After 14 years with the Dickies skateboarding family, Chocolate Skateboards pro skater Vincent Alvarez is officially parting ways with the brand.
Alvarez shared the news with his followers, looking back on his time with Dickies and the many experiences that came with being part of the brand’s skate program from the very beginning.
He said that this was much more than just another sponsorship for him.
The brand has become a big part of his life, taking him around the world and giving him countless memories along the way.
“After 14 years of hard work and dedication Dickies has decided to part ways,” Alvarez wrote.
For Alvarez, being part of the Dickies skate program was something he never took for granted.
He recalled the trips, dinners, photo shoots and all the time spent working with people through the years. While there was plenty of work involved, he said it never really felt like a job.
“The ‘work’ always had to be done. But it never felt like work,” Alvarez wrote. “How can you complain about getting paid from something you love? I never got that.”
That sentiment says a lot about what his time with Dickies meant to him.
Alvarez was there from the start of the skate program and got to see it develop while also building his own career alongside it.
Fourteen years is a long time for any sponsorship, especially in skateboarding, where team changes and brand decisions can happen at any point.
Alvarez also took time to thank Dickies for giving him the opportunity to help keep what he described as the authentic spirit of skateboarding alive through the brand.
Despite the split, there was no bitterness in his message. He looked back on the years with appreciation and gratitude for everything he got to experience.
“Every trip across the world, every dinner that we sat through, and every photo shoot we did, it holds a special place in my heart,” he wrote.
His post also showed that his love for skateboarding is not tied to one sponsor.
Alvarez noted that he plans to keep doing what he loves and carrying that same passion with him moving forward.
“The spark will never go out regardless of any situation that comes my way,” Alvarez wrote.
Alvarez closed his message with a simple phrase that sums up his attitude toward skateboarding and the community around it: “Skate rats forever!”
For someone who was there from the beginning of the brand’s skate program, it is certainly the end of an important chapter.
Alvarez now heads into whatever comes next with years of experience, countless memories and the same love for skateboarding that brought him to Dickies in the first place.
Alvarez Posted:
"After 14 years of hard work and dedication Dickies has decided to part ways. I’ve been part of the skate program since the beginning, and I’ve never took any opportunity for granted. Every trip across the world, every dinner that we sat through, and every photo shoot we did, it holds a special place in my heart. The “work” always had to be done. But it never felt like work. How can you complain about getting paid from something you love? I never got that. I will forever be thankful for the chance that I was given to keep the authentic spirit of skateboarding alive with them. The spark will never go out regardless of any situation that comes my way. Skate rats forever!"