“I went to Target with my mom the other day, and the checkout lady was like, ‘Are you Pigeon?’” “It’s great to be known by people on the street,” Meikle says. Thanks to their viral fame, the Moxi Skate Girls get recognized frequently. When I ask why we haven’t seen more of the Moxi Skate Team on television or in documentaries, she says simply, “The Moxi Skate Team-they can’t contain it and sell it.” She falls once, gets up, examines her already forming bruise, and rolls on. She embellishes an electric slide type of repeated footwork with spins and kicks. Mid-skate, Steilen transitions from a set of graceful one foot turns, executed by balancing on her right toe stop, to a split-leg handstand. She wears these contradictions beautifully. On and off skates, she is a force of nature, matching exhilarating strength with delicate footwork. So much of Moxi’s aesthetic comes directly from Steilen herself. “My UPS guy told us we got a lot of moxie,” Steilen said, “and I liked how that sounded.” Their look announces their existence, as if to say this is ours in spaces that have historically been dominated by men. The outfit makes them stand out regardless of the venue-be it boardwalk, skate park, stairwell, or during a hill-bomb. In these Instagram photos, women wear the same Moxi Skate Girl uniform: Daisy dukes (or Hammies, as they’re called on the Moxi website), a stretchy tank top to accommodate serious movement, matching Moxi fanny packs, and colorful tube socks. “And I wanted to build a roller skating community.” “I wanted anyone to be able to skate,” Steilen says, pivoting backwards onto her toe stops in order to face me. But she yearned to make skating more accessible and figured that selling high quality, lifestyle oriented skates designed to perform recreationally-rather than the drab tan and black, rentable indoor models-was the right place to start. Though Steilen grew up roller skating, her dedication to the sport began in earnest when she moved to Los Angeles and began skating with the LA Derby Dolls. Their brightly colored skates are currently sold at Urban Outfitters, Bando, Dolls Kill, and roughly 200 roller rinks and skate shops worldwide. They’re incredibly popular, selling 10,000 pairs in 2018 alone. The company was founded in 2008 by Michelle Steilen-known from her roller derby days as as Estro Jen-and sells retro-style outdoor roller skates through the legacy manufacturer Riedell Shoes Inc. The Moxi Skate Girls are the tight knit community that has grown out of Moxi Skates, a roller skate company based in Long Beach.
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