A skateboarder with a vision

MANILA, Philippines - When Kenny Anderson was growing up in a suburban home in Las Vegas,  Nevada, he would watch his brother Kyle and friends coast, speed off and do death-defying tricks with their skateboards, thinking that maybe, he could ride on one. He experienced the mishaps a beginning skater encounters as he tried to master the board, dusted himself up and skated again. Little did the 10-year-old boy know that skateboarding would become a life-long passion.

Considered as The Best Skateboarder in the World, Kenny has competed in various competitions in all the continents of the planet, except Africa and Antarctica. He still continues attending skateboarding events, but this time as a spokesperson and inspirational figure of the sport. Kenny, who is a husband to Kristin and a father to Diane, Amelia and Myles, would be the first person to tell you that “skateboarding is not so much a sport as it is a lifestyle.”

“I can travel the world by myself, run into a kid with skates and completely relate to him as a skateboarder,” he explains to easyreadernews.com. “The fact that I can ollie (a fundamental trick and often the first to be learned by a new skateboarder) and so can he — we have something to talk about and we can hang out.”

It’s this camaraderie (or brotherhood, as some would call it) in the skateboarding community that has propelled Kenny’s rise to cult status. His big break came when his roommate Chany Jeanguenin, who was then Converse’s main ambassador, mentioned his name to the company as someone who has skated in Dr. J’s, Chuck Taylors, One Stars from day one.

Riding with Converse as an amateur, Kenny turned professional with the brand in his early 20s. After the company’s restructuring, Converse approached Kenny to design a line of sneakers bearing his name. Rather than running away with the concept, Kenny delved into the archives and studied various sneaker features that were relevant to the skateboarding community. “I wanted to do that was a heritage piece. You don’t want to veer away from that; it’s why Converse is Converse,” he tells Zimbio.

Released in 2011, KA-One is inspired by the silhouette of Classic Trainer from the ‘70s and is outfitted with a cup that “skates just like a vulc.” For Kenny, a skater’s shoes should deliver a smooth interface with the board, something which he has achieved with KA-One. Because of its success, Converse and Kenny collaborated anew, this time through Converse Cons KA-II which was launched recently.

Converse Cons KA-II is outfitted with drop-in Lunarlon sock liner that delivers plush, lightweight cushioning, perfect against the bumps and imperfections of the street. Providing a customized fit are the shoe’s memory foam and gusseted tongue. On the outside, Cons’ All Star Traction Rubber outsole is fused with a Flex Rubber Cup Sole for superior board feel. A clean suede or canvas upper, reminiscent of the understated aesthetic of Converse designs, finishes off the look.

“The KA-II skates with a full board-feel, has the support and durability of a cup sole, and I really like the way the sneaker looks and feels on my feet,” Kenny says. “Even when I’m riding my older, worn-in board, the traction on the sole makes the board feels like brand new.”

In conjunction with the release of Converse Cons KA-II in the US as part of the brand’s 2013 Fall collection is The Joy Ride, a film that documents Kenny’s journey on a magical bicycle which, as he negotiates through the streets, is pushed by people to propel him forward. The main message of the short film is that you can never too young or too old to have an adventure on the streets.

Kenny is a living proof that his adventure on the skateboard has transformed his life in more ways than one. “Skating is a focus,” he tells easyreadernews.com. “For me, if I didn’t skate, I don’t know what I would have done. Skating saved my life, skating kept me active, skating kept me focused in school and taught me everything in life.”