MA.DE Sydney

By O.K. Glynn

Ladies and gentlemen, get used to it. The skaters lifestyle is back. It never really disappeared, but it just crept off to the skateparks to lie in wait – and now, it’s cruising all over our fair concrete city and I damn well love it.

Two weeks ago I was standing on the door at QT Sydney and heard a parade of skater boys come rumbling down Market Street. You know the ones; baggy clothes scratched up boards and that sweet, sweet scent of devil-may-care. One particularly shaggy-looking lad attempted a trick over the

One particularly shaggy-looking lad attempted a trick over the kerb on the road, flicking his legs up with expert ease, the board gliding over the concrete. As he came to land it was painfully obvious he had overshot the balance, hit the edge of his board with his foot, causing it to shoot out from underneath him and ricochet off Parlour Lane and straight into a suited-up middle-aged business man.

The kid was frozen, I was frozen (and trying not to laugh) as the businessman just turned slowly to look at the board resting up against his manicured pant-suit. There was a flash and you saw this guy in the 70’s – white t-shirt, shaggy hair and board under arm. He looked up at the kid, flipped the board around the right way and just scooted it back to it’s owner without a word.

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To celebrate this gnarly life-style, there’s a festival hitting up the iconic Carriageworks from the 11-13th of November called MA.DE. Hosted by Mercedes-Benz this little festival is popping up to celebrate all that is skating, fashion, film and music. Ticket prices start at $15, giving you entry into all the sensational little pop-ups happening over the weekend

To give you a brief over-view; there will be hours of open skate time interweaving with different renowned DJ sets (think Astral People, Sports, Pelvis, Young Tapz, Otis Prinz – and that’s just on the Saturday) so you can cruise around (or watch others do it, and drink in the Benz Bar) while wrapping your head around some seriously good tunes.

There will be a fashion show headlined by Faith Connexion – a label coveted by the likes of Beyonce, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, and friends – making it’s debut fashion show with Made Sydney, bringing it’s rad little cult label from the high streets of Paris, blending together their obsession of art and skate, giving you something to seriously froth over.

There will be stores set up with the best and boldest in street fashion, giving you exclusive picks at new season offers from 69, Daisy, Ella Maximillion, Emma Mulholland, Pelvis, Distal Phalanx, and a whole host more.

All of these things aren’t even the Creme-de-la-creme of the weekend – there will be a replica erected of Hubba Hideout, the iconic San Fransisco skateboarding Mecca that shaped the style and provided a sounding board for the skater-life from the early 90’s.

You will have the opportunity to skate on the instalment before it’s officially opened for the Hubba Hideout Competition from 3pm on Sunday 13th.

There will be free access to anybody who shows up with a skateboard and the chance to take out the competition to claim a solid gold Mercedes-Benz chain and a custom skate deck by artist Egy Boy.

So set aside the weekend, dust off your board and slip on down to Carriageworks to immerse yourself in a style that brings nothing but that sweet chill, a good tribe and a crusiey vibe.

MA.DE is at Carriageworks from November 11 -13, more information and tickets HERE

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