. for the band see royal trux . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message crailtap 1 is a skateboarding distribution company based in torrance california united states us . the distribution company houses the following brands girl skateboards chocolate skateboards royal skateboard trucks ruby republic and fourstar clothing . contents 1 history 1.1 girl 1.2 chocolate 1.3 fourstar clothing 1.4 royal trucks 1.5 ruby republic 1.6 lakai limited footwear 1.7 girl films 1.7.1 pretty sweet 2 girl skateboards 2.1 team members 2.2 former 2.3 videography 3 chocolate skateboards 3.1 team members 3.2 former 3.2.1 videography 4 fourstar clothing 4.1 team 4.2 videography 5 royal trucks 5.1 team riders 6 lakai limited footwear 6.1 team riders 6.1.1 pro 7 causes 8 references 9 external links history edit girl edit the girl company was the inaugural brand of the company and was founded in 1993 2 after a selection of team riders from the world industries distribution company decided to found their own brand the main figures are mike carroll and rick howard . howard explained in a 2000 interview part of the reason we started girl was so pro skateboarders would have a future . take royal for instance . when guy mariano and rudy johnson s legs don t work anymore at least what they ve done for skateboarding and their ideas can continue with something they can fall back on . all the girl distribution companies are based around people who have helped girl get to where it is today . 3 howard and carroll revealed in 2013 as part of the company s 20 year anniversary commemoration that the majority of the skateboard industry at the time was acrimonious towards the new enterprise . carroll stated that a particular woodshop was threatened by another company and consequently severed ties with girl but that industry figure fausto vitello assisted girl in numerous ways . carroll explained that vitello he always just kinda let us know that he had our back . 4 in addition to howard and carroll the original girl team consisted of jovontae turner guy mariano rudy johnson tim gavin tony ferguson sean sheffey and jeron wilson . 4 the company has evolved into a distribution company that distributes skateboard hard goods skateboard videos and films and soft goods . the girl logo is similar to the symbol on women s bathrooms and was designed by girl s in house artist andy jenkins who remains with the company as of august 2013 . 4 5 named the art dump the design department of girl is overseen by jenkins . artists such as geoff mcfetridge kevin lyons and hershel baltrotsky have contributed to the aesthetic of girl through their work for the art dump . 4 in the period leading up to the year 2000 carroll and howard were filming for the transworld skateboarding video modus operandi and their filmer ty evans invited a young unknown skateboarder named brandon biebel to accompany them on filming skateboarding sessions . biebel had moved from chicago us to california us and had met ty previously in southern california . at the 2000 premiere of the video carroll asked biebel to join the lakai skate shoe team followed by an offer to join girl several months afterwards . 6 7 biebel was assigned professional status in 2002 8 and stated in a 2012 interview girl lakai that s a dream come true . i aint never leaving that shit . 9 during the mid 2000s girl recruited new amateur riders mike mo capaldi sean malto and alex olson and established amateur jereme rogers was assigned professional status with the company in 2005 the same year that he was awarded the rookie of the year award by transworld skateboarding magazine . 10 rogers left the company in 2007 due to his dissatisfaction with his royalty payments 11 while capaldi malto and olson were assigned professional status the following year . 12 rogers later explained his issues with girl in an october 2012 interview i was getting my cheque just not my actual royalties . i got a three thousand dollar guarantee a month which operated as a minimum ; meaning i get that no matter what but if i sell over the minimum i get the extras royalties kick in ... so what had happened was they were letting my royalties fall back into the company to cover their overhead which helped keep a boat afloat that had some leaks . for two years i apparently didn t break my three thousand dollar minimum ... don t forget we re taking about girl here who sells all around the world ... so i inappropriately blurted out at tampa 2007 after getting second to koston who had a flawed run against mine which was flawless that all i wanted was my royalties when rick howard asked what i wanted after doing so well . the following month i got a six thousand dollar cheque ... the first time i broke my three thousand dollar minimum apparently and on top of that it was april ; tax time . coincidence ... sure . 13 a statement from girl was not released in response to rogers s claims . after winning the bang yo self 2 contest held by the berrics website in april 2009 cory kennedy was recruited by girl and was assigned professional status in mid 2011 . in regard to kennedy s victory the berrics wrote today april 2nd 2009 is the beginning of cory kennedy s tyranny over skateboarding . may god have mercy on our souls . 14 kennedy was unaware of his promotion as he was deliberately informed by the company that a filming session was occurring at the north hollywood skatepark ; however 20 of kennedy s inaugural signature skateboard deck were given to random people at the park who skated on the decks together with girl team members who were also using the deck while kennedy remained unaware . after 20 minutes kennedy eventually realized that his name was written on the decks . 15 16 in may 2013 longtime girl team riders brian anderson and olson announced that they had parted ways with the company as a board sponsor . anderson explained that he would be pursuing a creative venture of his own 17 while olson did not disclose a subsequent sponsor and stated i wouldn t be where i am today without the help and motivation of girl . 18 following the announcement of anderson s own skateboard deck company 3d skateboards and the recruitment of olson who left to form his own brand shortly afterwards 19 the former girl team member affirmed that his departure was not due to dissatisfaction there was absolutely nothing wrong with the way things were going with girl . that s why it was hard to go through with everything because we re all really close friends and i love those guys so much . i just felt like i wanted to do something for myself instead of in a few years realizing that i can t jump down stairs when i m 45 and i kinda wanted to have my own thing started by the time that happens . i have a few girl tattoos and i m happy i have them because it s great memories of fun trips and great years . 20 when asked to comment on the departure of team members in august 2013 carroll stated when people quit for other companies for just more money or something that s stupid . but if someone quits because they don t feel right on a team or something then and for another company that makes sense . 4 as of august 2013 the girl brand has existed for 20 years and howard explained his perspective on the longevity of girl in an interview with route one magazine we ve grown up together doing this so yeah we re just lucky to work with our friends you know and all share the same things in what we do here so ... that s how we started and that s what we do to this day . this is up for everyone to have fun with you know 4 a beer collaboration between girl and the saint archer brewing company was announced at the beginning of september 2014 girl team members koston and malto are co investors in the latter company . the product described as a hoppy pilsner became available only throughout southern california u.s. in september 2014 . 21 chocolate edit in the year following the formation of girl the chocolate brand was introduced as the growth of girl inspired the creation of another brand with the recruitment of additional riders and personnel . 3 22 howard and carroll explained in 2013 that they were compelled to start the brand after an experience in which they were forced to leave behind professional skateboarder chico brenes a close friend at the time as they embarked on a skateboard tour as he was unable to fit into the tour van . 4 the original team consisted of keenan milton brenes daniel castillo paulo diaz richard mulder shamil randle gabriel rodriguez and ben sanchez . 23 in 2009 a 15 year anniversary advertisement was published in which a portrait of the team was depicted the two riders who were not present at the photo shoot anthony pappalardo and jesus fernandez were represented by framed portrait photographs . 24 the chocolate team made guest appearances in girl videos such as goldfish 25 and yeah right 26 in addition to producing its own videos las nueve vidas de paco 1995 27 28 29 30 31 32 the chocolate tour 1999 33 34 35 se habla canuck 2004 36 and hot chocolate 2004 37 and a little chunk of chocolate 2006 . 38 on november 12 2013 a video was published on the crailtap youtube channel the official channel of the girl distribution company in which jerry hsu is officially revealed as the new professional for the chocolate skateboard company . the video skit features carroll marc johnson stevie perez chris roberts elijah berle and gino ianucci . in the video the skateboarders minus ianucci who arrives at the end of the skit discuss a new professional team member for the chocolate brand in a mexican restaurant . a list of criteria is articulated by the group s members a list that is associated with hsu s career thus far and hsu then appears as the waiter . 39 the chocolate brand celebrated its 20th anniversary in august 2014 with an art show held at the art share gallery in los angeles u.s. the berrics website conducted interviews with artist evan hecox and brenes at the event . 40 fourstar clothing edit founded by eric koston and guy mariano in april 1996 as the pair sought to move beyond cargo pants and t shirts to create affordable clothing for skateboarders . 3 as of march 2013 the company sponsors a team that includes tony trujillo shane o neill ishod wair and andrew brophy . five video productions have been made for the brand gang of fourstar 2009 filmed during a european tour a tribe called mapquest 2008 catalog shoot 2005 super champion funzone 2005 and crocodile done deal 2014 . 41 42 brophy explained in october 2013 that he was sponsored by the brand through its united kingdom distributor while he was living in london prior to attaining professional status with clich skateboards . brophy was then asked to join a canadian tour with the fourstar team after he returned to his native country of australia and was recruited as a team member afterward . 43 cory kennedy accompanied