The Origins of Pleasures Skateboards

Pleasures Skateboards started in Milan in 2018 inside Pleasures Milano, one of the city’s longest-running skate shops. The idea was simple from day one: make boards that actually feel right to skate, not another fake skate brand built around trends, marketing, or recycled graphics.

The goal was always to build solid decks with clean shapes, proper concave, responsive pop, and graphics connected to the people around us and the scene we came from. Everything started from skateboarding first.

At the time, Milan’s skate scene was changing fast. A new generation of skaters was growing around Central Milan, with new spots, new energy, and people skating every day. Pleasures Skateboards came directly out of that environment.

The first graphics were made by legendary Roman skater Niko Stumpo. His artwork immediately gave the brand a strong visual identity rooted in real skate culture instead of temporary trends or commercial-looking graphics, and that was important to us from the beginning.

We never wanted the brand to look over-designed or artificial. We wanted it to feel raw, independent, and connected to the streets where the boards were actually being skated.

Niko is still part of the Pleasures family today and continues to collaborate on graphics and creative direction for the brand.

From the beginning, every board was developed with a strong focus on skateability. Shape, wheelbase, concave, pop, and overall board feel always came before the commercial side of the project because, at the end of the day, if a board doesn’t feel right under your feet, none of the rest matters.

Milano Skateboarding Co. Finest

Pleasures Skateboards was born during an important moment for Milan skateboarding.

Around 2018, the area around Milano Centrale started building a completely new energy. Younger skaters were out in the streets every day, filming clips, finding new spots, and pushing the scene forward, while the shop naturally became a meeting point for that generation.

From the beginning, the project supported skaters like Vince Palmer, Nilsino, and many others connected to the Milan scene. A real community formed around the shop through daily sessions, videos, spots, and a new energy that helped redefine skateboarding in Milan Centrale.

Pleasures Skateboards never tried to position itself as some distant company. It was always directly connected to the scene happening outside the shop every single day — sessions, late nights, clips, broken boards, new kids showing up every week, and skaters constantly pushing each other to progress.

The first official release was called The Mask Series and featured eight decks illustrated entirely by Niko Stumpo. The series immediately started moving through the scene because the boards felt different from most of the generic skate graphics around at the time. The series combined strong visual identity with decks that were actually designed to skate properly, and that combination mattered.

The decks sold out quickly inside Pleasures Skate Shop and started circulating outside Milan as well. Requests began arriving from other Italian cities and eventually from parts of Europe too.

After the success of the first series, new graphics and new deck releases followed. Every drop kept the same direction: independent graphics, skate-focused construction, and production runs without trying to become over-commercial. That approach helped Pleasures Skateboards build a strong underground identity inside the Italian skate scene.

Built for Real Skateboarding

Pleasures Skateboards has always been made with actual skateboarding in mind.

The goal was never to create collectible boards made only for walls or Instagram photos. Every deck had to work in real sessions first — street spots, rough ground, skateparks, and daily skating. That was always the standard.

Every production focused heavily on board feel, with balanced concaves, responsive pop, solid wood construction, and shapes designed to feel natural immediately under your feet. That feeling mattered because a skateboard should feel reliable from the first push to the last trick of the session.

A lot of bigger companies slowly started losing that connection over the years. Too many brands became overly focused on marketing, hype, or image instead of the actual feeling of skating the product, while Pleasures always tried to stay closer to the opposite direction.

Over the years, the feedback from skaters across Italy has stayed consistently strong because the project always remained connected to real skateboarding instead of trying to imitate what bigger companies were doing.

One of the most recognizable decks from the early years was the Reaper graphic illustrated by Black Kat, one of Milan’s best-known tattoo artists. That deck sold out almost immediately and became one of the defining graphics from the early Pleasures era.

Alongside the decks, the brand also started developing wheels, hardware, and skate accessories designed with the same mindset: simple, functional, and built for skating, with no gimmicks — just skate products made by people who actually skate every day.

Panorama Skate Video Milano – Spezzatura and the Milan Skate Scene

One of the strongest connections in the history of Pleasures Skateboards has been Panorama Skate Video Milano, the skate video project created by Spezzatura / Journey Filmer.

From the very first Panorama videos, Pleasures riders and boards have always been part of the project, not as some planned marketing collaboration, but because everyone was already skating together in the same streets, filming in the same spots, and contributing naturally to the same scene.

That’s what made the connection feel real from the beginning.

Over the years, Panorama became one of the most important skate video projects to come out of Italy and eventually gained strong international attention far beyond the local scene. The videos captured Milan skateboarding in a raw and honest way, without fake energy or commercial skateboarding, and that authenticity connected with people everywhere.

Every Panorama release pushed the scene further and helped show a different side of Milan skateboarding to a much bigger audience worldwide.

Even now, with the recent release of Panorama 4, Pleasures Skateboards continues to be part of the project through its riders and wider community. The new video is already circulating through the international skate scene and gaining attention worldwide.

For Pleasures, Panorama has always represented something bigger than just another skate video. It represents documentation of a real scene, real people, and a generation of skaters who helped shape modern Milan skateboarding, and that connection is still part of the DNA of the brand today.

The New Vision of Pleasures Skateboards

Right now Pleasures Skateboards is entering a new phase. Years of sessions, videos, graphics, and independent releases already built the foundation. Now the goal is to push the project further while keeping the same identity that made it work in the first place.

The new generation of riders is already becoming part of the brand, with skaters like Emanuele Staarki, Andrea Carugo, and younger riders connected to the Milan scene representing the future direction of Pleasures Skateboards.

The goal is not building a fake image-driven team, but continuing to support skaters who are actually outside filming, skating, traveling, and contributing naturally to the scene because that part of the project will never change.

Future projects will include new deck series, apparel, collaborations, accessories, and video projects while keeping the same independent approach the brand started with.

Board quality will remain at the center of everything. Shapes need to feel right, concaves need to work properly, graphics need personality without looking forced, and products need to make sense inside real skateboarding because that balance is important.

At the same time, the visual side of the project will continue evolving through collaborations with artists, illustrators, tattooers, filmmakers, and people connected to skateboarding and contemporary urban culture without ever losing its authentic connection to the streets and the real skate scene.

Pleasures Skateboards doesn’t want to become another generic skate company trying to imitate American brands from the outside. The goal is building a European skate brand with its own identity, its own scene, and its own history connected directly to Milan skateboarding — a project built from the streets up, not the other way around.

Milan Skateboarding Culture Since 1999

For more than twenty-five years, Pleasures Milano has remained deeply connected to skateboarding culture in Milan.

What started as an independent skate shop slowly became part of the city’s skate history through videos, riders, events, brands, and years of daily sessions around the local scene.

The shop has always supported independent skateboarding, local creativity, and projects connected to the real culture surrounding skating, and that same philosophy still drives Pleasures today.

From the physical skate shop in Milan to the growth of the international online project, the goal has always stayed the same: support skateboarding properly, help new generations grow naturally inside the scene, and continue building something authentic without losing the identity that made Pleasures what it is today.

Pleasures Milano remains connected to the same idea it started with: supporting real skateboarding without chasing trends or artificial hype.