After a decade of sharing Jeff Grosso’s unique, raw commentary with the world, Love Letters to Skateboarding is coming to a close with this special final episode. Hosted by Jeff’s son, Oliver Grosso, and weaving together the powerful storytelling of Jeff’s closest friends and some of the most influential skateboarders of all time this grand send off honors Jeff’s legacy. Jeff’s love for skateboarding shined through in everything he said and did, and there isn’t a more poignant example of this than his time on the Love Letters. The series will live on as an eternal encyclopedia of everything skateboarding holds dear and a reminder of Jeff’s lasting impact on the culture and its community. – Vans
Grosso Forever: Japan Love Note: Street Skating | Skate | VANS
The crazy thing about street skating in Japan is that in most cities it is not legal. Despite that jam up Tokyo, Osaka, etc have produced some of the best street skaters on the planet. This Love Note is an expanded version of the interview Jeff Grosso did with Tokyo legend Shin Okada and the T19 crew.
Japan has a long and radical skate history. With so many eyes focused on Tokyo in 2021 Vans wanted to make sure that the rich skate culture and storied history didn’t get lost in the hype of The Games. Japan has a great skate scene that should championed and celebrated long after this moment in history.
This is the last trip the Loveletters crew took with our beloved Jeff Grosso before his passing. Jeff and the crew had a blast meeting the many Japanese skaters from every generation.
Grosso Forever: Japan Love Note: FESN | Skate | VANS
The Far East Skate Network is the brainchild of Japanese skater Takahiro Morita. FESN is a series of influential skate videos spanning 15 years, it’s a board company and a skate shop. Jeff Grosso sat down with Morita to get the history behind FESN.
Japan has a long and radical skate history. With so many eyes focused on Tokyo in 2021 Vans wanted to make sure that the rich skate culture and storied history didn’t get lost in the hype of The Games. Japan has a great skate scene that should championed and celebrated long after this moment in history.
This is the last trip the Loveletters crew took with our beloved Jeff Grosso before his passing. Jeff and the crew had a blast meeting the many Japanese skaters from every generation.
Grosso Forever: Japan Love Note: Japanese D.I.Y. Scene | Skate | VANS
Japan has as great a DIY spot building scene as any place around the world. This Love Note is an expanded look at the scene and the main players making killer spots.
Japan has a long and radical skate history. With so many eyes focused on Tokyo in 2021 Vans wanted to make sure that the rich skate culture and storied history didn’t get lost in the hype of The Games. Japan has a great skate scene that should championed and celebrated long after this moment in history.
This is the last trip the Loveletters crew took with our beloved Jeff Grosso before his passing. Jeff and the crew had a blast meeting the many Japanese skaters from every generation.
Grosso Forever: Japan Love Note: Women Shredders | Skate | VANS
There are so many amazing women in the Japanese skate scene. The Joy and Sorrow DVD series has been highlighting the scene for over a decade. In this Love Note we check in with the creator of the series, Yuri Murai.
Japan has a long and radical skate history. With so many eyes focused on Tokyo in 2021 Vans wanted to make sure that the rich skate culture and storied history didn’t get lost in the hype of The Games. Japan has a great skate scene that should championed and celebrated long after this moment in history.
This is the last trip the Loveletters crew took with our beloved Jeff Grosso before his passing. Jeff and the crew had a blast meeting the many Japanese skaters from every generation.
Grosso Forever: Japan Love Note: Aki Akiyama/ Nishi | Skate | VANS
Two of the pioneers of the Japanese skate scene are Aki Akiyama and Nishi. Aki represented the clean, contest wholesome skater while Nishi was the wild man who skated, took photos, made art and published magazines.
Together these two laid the foundation for the Japanese skate scene and their impact can still be felt today.
Japan has a long and radical skate history. With so many eyes focused on Tokyo in 2021 Vans wanted to make sure that the rich skate culture and storied history didn’t get lost in the hype of The Games. Japan has a great skate scene that should championed and celebrated long after this moment in history.
This is the last trip the Loveletters crew took with our beloved Jeff Grosso before his passing. Jeff and the crew had a blast meeting the many Japanese skaters from every generation.
Grosso Forever: Loveletter to Jeff Grosso | SKATE | VANS
We all miss Jeff Grosso. It’s been a year since Jeff passed so Grosso’s long time co-creators, Buddy Nichols and Rick Charnoski of Six Stair Productions, put together this special birthday Loveletters episode to celebrate his life in his own words.
For more Grosso Forever moments Click HERE.
Grosso Forever: Paul Kobriger’s Jeff Grosso Tribute | Skate | VANS
In honor of the anniversary of the passing of Jeff Grosso, Vans’ beloved larger than life champion of all things skateboarding, Steve Van Doren commissioned artist Paul Kobriger to create a very special ball point pen hyper realism rendition of photographer Joe Brook’s timeless portrait to hang prominently in The Jeff Grosso Room at Vans HQ. Paul is primarily a portrait artist living in Escondido, CA.. He grew up skateboarding and drawing in a small town in Wisconsin before moving to San Diego. At age 39 after 20 years of not creating a single art piece, Paul rediscovered his talent and love of drawing. Watch as Kobriger takes us through the process of bringing portraits to life in his own unique style.
The Tony Alva Story | Jeff Grosso’s Loveletters to Skateboarding | Skate | VANS
One of the key figures in the early evolution of skateboarding from a wholesome, contest based “sport” into the freewheeling art form that it is today was Tony Alva.
Tony is now 63 years old, the oldest professional skateboarder in the world, is considered by many to be the godfather of modern day skateboarding. Alva’s brand of aggression and bravado in the 70’s set the stage for the way skateboarding would be forever defined.
Vans’ The Tony Alva Story chronicles T.A.’s humble beginnings on the streets of Santa Monica to his rise to superstardom as part of the legendary Z-Boys, his inevitable drug-induced implosion and his ultimate rise from the ashes to accept his rightful place as a beacon of hope and inspiration for generations of skateboarders the world over.
Written & Directed by Rick Charnoski & Coan “Buddy” Nichols/Six Stair Productions
Starring: Tony Alva, Jeff Grosso, Wynn Miller, Steve Olson, Shepard Fairy, Gus Van Sant, Josh Brolin, Jeff Ament, Glen E Friedman, Robert Trujillo, Brad Bowman, Pete Zehnder, Jeff Ho, Stacey Peralta, Elijah Berle and more.
LGBTQ+ Love Note: Extras | Jeff Grosso’s Loveletters to Skateboarding | VANS
While the full-length Loveletter to LGBTQ+ episode is already 36-minutes long, Vans had a ton of additional footage to share after five months of filming that deserves to be seen, as well as a few skaters they missed on the first round. In this final LGBTQ+ Love Note there are some skater-submitted gems that gracefully encapsulate the hard-hitting universal truths, along with the creativity, friendship and raw skate talent from the LGBTQ+ community as well as some Extras, Outtakes and Omissions.
LGBTQ+ Love Note: A Conversation With ChandlerBurton | Jeff Grosso’s Loveletters to Skateboarding
Chandler Burton played a huge part in the making the LGBTQ+ episode of Loveletters to Skateboarding. Burton introduced Grosso to many of the skaters featured in the piece and remains an encouraging voice for the queer skate community. Burton tells his story of coming out as a queer skater, how he battled societal norms, and the importance of allyship.
Vans is thankful to everyone who shared their story, strengthening the community of skateboarding. If you are a person in crisis or in need of a safe and judgement free place to talk, call the TrevorLifeline now at 1-866-488-7386.
LGBTQ+ Love Note: A Conversation With Elissa Steamer | Jeff Grosso’s Loveletters to Skateboarding
Grosso catches up with skate pioneer, Elissa Steamer, to talk about queerness in skateboarding and the hardships of communicating identity within the skate community. Hint: language is everything!
Vans is thankful to everyone who shared their story, strengthening the community of skateboarding. If you are a person in crisis or in need of a safe and judgement free place to talk, call the TrevorLifeline now at 1-866-488-7386.