The result was one of the most buzzed-about video parts of the year, but it was just part of Suciu’s impressive output in 2021. As a pro skater it’s pretty alarming how much we go through, how many commodities we go through and how much waste we produce to keep skating at this steady high level,” he said.

Adidas skateboarder Mark Suciu was named Thrasher's 2021 Skater of the Year (SOTY) thanks largely to ... [+] the five video parts he put out in 2021, as well as a mini documentary “Spread Light, Leave No Trace” with Paradigm founder Theo Constantinou in an adidas collaboration Zander Takemoto adidas Skateboarding has one of the most diverse and powerful teams out there, with team riders including Dennis Busenitz, Silas Baxter-Neal, Lucas Puig, Mark Suciu, Tyshawn Jones, Na-Kel Smith, Mike Arnold, Rodrigo Tx, Miles Silvas, Daewon Song, Nora Vasconcellos, Jason Dill, Maité Steenhoudt, DeAndre Thebpanya aka Lil Dre, Jenn Soto, Shin Sanbongi and Kader Sylla to name but a few.

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Focusing on the iconic Gazelle for his latest signature release in partnership with adidas, team rider Mark Suciu follows up on his 2015 adidas Skateboarding Suciu ADV with a collegiate coloured adidas Suciu Gazelle ADV for FW21. Vintage detailing pays creative tribute to the profile’s lengthy lineage, with traditional gold foil commemorative detailing styled in line with other adidas shoes including the similarly styled adidas Matchbreak Super and Samba ADV.

Adidas skateboarder Mark Suciu was named Thrasher's 2021 Skater of the Year (SOTY) thanks largely to ... [+] the five video parts he put out in 2021, including a mini documentary “Spread Light, Leave No Trace” with Paradigm founder Theo Constantinou Zander Takemoto We have some ideas about ways that we can put on demos and call attention to climate change and waste and material production. It’s a big conversation,” Suciu added.There’s no question winning SOTY is something Suciu has deeply wanted and worked for, but when it comes to contextualizing the win, he is at something of a loss for words—which anyone who has read or listened to Suciu’s interviews knows isn’t common. When they saw me putting out all this footage that was my best stuff, people could tell that I was on my A game,” Suciu said. “They just got excited, the debate from 2019 got reignited, and I already had momentum so people just had fun with it again.”

Suciu has long been interested in issues of sustainability and the environment—a good fit with his eco-friendly board sponsor, Habitat—as well as literature; he studied the subject, along with creative writing, at Temple University, then moved to New York to attend The New School. But brands are also looking to their athletes to be a voice of change, and that’s a role Suciu takes seriously. This productive team of professional and amateur skaters has produced some of the best skateboarding videos in the industry including Away Days, Calima, Law of the Seas, Reverb and many more. These videos have been hosted by a multitude of media outlets from Thrasher to Grey Skate Mag and Free Skate Mag to Jenkem. I definitely try not to think about it too much because it stresses me out,” Suciu admits. People knew his name in the SOTY conversation because he had been a contender in 2019, the year Milton Martinez ultimately won. (Though anyone who had been paying attention knew Suciu really entered the conversation in 2012, at 19 years old, with his Thrasher “Cross Continental” part, which remains one of their most viral skate segments to date.) The 29-year-old also put out his “Blue Dog” adidas part (also with Albert), “Curve” Habitat part; “Spitfire” part and his “Ground Glass” part with Jenkem.I’m super proud of it,” Suciu said about the adidas x Paradigm capsule. “It’s so beyond necessary and so frightening what we’re doing right now to the environment.” From 1978 to 1980 they produced the first ever skateboard specific shoe called the Skate and their shoes designed for tennis, basketball and volleyball have all proven to be popular with skateboarders. adidas Skateboarding have produced a range of high quality skateboard videos over the years, with an early focus on international riders as opposed to the often Californian-centric spotlight adopted by a lot of brands, with videos such as Korean Dance and Diagonal. For me, I try to do what I can to equalize that in the areas that I can. It’s a custom for a sponsor to just send you T-shirts all the time, so I just realized I don’t need all this stuff. I have spoken to my sponsors about only sending me what I ask for. I skate my boards as long as possible and look out for ways I can be a voice of change, like this with Paradigm and adidas. Habitat is very open to things like this too because of their eco-friendly attitude.

Retailers are shifting to recycled materials for products, exploring vegan products and using less water, energy and chemicals in the process. In 2019, adidas produced more than 11 million pairs of shoes using recycled plastic waste from beaches and coastal regions, compared to 5 million in 2018 and 1 million in 2017.But in the rest of his body of work this year, Suciu demonstrated his thoughtfulness and creativity in other ways. For “Ground Glass,” videographer James Thomson DMed Suciu to gauge his interest in collaborating on a part. This is a common occurrence, Suciu says, but Thomson’s message managed to cut through the noise and catch Suciu’s attention.