How Locals In Florence Are Claiming The Streets
After some time abroad between Berlin and Los Angeles, I returned to Florence this past summer. Florence is my hometown, but I was never around the skate community. I was too young and wasn't really involved in the lifestyle. Back in the day, there was only a tiny skate park close to the stadium – equipped with only one grind rail and two-quarter pipes. Now the scene had changed.
The community has rapidly grown, with two huge brand-new skateparks opening in 2017 and 2019. It was a shocker for me to see kids with their parents approaching skateboarding for the first time, teenagers laughing at their friends, and pros landing the sick tricks.
Being back for a couple of weeks, I took the opportunity to learn exactly how the community has grown in the last years and what's in store for the future. Here's a breakdown:
Skate Shop / Switch Finest Good
First on my list was to catch up with Lorenzo, owner of Switch Finest Good, a shop that pioneered skateboarding in Florence and has managed to educate its citizens about skate culture. Since 2005 Lorenzo has been supplying Florentine skaters with gear from international brands like Independent, Spitfire, Wayward, Palace, and many more.
Starting out selling exclusively hardware, Switch had a proper skateboarding niche; one could argue limiting the community's growth. However, Lorenzo's intuition and hard work brought innovation to the shop in the following years. By carrying international streetwear brands like Norse Project, Stüssy and Carhartt, Switch started to gain popularity outside the scene, attracting locals and international clients.
Lorenzo's efforts and reach began to extend beyond his store. Over the years, he built a family around Switch, assembling Fiasco, Cipolla, Francesco Angiolini, David Rios, and Giacomo Bernini. Once the Switch team was complete, Lorenzo started to organize different events in the city's piazzas, leading to mixed reactions from the residents of Scandicci. Skaters' presence in the streets wasn't being embraced by the citizens.
A shift in perception seemed to take place after the Switch X New Balance Numeric Street Contest took place in 2018. The 300-strong audience boosted skateboarding appreciation from the Florentines. Having understood that the community of Florence was starting to be more educated and appreciative of skate culture, Lorenzo organized larger-scale events. For example, he invited the Vans Italia Team Tour to Florence, having them skate around his neighborhood. Supplying local contests with prizes for winners and participants also pushed things in a more positive direction.
When I asked him what drives him to put this much effort into showcasing the talents of Florence and making interest in skateboarding grow, he stopped for a second, looked around his shop, and turned to me only to reply: "You embrace skating through passion."
When you're in town, check out Switch and say Hi to Lorenzo here:
Switch Finest Good
Via Dante 43/45
50018 Scandicci
Florence, Italy
Crews / DOKAMA Skateboarding Collective
Until this past summer, I'd never seen a video part shot in Florence, even though the historical settings and the tourists' priceless reactions always had the sickest potential in my mind. However, that all changed when I got back from LA, and my friend Niccolo showed me the past year's works of Dokama and Giacomo Bernini, published on YouTube.
Dokama Skateboarding is a collective of skaters and artists that want to solidify skateboarding presence locally while organizing contests and meet-ups around town – even producing their own decks. By putting out steady content for the last couple of years, every Florentine now has someone to look up to locally. Before the online launch of Dokama Skateboarding, member Giacomo "Jack" Bernini had been busily documenting the skate scene since 2010. From shooting small seshs to hour-long video parts and interviews – Jack had ticked all the boxes!
Recommendable is his intense and playful video The Guilty Side. The last years have seen him release high-quality videos, which made me even more excited for his upcoming project with Manuel Cattanella and his series "Locals."
Appearing in "Locals II" is Switch Team member David Rios. A supposed meet-up for a beer turned into a chance to hang out with him at an underpass, where he'd just wrapped up filming some manuals. Backed up by heaven-sent guitar skills of his friend l'Allievo, I learned David's story with him having just recently returned from Colombia a couple of months ago. Being away for two years, he was stoked to see the new Isolotto and Campo di Marte Skateparks. Buzzing to see the scene growing and as annoying as they can be, he loves seeing the kids with their parents learning this discipline. He sees more people understanding and liking the craft. He's also proud to work with Switch and grateful to have so many opportunities to film and put his clips out. David's a cool dude who likes to push very fast before going separate ways, even to shoot a couple of good clips together.
Witnessing this skating renaissance that's happening right now in Florence, and as under the radar as it seems, this city's skaters are on the rise. Coming up with different projects, these kids manage to catch the eyes of their citizens and gain key support from local businesses, like Lorenzo's Switch. Skateboarding in Florence has never been stronger!
