Hugo Corbin’s Guide To Paris

Skate photos: David Manaud. Lifestyle: Brydie Watson.

Hugo Corbin is the first real French guy I’ve met since arriving to the great land of croissants and steak tartare.

Someone who is actually born, raised and lives in Paris. Crazy. He also just happens to be an amazing skater, balancing the elusive pro life with modelling projects around the world. He was down visiting Biarritz and although I didn’t actually get to see him skate because he was nursing an ankle injury, I did get to try the punch he made for my house’s garden party that he attended. Très bien. We chatted slightly hungover before he got back on the train to Paris about all things skating, fashion and the city of love.

Have you ever been interviewed in English? 

Hugo Corbin: Yeah, I think three or four times.

Oh damn I wanted to be the first. Okay, give me an introduction of yourself? Who are you, where are you from and what do you do? 

My name is Hugo Corbin. I’m from Paris, France and I’m twenty-seven years old. Born, raised and lived in Paris my whole life.

And what do you do? 

I’m a professional skater and model.

How long have you been skating for?

I’ve been skating for about fourteen years now. I started young and started doing well pretty quickly and have been growing my career step by step since. It’s always been fun to me, I’m super passionate and am eager to learn as much as possible which I think is why I’m where I am with it. I did the competition thing for a while but these last couple of years I’m more in the streets, making projects outside of competition. For me it’s way cooler and I feel like you also gain more respect within the industry, especially with the community. I didn’t want to just be known for the competition and it's worked pretty good. I’ve been able to do bigger projects with bigger magazines/ bigger brands/ everything in general outside of competition. I’m pretty happy with where it’s all taken me till now.

Tell me about the Paris skate scene? What do you love about it, what do you hate about it? 

e have a great skate scene. We have all different kinds of skaters, different styles, different vibes. It’s really good. Skating, as you know, is really diverse but I think we have our own unique style in France. I think probably the only bad thing is how separate each group is. I feel like we could all have a bit more fun if we were together but yeah for now it is still quite separate. I don’t know if that’s necessarily a bad thing but it is just something to note about the scene.

I feel like that’s the way it is all over the world though, not just Paris specifically. Skating has changed so much over the years, but I think the right people are still in the scene. I think we could all just be a bit more together. Maybe that’s the French mindset though. I don’t want to say anything bad (laughs).

No, I think that’s a good point to make. There’s good and bad in every scene, don't worry. When you say skating has changed - what do you mean by that? Do you think the Olympics had something to do with that? 

Definitely. Skating isn’t supposed to be in the Olympics. Same with surfing. 

I agree. 

As you know, there will always be people for it and people against it, but personally, I’m not necessarily in favour of it.Skating comes from the streets, it’s not a sport - it’s more freedom. I can be having a good day or a bad day but when I’m skating, it just takes everything off my brain you know? 

You’re just doing what you love, I get it. 

Exactly, and I think when you make it a sport it just changes it so much. I think a lot of people in the industry miss when it was just an expression of ourselves rather than this thing that has all these targets you have to hit. The Olympics have just tried to make it modern but with it, a lot of the freedom is gone. But like everything, there’s positives and negatives to it. I think everyone thought the positive of bringing skating into the Olympics would be that it would bring more money into the skate industry but it’s honestly worse now. There’s no money at all. I guess it did get more people interested in skating. Maybe in time that will help with the money thing if more people are watching, understanding the sport and getting into it. I think the more that people understand skating the better it will be because otherwise people still think we are just out there destroying architecture in the street with no concern for it. 

For sure. That’s a great take. And what kind of skating do you focus on? 

Street skating for me for sure. I do everything, transition spots, all that but for me I like to focus on the streets. The ledges, handrails, stairs - that kind of stuff is what I love the most. 

Who is your favourite skater? 

Just one? 

You can give me a top three. 

Okay. Ishod Wair for sure. Do you know him? 

I actually do know that one (laughs). From the bare minimum knowledge of skate speak, he is one I know. 

Andrew Reynolds as well for sure. Ummm. This is hard. 

Okay maybe there’s a standout skater who has influenced your style? Have you watched someone and been like damn I wanna skate like that? 

I’ve always just tried to do my own thing to be honest. I think I’ve approached it all in my own way, like with how I land the tricks and all that. At the beginning, when I started skateboarding there were for sure few skaters who influenced me but more about how to dress or what board/size to skate. I definitely look up to people but I don’t think they’ve influenced me to skate a certain way.

Respect. Just one other name drop. 

Okay. Um. Cory Kennedy.

Done. You also do a bit of modelling - do you think that has helped with skating at all? Because I know a lot of athletes hate that shoot side of their job but maybe it’s helped with understanding the photographers a bit more? 

I think with skating there are very particular rules when you shoot. Certain angles and parts of the architecture that need to be included for it to be legitimate. If you’re not in the skate world, it would be hard to understand those rules so when it comes to that stuff I try to keep it really separate if that makes sense. 

Yeah for sure. I’ve seen high fashion magazines in Australia do surf inspired shoots and it’s so cringe because you can tell straight away they have no idea with just how they are holding the board or something. 

Exactly. For me it’s really important to keep the rules inside skating. I’ve tried to keep them quite separate to be honest. 

What about the fashion and skate scene? Here in France I feel like fashion and skate are so engrained. Like there’s this appreciation and recognition within skating for fashion here that you really don’t see in Australia. 

Fashion and skate have gradually become connected. At the beginning, it was really complicated because people didn’t want fashion to enter skateboarding. I also think there was this perception of the use of certain skater profiles you know? Over time, it has become more and more open. I also think it’s important to respect the rules and codes of skateboarding and to highlight them properly within fashion. For skaters, fashion can be an opportunity to make money. And fashion is just another way to express yourself, same as skating. There’s so much to create within those worlds so the crossover makes a lot of sense

What are you most excited about in the skate world right now? 

I'm just excited to keep pushing. Work on some more projects. Just keep skating and doing what I love. 

What about stuff going on in Paris? What’s exciting in Paris? Anything or anyone coming up? 

We are currently in June so there is a lot going on during this month. Perfect weather in Paris and a lot of events like Go Skateboarding Day or The Fête de la Musique or Fashion Week.There are a lot of premieres and demos. June is a great month to be in Paris, it’s good vibes. 

Actually I want to pick your brains on some local recommendations for Paris. Skating, eating, drinking, shopping - give us the spots. 

For skating, it’s always best to start at Place de la Republique, Bastille or Palais de Tokyo. They are the main spots where you can link up with other skaters and then pin around the city from there. Go on a street mission, whatever you're into. Local skateshops like Nozbone Skateshop are good for recommendations on skateboarding. Then for food and vibes if you hang around Le Marais or Canal Saint Martin, those places are really good for both. 

Oh that’s where I was hanging out when I was last in Paris. Such a vibe.

RIGHT?!! Personally, I love those areas. Of course there are others but those are my favourite. 

For cheap food and classic French food I usually go to Le Bouillon. It’s been there since 1896

Cheap

Any last shout outs? 

Of course! I wanted to give a lot of love to my family, my friends and to all the sponsors and agencies that represent me. Without you, I wouldn’t be here. I love you.