Polar Skate Co is the brainchild of pro skater, filmmaker, artist and all round Renaissance man Pontus Alv. Initially founded after Alv left Cliché Skateboards and returned to his native Malmö, Sweden to concentrate on film making and DIY projects around the city, the Polar brand has gone on to be one of the most influential and successful of all the smaller, independent outfits that emerged around 2010. Polar is in many ways a direct extension of Alv’s own vision of skateboarding which eschews a reliance on spectacle-based trick obsessing, in favour of a more holistic vision of skateboarding as a whole, clever use of social media (particularly the @polarskateco Instagram account) and a diverse range of hard and soft goods that draw inspiration from Alv’s interests both inside and outside of skateboarding.

Polar Skate Co began with a predominantly European team but has since expanded, adding riders from the USA, Australia and Japan. Alv’s film output, (particularly the two films released prior to the birth of the brand, ‘Strongest of the Strange’ and ‘In Search of the Miraculous’) directly connects to the overall aesthetic of Polar with the Happy/Sad motif (seen here on the Aaron Herrington deck) originating as a repeated visual trope within Alv’s films.

“Polar is in many ways a direct extension of Alv’s own vision of skateboarding which eschews a reliance on spectacle-based trick obsessing, in favour of a more holistic vision of skateboarding as a whole”

Polar Skate Co have released a number of highly successful collaboration capsules with brands ranging from Converse to Carharrt over the years, along with Polar’s newest pro and current Vans Park Series World Champion, Oskar ‘Oski’ Rozenberg Hallberg, being awarded a recent Nike SB Dunk colourway shoe.

This Aaron Herrington ‘Happy/Sad Around the World NYC’ pro deck features photography by Alv himself, revisiting the Happy/Sad motif mentioned above, shot in Herrington’s home of New York and comes in at a hefty 8.5” in width and 32.125” in length in tune with Polar’s slightly larger general deck sizing.

As with all Polar decks, the topside ply layer features the original Polar circular logo and branding between the front truck holes.

• POLAR – HAPPY/SAD:
• RRP: £53
• Width : 8.5″
• Length: 32.125″
• Wheelbase: 14.25″
• POLARSKATECO.COM