Globe

Globe is Australian, which already sets it apart from almost everything else on a European skate shop wall. The Hill brothers — Stephen, Peter and Matt — launched it in Melbourne in 1994, out of Hardcore Enterprises, the distribution business they had been running since the mid-1980s importing American gear into Australia. Today Globe International is listed on the Australian stock exchange and is, above all, a shoe brand that also makes decks, cruisers and completes.

History

The Hills started out distributing. Hardcore Enterprises brought overseas brands into Australia, and along the way the brothers published skate magazines and ran demo tours that got much of the Australian scene moving. In 1994 they decided to build their own label, starting with shoes. Canvas came out in 1998 and Opinion in 2001 — the team’s first full-length, with Rodney Mullen, Chet Thomas, Chad Fernandez and Renton Millar among others.

That same year, 2001, Globe International went public on the ASX. In 2002 it bought Kubic Marketing and with it World Industries and Dwindle Distribution: for seventeen years Globe owned Almost, Blind, Enjoi, Darkstar and Tensor, and in 2009 it added France’s Cliché, bought from the Salomon group. It did not end well. Cliché was shut down in November 2016, and in 2019 Globe offloaded the whole Dwindle package to Highline Industries, a subsidiary of private equity firm Transom Capital, for $1.5 million. The American Prospect laid that deal out in detail in 2025 in a piece on what private equity has done to the skate industry. Globe’s own brands today are Globe, Salty Crew, Impala and FXD Workwear — none of the old board companies.

The team

Rodney Mullen has been with Globe for decades. Mark Appleyard marked twenty-one straight years with the brand in 2026, which is close to unheard of in this industry. The current roster is rounded out by Austyn Gillette, Sammy Montano, Christian Maalouf and France’s Val Bauer, who dropped the part “If There is Another World” in 2025, filmed entirely in Paris. Vincent Milou spent ten years on the brand and left in 2022.

Decks and cruisers

The decks run in series: G1, G2 and G3, plus Goodstock, the house wood with no graphic, from 7.75” up to 9.0”. Globe presses its decks one at a time and uses epoxy resin instead of the usual water-based resin, which makes for a slightly lighter, longer-lasting board. The most recognisable part of the catalog, though, is the cruisers: Blazer and Big Blazer, Bruiser, Chromantic, Stubby, Trooper, Eggy — completes from 26” to 33” built to get you across town rather than to do tricks on.

Who it’s for

If you want a well-sorted complete cruiser at a sane price, Globe is one of the easiest options to actually find in Europe. If you’re after a street deck, the G1/G2 and Goodstock do the job and usually sit below core-brand pro pricing, but don’t expect the team pedigree of a Baker or a Polar. And if you landed here looking for shoes, this is the house. Line it up against the rest in the deck catalog.