Lizzie Armanto realized skateboarding had come a long way after she saw a video of a little girl's birthday party. The 29-year-old Finnish American professional skater was scrolling on social media when she saw a post of young girls running around a backyard, skateboarding at a pool party. The concept was novel to her—it wasn't something Armanto, who also picked up her board at a young age, ever really experienced.
“Skateboarding is in such a different place right now,” she says to Glamour. “To me, it was like a bookmark in realizing that things are really changing.”
When she was starting out, the Olympian knew that the skate scene had its pitfalls: the male athletes, for one, who tried to breed an exclusionary environment against women—the “kooks who say lame stuff,” as she calls them. But change is happening. One of our youngest Olympians is 13-year-old Momiji Nishiya and women-of-color-led crews remain strong. And now all eyes are on female skateboarding. The world is currently throwing out its antiquated notions of the sport being a boys’ club, along with its shoes.
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Skateboarding shoes have hardly been made with women in mind in the past, but that's no longer the case thanks to Armanto's latest collaboration with Vans. Dubbed The Lizzie, the shoe is specifically made for girls who shred, complete with a high-top look, a leaner sole, and a lower footbed to accommodate female feet. There's a ton to celebrate here—including the fact that the shoe is more sustainable than most, with organic cotton, natural rubbers, and bio-based foam, something that was important to Armanto to honor.
Most importantly, it's the first time in 20 years that Vans is producing a skate shoe designed by a woman. If anything, it's a historic changing of the guard for gatekeepers in skateboard's very counterculture aesthetic. “It represents all the people that have been underrepresented,” Armanto tells Glamour. "It's a fringe, if that makes sense."
Below, Lizzie Armanto shares how she shows up to do the work for women in skateboarding everywhere.
My average morning
I'm not a morning person, but right now I'm jet-lagged, so I've been waking up, like, at the crack of dawn. I don't know, it's actually really refreshing. I hope I can keep this up.
My dream job as a child
I wanted to be a surfer because they hang out at the beach, and I thought that was really cool. I ironically read somewhere that athletes don't contribute to advancing society, so to speak, and I was like, “Whew, I'm never going to be one of those.”
The Instagram account I’m obsessed with
I always look up @eatnunchi's stories; she makes these jelly cakes and amazing food. I wish you could taste things through the phone. Like, that needs to be invented.
The most rewarding part about having a nontraditional career
Whenever you start at something, there's a lot of doubt and people don't take you seriously. It's really satisfying to know that I'm bigger than other people's opinions as a top-performing athlete. It's really hard for a lot of people to believe in what you do to the point that you're able to succeed, because without believing in yourself, it's never going to happen. That skill alone is hard to teach and you can apply that to any part of your life.
How I approach projects outside my wheelhouse
I've been on the Vans team for a while now. Fortunately, we've done colorways before, but designing your own shoe is completely different in the sense that you have to build something from nothing. With designing my own shoe, I knew that it was a given that I would try to take the best aspects of the shoes that I really like.
What I would be doing if I wasn’t an athlete
I would do something trade-based. I remember when I was getting out of high school, I was like, “Oh, should I just go to auto mechanic school just so that I can learn how to work on a car, because that seems really satisfying to know.”
What I wear when I’m not skating
When I go out to a dinner or a date, I want to say I get to dress like a normal person, but my identity is just that, like, I'm a skateboarder. I always just want to wear stuff I can skate in, but it's been really refreshing to go out and get to dress in the version of myself that isn't always skating. I love patterns, textures, and different prints. I also love a nice pair of jeans where you can just feel the fit is really nice or is made up of quality materials that hang nicely. It's satisfying to me to find those little things in each piece. I love thrifting and finding old-lady clothes. Somehow I always find things that fit me, which I really don't know how it's possible because there's literally so much junk that you have to, like, sift through. It's always hit-or-miss.
My go-to snack after an intense workout
I love the passion fruit flavor Liquid IV packets—I usually go to dinner after skating, but those hold me off.
How I take on responsibility that comes with being a public figure
With every opportunity I get, it's really humbling. I can't thank Vans enough for believing in me, but also just believing in, like, women's skateboarding. It's just cool to see that there's more opportunity for women and girls that want to pursue something like skating and fill such a large gap in the community.