Krooked is the deck brand of Mark Gonzales, Gonz, one of the skaters who has most influenced how street is skated. It started in 2002 in San Francisco, inside Deluxe, and you spot it right away by its hand-drawn graphics, its odd shapes and videos that look little like anyone else’s.
Here you have its history, who runs it, where its art comes from, what its decks are like, who skates for it and which videos to watch to understand what Krooked is.
Who is Mark Gonzales?
Mark Gonzales was born in 1968 in South Gate, California. He started on his cousin’s board at 8, and at 15 Alva was already sponsoring him; less than a year later he was on Vision. In November 1984 he was on the cover of Thrasher and in 1985 he turned pro.
He is credited with helping invent street skating: Lance Mountain has said Gonz skated curbs and transitions as if they were a pool. In 1989 he co-founded Blind with Steve Rocco, and his part in Video Days (1991), directed by Spike Jonze, is still cited as one of the most important in history. He left Blind in 1993. After that he went through ATM Click and Real, where he appeared in Kicked Out of Everywhere, Non Fiction and Real to Reel.
Besides skating, Gonz is an artist. He has made more than 145 zines (a part of them collected in The Collected Fanzines, from 2008, with Harmony Korine) and has exhibited in Tokyo, San Francisco and New York. In 2011 a list of the 30 most influential skaters of all time put him first.
How Krooked started
In 2002 Gonz launched Krooked in partnership with Deluxe Distribution, the San Francisco distributor that Real already belonged to. Some shops give 2001 as the founding year, but 2002 is the usual one.
Jim Thiebaud, who founded Real, has said the brand “came out very organically” among friends who had known each other for more than twenty years.
Who owns Krooked?
Krooked is one of the brands of Deluxe Distribution (DLXSF), the San Francisco company that also brings together Real, Antihero, There, Thunder, Venture, Spitfire and Unity. Gonz is its founder and creative director, but the brand is run inside the group, not as a standalone company.
Today Deluxe has its own store in San Francisco and a shared website with each season’s catalogs. If you want to see how the rest of the family works, check out the pages for Real, Antihero or Spitfire.
Krooked’s art
Almost everything you see from Krooked comes from Gonz’s drawings: the deck graphics, the ads and a good part of the promo material. He has explained how it works himself: Krooked asks him for “more art” and he sends big batches of drawings. The San Francisco team reorganizes them and mixes the old with the new. Gonz also says “too much freedom is not good” and that he doesn’t want one person deciding everything.
Among his best-known motifs are the four-petal flowers, which he calls “Gonz and Roses” because they came out in the Guns N’ Roses days, and the Shmoo bird, a bird that shows up on decks, clothing and shoes. Gonz has said that these days he likes Dalí, Giger and the album covers of Yes and Journey.
To see how other brands have handled art on decks, we have our look at iconic skateboard graphics through history.
Krooked decks
Krooked decks are seven-ply maple, the normal construction in the industry. The difference is in the shapes. Besides popsicles in the usual sizes, the brand puts out models that break from the ordinary:
| Model | What it has |
|---|---|
| Beamer | Cutouts in the deck and Gonz graphics. A page from the brand describes it as about 10.75 inches wide with 16 inches of wheelbase, for curbs, transitions and cruising |
| Lady Bug Phantom | Shape with cutouts and Gonz’s bird over a ladybug drawing |
| Guest boards | Limited editions dedicated to other skaters |
Gonz takes part in the design of molds, trucks and shapes, and has said some decks need a lot of testing before they work. For example, a deck that is too light doesn’t flip well. For Tyshawn Jones’s guest board he made a scaled-down version of an 11-inch-wide deck he skated himself, so more people could use it. For Mike Vallely he made a deck shaped like a Ruffles potato chip, with ridges like a washboard.
The Krooked team
The core of the brand: Mark Gonzales, Mike Anderson, Brad Cromer, Bobby Worrest, Dan Drehobl and, in the 2013 catalog, also David Clark, Sebo Walker, Eddie Cernicky and Ronnie Sandoval. Matt Gottwig appears as part of the team in LSD.
More recent: Andrew Wilson, Sam Narvaez, who had his first pro part in 2025, and Briton Tom Knox, from London, who joined in 2023. A 2025 guest board is for Joel Meinholz.
In the early days there was also Van Wastell, who died on September 5, 2008 after falling from a balcony in Berlin during a European tour. There are events and pieces that remember him.
Krooked’s videos
| Year | Video | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Krooked Kronichles | Shot on digital cameras |
| 2007 | Gnar Gnar | Came out on VHS in a limited run of 1,000 copies |
| 2008 | Naughty | The brand’s third video |
| 2010 | Krook3d | Announced as the first skate video in 3D, with two pairs of 3D glasses in the box |
| 2017 | LSD (Let’s Skate Dude) | About 30 minutes; it’s the most complete one |
| 2025 | Weirdo | A short video series, including one in New York |
LSD opens with Brad Cromer, with big banks, poles and a line at MACBA in Barcelona. Bobby Worrest includes footage from the last days of LOVE Park, in Philadelphia. Ronnie Sandoval does an eggplant over a couch in a backyard pool, and Sebo Walker, a switch heelflip indy. Mike Anderson closes the video. Between parts, Gonz shows up, on a longboard heading for a vert ramp, in snowy New York bowls and pranking cyclists.
If you want to see what the early era was like, here are Gnar Gnar and a Gonz part from Krooked Kronichles:
More key videos from other brands in our list of the best skate videos of all time.
Krooked compared to other brands
- Versus Real: both are Deluxe and share distribution. Real dates from 1991 and has its own aesthetic; Krooked revolves around Gonz’s art and his way of seeing skateboarding.
- Versus Antihero: Antihero, created in 1995 by Julien Stranger, has its own character. Krooked is the one that moves most between art and skating. You have it on the Antihero page.
- Versus other big brands: in the materials, deck construction is similar. The difference is in the graphics, the shapes and the attitude. Also check out Baker if you’re looking for another brand with a strong personality, or our comparison of the best deck brands.
Who is Krooked for?
For people who want a deck with graphics that don’t look like anyone else’s and who like the artistic side of skateboarding. Regular popsicles work for any level and any terrain. The special shapes and guest boards are more for collectors, or for people who want to try something different on curbs and transitions.
If you want to understand where all this comes from, start with Gonz’s part in Video Days and with LSD, and then move on to the history of skateboarding to put it in context.