Thrasher Magazine

Vans brought out a serious squad to Paris for back-to-back sessions and cultural soirees. Tap in with the team as they scope the streets and link up with Atiba for his big night. —Ted Schmitz

Yo, how come nobody ever told me Paris has beautiful architecture? 

Who's shootin' this thing?! Don't worry, guys, I got this. Enjoy your vacation

Next-day jet lag, we got our first look at the team. Maybe a little too close a look

Philly's Efron Danzig already had ideas

First rip over les vélos. How do you say "snaps" en Français?

Then it was onto le métro to scope some insane terrain

Sandwiches at the station? Pfanner gets it

Oh, this thing?!

Not sure what those signs mean, but Elijah can probably figure it out

Ah yes, they're spotting the landing

Who's payin' for this thing again?

First up on the hubs, Diego Todd tosses a nollie flip noseslide

Rowan showed up to get the games goin'. Flatground hardflip's a crazy way to start

Diego's got 'em

Switch though?

The cops in France are no joke

First T stop and frisk

Kinda killed the vibe. Let's get outta here to our first big jam of the week

Over to Place de la Bastille. If you say any of the French in this blog is wrong, you're a cop

The Royal family arrives

It wouldn't be a Vans jam without some Van Doren dough to spark the session 

Like Oprah but with Vans swag. Who needs a car in Paris anyway?

Pre-game rips, the locals were going off. Backside flip off the AVE launcher

Rowan flew outta this backside nosegrind

In from Japan, Daiki Hoshino was takin' back tails up the escalator. Let's see who else made it out

Pfanner and Willow rolled up with friends

Helena Long and Tania Cruz did too

Perfect form, Atiba. No notes

AVE's got the money, so you know it's about that time

Back nosegrind around the bend was no joke

Careful, it's tight!

I said, careful!

AVE and Eli love a good slam, though

One more lap before the next obstacle. Maité was in town and chillin' with one of the gnarliest ever

New York, stand up! Marcello and Danny came through

Big crowd called for some creative bike usage 

ET, Curren, Shealy and Diego were ready for that jam

But I gotta show you the kings of fashion week first

The Scott Bourne look never goes out of style

Sail on, mon ami

Richie Jackson was there? Yeah, pretty much

The only French DJs I know wear robot costumes, so I'm just assuming this is one of the Daft Punk dudes on his day off

Bet you wish Papke shot this thing

Thumbs up from Flech and Diego means it's go time again

Les enfants made sure the kicker was up to code

Then the locals got down to business—180 nosegrind on Nelly's head

Rave's Mika Germond got there early

Is it harder to back noseblunt or get a face tat in your 20s?

The Silver Fox, Ben Aurelien, had to do it to 'em. First try switch noseslide

As an Arizonan, you know I had to include the Suski

If you're wondering why Daiki's back Smith isn't fully dipped, it's because I shot it too early, dick. Now, onto the final installation 

Fuck the warm-ups, it's straight to the bangers. Baby-board back three

Some were more impressed than others

Baby on board, kickflip

Oh là là!

Y'all hear there's new AVE colorways?

Put 'em on and you might get a box in France, too

Comment dit-on "dope hanky"?

One of them probably knows

Let's leave on this ode to Aaron Artis. Big ol' kicky backside grab

I feel like Queezy's accusing me of somethin' here. Fuck it, let's bounce

Next day, before the big show, we peeped this thing. And by "this thing" I mean the most French-looking guy I've ever seen

Oh, you think only America is playing footsy with fascism? 

Someone call @spotsfromthetop

Shealy somehow learned the French word for Bondo. But we didn't have time to just wait around for shit to dry. So it was onto the next spot

Promising poles

A good TM knows how to fire up the session, drop-down 50-50

Daiki Hoshino follows his lead, front nose pop-over

An even better TM can close it down, hella-long boardy

I can't spoil Elijah's moves here, but if he's bio hacking with the Theragun, you know he's busy

Diego and Flech? Busy in other ways

Last hit before the gallery. Can't believe Curren wasn't shocked by Daiki's insane switch back Smith

Steel, glass and clean vinyl letters, tasteful stuff from one of the best ever

Jamie Hart, AVE and their fellow VIPs rolled up early

I'm not reading all that, but I'm stoked to see Atiba in good spirits. Let's see some of the Vans crew with their favorite prints

Martino likes The Gonz. Who woulda guessed?

Iconic shit everywhere

Daiki admires some ancient artifacts

What does any of this stuff do?

I asked him to pick out a print and he went with AVE. Good call. Safe, sure, but still good

I didn't see the Mona Lisa, but Julien doing a handstand will always mean more to me than any sad-lookin' painting

Shari and Effy were hyped on Baca. Couldn't agree with 'em more

Our friends from Dolores were feelin' that Elissa print. Same

Elijah, Effy and Shealy brought us back to the Gonzfather

Stafhon was feelin' that front salad

Curren said the loop was pretty sick, but I'm not sure which photo he was talkin' about

Yann Horowtiz with the inimitable Dylan Rieder

Helena linked up with homies to admire Mami's hammer

Clips of flicks. Nice

Atiba's seen it all

And shot everyone

Pfanner has huge snaps and an unreal kickflip. No shit he likes HUF

Got Naquan with Arizona's finest—Dashawn Jordan

"Kareem, of course." Good answer, Acosta

Let's go out with some heartwarming shit

It's always good to have a reflective decompression session after any serious art event. Just, like, don't jump

Nice town, you know. Congrats, Atiba and company, for a great show. If you're in la ville, I encourage you to go check the show. The talent documented by our guy is truly staggering. But now, we gotta get back to these streets. See you soon