Anything boys can do girls can do better (*or equally just as well). While females doing kickass things isn’t ground breaking news — and if you think it is, we need to catch you up to 2018 — Vans' new "This Is Off The Wall" campaign is. Launching on March 8 for International Women's Day, the brand is kickstarting Girls Skate India, a magnified view at how a new generation of females are gaining confidence through a newfound outlet: skateboarding.
Centered around female empowerment and the stigma that skateboarding is an unorthodox universe for female involvement, Girls Skate India gives a closer look at how women are owning the sport around the globe. Founded by India's first professional female skateboarder, Atita Verghese, "Girls Skate India" is an initiative to capture the current climate of the emerging skateboard scene in India, all through the eyes of international female skateboarders, with the hope to empower young women in India to follow in their footsteps.
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Vans' five minute video takes viewers through a narrative about the way female skateboards are inspiring the next generation and the tools they're providing for them. Featuring Verghese and fellow Vans sponsored athlete, Lizzie Armanto, Vans explains that the girls demonstrate how the "activity provides an outlet for them to express themselves...that captures the power that skate culture can have on a community."
In tandem with the campaign, Vans announced that it will be opening female-catered skate clinics around the world. In a press release, Vans stated its plans to "mobilize around the world to teach women and girls how to skateboard through a series of global skate clinics beginning March 8, 2018, International Women’s Day." The brand is set to host over 100 skateboarding clinics in most major cities (i.e. Brooklyn, Chicago, London, St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Bangalore, São Paulo, and Mexico City). The clinics will be open to skaters of all levels, from beginners to experts, to join the growing female skate community and inspire a new wave of women’s skateboarding progression. You can find a complete list of skate clinics at Vans.com/girlskateevents.
Vans' new "This Is Off The Wall" campaign will run as a continuous series that delves into creative communities to help spread the brand's pillars "of action sports, art, music and street culture, inviting everyone to participate."