Pierre Andre was a French freestyle skater who achieved great success in the 1980’s, he won 12 French Championships, nine European Cup titles, five Euro Championships, two World Cup titles and one World Championship.

Pierre later took his focus and dedication to skateboarding to the design world and set up shoe company Etnies. He innovated the style of the shoes whilst making them as durable for skateboarding as possible.

Interview with Pierre Andre:

Pierre’s vision has now extended far beyond Etnies, his company is now known as STI Technologies. STI is the worlds first biomechanical research organisation with a dedication to improving skate technology.

The STI house brands include Etnies, Es Shoes, Emerica, ThirtyTwo and Altamont Apparel. Over the years Pierre has recieved numerous accolades, including the Orange County Entrepeneur of the Year Award, the immigrant of the Year Award, OC Metro’s Hot 25 and Most influential CEO’s in Orange County and Footwear News’ Power 100.