Right then Mark, over the years you’ve had a bunch of different shoes covering a range of different styles and construction but your latest one, The Mahalo, has kept everything simple – why did you decide on this approach?
I just wanted a skate shoe that looked good basically. I wanted it to have style and still skate great: I didn’t want any bells and whistles, just a classic looking shoe that I can skate or chill in. I’ve got a mid-top Mahalo coming out soon as well and I’m really stoked on it.

You’ve gone for a vulc sole but with the addition of the PU Shockbed insole – does that allow you to get maximum board feel without sacrificing your heels? Is one aspect more important to you than the other?
Yeah, I wanted vulc mainly for the style aspect. I like the line on the side of the sole. It’s important to have a good padded insole, which this shoe has. In my opinion a vulc sole just allows for better board control.

Your shoe on Circa was way bulkier and had a cupsole – has your skating changed since then in the sense of you wanting a slimmer vulc shoe – or are the design ideas influenced as much by what else is out there on the market, as well as performance?
Well I think to some degree you should pay attention to what’s current and as far as my previous pro shoes goes, they were all different, depending on the time that they came out. If you look at my first shoe from 2002, you’ll see that it would almost be considered unwearable today. The shape was different and there was a whole cow of leather on each shoe. Now it’s all simplified and everything used in construction is better quality these days.

How does your involvement in the design process work? Are you in there with the dudes at Globe picking out materials or looking at drawings? Or do you give them an idea of what you want and let them come up with designs?
I am very involved when it comes to designing a shoe. I am there from the first idea meetings about it, through to the choice of colours, sole materials and the overall look of the shoe. I take pride in trying to create a good skate shoe – from top to bottom.

MAHALO: MARK APPLEYARD from GLOBE on Vimeo.

Do you get to skate prototypes first to test that you like it/it works?
Yeah, I always sample a shoe before we go ahead with it. I skate the samples first and get a feel for them first to make sure they’re legit before they go to the manufacturing stage.

If you had to pick one shoe from your entire time skating that you’d say was your favourite (any brand) – which one would you pick and why?
Honestly, I would say the Mahalo Mid that is about to drop in the near future. It’s nice.

What about a favourite Globe shoe from other the years and why?
The Motley – a simple design that works.

What should skaters be thinking about and looking for when they go buy their next pair of skate shoes?
They should ask themselves what kind of shoe suits them and their skating best. Maybe for some that means a bulkier shoe, or maybe it’s the Mahalo. Whatever fits your budget and your style preferences.