The Westside of Los Angeles is famous for its sand and surf, but also notable for the third "s" in the equation, skateboarding culture.
To celebrate a powerful group changing the fabric of skateboarding worldwide, the founding area of the craft has concocted a coffee fit for a pre-ride treat or supporting other ventures. On Thursday, Dogtown Coffee in the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows will launch its special "GRLSWIRL Latte," a honey lavender creation named after the female skateboarding collective. For a three-month limited run, $1 from every latte sold will directly support GRLSWIRL’s initiatives, including funding group skates and mentorship programs across the globe.
Both Dogtown Coffee and GRLSWIRL came to prominence in the Venice and Santa Monica areas, making the partnership a natural one to GRLSWIRL co-founder Lucy Osinski.
"We were of course super excited, it just felt really authentic and kind of turnkey because they’re in our community and we’re in theirs," Osinski said of the endeavor. "It’s really exciting and just seems really on brand for all the things we care about."
The group cares foremost about a "culture of authenticity," as the "World’s Okayest Skaters" take female boarders regardless of skill level. Osinski, a professional ballerina in the past, took up skateboarding on the Westside as a novice in her own right, wanting to forge a group that accepted herself and those like her.
"I [turned to] any girl I saw on a skateboard because I was so desperate to feel like I had someone to be around, because it was so scary," Osinski said. "Every time I [was] on a skateboard, people catcall you or yell at you to do a kickflip, and [it] just felt so intimidating. So I [started GRLSWIRL] and when we all met up, we kind of realized [that] by ourselves we’re getting catcalled, but when we’re in a group, we’re getting cheered on."
The group mentality was enticing, as the unit went from nine co-founders to over 100 skaters in bi-weekly Venice skate sessions. Soon, skaters worldwide were asking how they could start their own collectives, leading to international chapters in places like Lisbon and Paris. GRLSWIRL’s Skate Mentorship program helped bring lessons to those places and beyond, including teaching at a refugee camp in Tijuana and holding a "skate jam" event on a Native American reservation.
"Our goal is just to get as many people around the world on board, because we know that it has the power to change the world, and we know it’s unifying people," Osinski added.
Unifying events will continue via the new 501c3 called Swirl Foundation, with one of the organization’s big endeavors kicking off in October, a worldwide group skate tour beginning in Thailand. Throughout all of their travels, the collective still holds the Westside dear, raising over $50,000 for local charities like Safe Place for Youth and Harvest Home.
"We’ve become the world’s largest skate collective all through this grassroots movement of bringing people together and unifying people through community … [and] we’re just so grateful to [have this] born out of a place where skateboarding was born," Osinski said.
For more information about the group, visit grlswirl.com.
