartan trousers - a pretty strong look.
All the decks are printed on premium BBS wood with a steep concave popsicle shape, so you know they're gonna skate bangin'.
Limosine Clothing
Alongside the decks, Limosine have come through with a range of clothing featuring their incredible deck graphics, including the 'Lord of Rats' tee in black and red, the 'Snake Pit' tee in white and blue, and the 'Snake Pit' hoodie in black. The 'Lord of the Rats' tee has gotta be a personal favourite, love the font for the Limosine logo.
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