Chocolate Skateboards

Chocolate Skateboards was founded in 1994 in Los Angeles by Rick Howard, Mike Carroll, and Spike Jonze (the legendary skater-turned-filmmaker, who would later direct films like Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are, and Her). The brand was conceived as a sister brand to Girl Skateboards (the brand Howard, Carroll, and Jonze had co-founded a year earlier in 1993), with both companies operating under the broader Crailtap parent company. Chocolate has been one of the defining post-1994 LA-anchored skate-deck brands. The Chocolate Skateboards vocabulary settled around several specific products: the iconic Chocolate skateboard-deck programme featuring shifting seasonal graphic-design references (the brand has worked with artists including Geoff McFetridge, Evan Hecox, Patrick O'Dell, and dozens of others on deck-graphic programs), the iconic Hubba Wheels relationship, the Chocolate team-pro signature deck programme (with deck-signatures from Eric Koston, Daniel Castillo, Mike York, Stevie Perez, and the broader Chocolate team-rider roster), and the broader Chocolate apparel programme. Spike Jonze's involvement has anchored the brand's broader skate-and-art-and-film cultural cross-pollination. The brand is independent and held by Howard, Carroll, and Jonze through Crailtap (the Los Angeles-based skate-industry parent company that also operates Girl Skateboards, Lakai Limited Footwear, Fourstar, Royal Trucks, and various other defining post-1990 skate-industry brands). Chocolate Skateboards distributes through skate-shop wholesale globally — including Supreme, Slam Jam, Civilist Berlin, the broader US-and-European skate-shop network, and the Japanese skate-specialty retailers Beams, Ships, United Arrows, and the broader Japanese skate-specialty distribution. The brand has been one of the defining post-1994 LA-anchored skate-deck brands.