P448 just named its first global ambassador and it might not be who you’d expect. The streetwear brand has tapped 16-year-old Olympic skateboarder Bombette Martin to be the face of the label.
To kick off the partnership, Martin and P448 collaborated on a capsule collection of sneakers, launching mid-April. This line is just one of many to come. Plus, Martin will be featured in campaigns and at event appearances, the company stated.
“She epitomizes the Gen-Z powerhouse as an extreme athlete with a beautiful approach on living life, who also has a strong desire to succeed in fashion. Bombette mirrors our values at P448 as a young entrepreneur showing the world you can have multiple abilities while enjoying all levels of curiosity,” said P448 executive chairman Wayne Kulkin.
Martin is a British-American skateboarder who made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Team Great Britain. Then in 2021, she won the women’s park event at the 2021 GB Skateboard Championships.
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Though Bombette was born and lives in Manhattan, she decided to represent the country of her father at the Olympic Games.
Within her P448 collab, you’ll see nods to both England and the U.S. — specifically New York. Martin named one shoe after her local NYC skate park in Chelsea, Pier 62, and another named after a street in Birmingham, England, where her grandfather was born. She also incorporated removable Union Jack and American flag hardware ornaments on the sneakers.
While the P448 line is not technically a skateboarding shoe, Martin said these are her go-tos as of late, thanks to its strong leather durability and design. “The grip has to be great. I need to feel like I’m sturdy. And definitely the fabric on the toe can’t wear down too fast,” she said.
Martin began skateboarding when she was 9 years old alongside her younger brother and fellow skateboarder, Kayo Martin, who was 5 at the time.
“We’d just go to the skatepark and watch the guys through the fence and then one day we decided to go in. That’s just how it happened,” she recalled on how she started skating.
The first P448 x Bombette drop will consist of four unisex styles, retailing from $298 to $325 exclusively, at P448.com.
“I hope my collaboration with P448 brings a new light to a skateboarder’s and an individual’s view on fashion,” she said. The same molds have been circling around for far too long now. I want athletes to feel luxurious and stylish.”
For her own skate style, Martin said she aims to keep her femininity while balancing her looks with practical yet edgy streetwear. Design is most definitely on the mind of the young athlete, too, who said she aspires to attend either FIT in New York or Central Saint Martins school in London to study fashion.
