Magenta

Magenta Skateboards is one of the brands that gave European street skating a voice of its own, neither a California knockoff nor a nod to contest skating. It started in 2010 in a shared Paris apartment on Boulevard Magenta, the street it’s named after, put together by brothers Vivien and Jean Feil with Soy Panday. It’s still independent and skater-owned and operated, now based in Bordeaux, where it also runs its own shop.

History

The company was registered on 15 January 2010, and Leo Valls, though not a founder, had come on about six months before launch as the first team rider. Early filming trips to San Francisco brought US riders Ben Gore and Jimmy Lannon into the fold and set up the transatlantic identity the brand still carries. Over the years Magenta built a steady run of promos and full-lengths, from a France–Japan project to San Francisco street films, and its videos remain central to how the brand is understood. In 2025 it closed out fifteen years of independence with an anniversary mixtape built from clips of its classic videos. Through all of it the company stayed skater-owned, moving its base from the original Paris flat to Bordeaux, where it now runs its own shop.

The team

All three skating founders still ride for Magenta: Vivien Feil, Soy Panday and Leo Valls, alongside Jimmy Lannon, Ben Gore, Ruben Spelta and Glen Fox. Historic names include co-founder Jean Feil, Zach Lyons and Carlos Young. Leo Valls is worth singling out: he led the push that legalized street skating in Bordeaux, now consults on “skate urbanism” with the city, architects and officials, and launched the Connect festival on skateboarding and urbanism there in 2024.

Boards and artwork

Decks are 7-ply Canadian maple pressed at the Generator woodshop. What actually makes a Magenta recognizable across a room is the drawing: Soy Panday, pro rider and art director, hand-draws every graphic himself, boards, logos and ads included. He was already designing boards for his old UK sponsor, Landscape Skateboards, before co-founding Magenta. The “Plant” leaf logo is the best-known motif, and illustrated runs like the Zoo Series (pro decks for Ben Gore, Leo Valls, Soy Panday and Vivien Feil) and the Leo Valls Shades series mean as much to collectors as to the people skating them.

Who should skate it

Magenta speaks straight to skaters who read the city at speed, string lines together and work with rough ground instead of chasing contest tricks. The outside recognition came without the brand giving anything up: adidas Skateboarding did collections in 2015 and 2017 (the Matchcourt RX x Magenta being the key shoe), and 2025 brought a joint video with Blue Flowers. For where it sits in the wider scene, see our guide to European skateboard brands.