It all began in 1996 at the Bindlach Open which was hosted by Disroyal with a little support from Powerslide. The street and vert event took place behind our old building. In this picture you see a skater attempting a full loop–fairly impressive for 1996–and in the background, you can actually see our current headquarters.

The first notable trade show that the Disroyal attended was the ISPO sporting good show in Munich. The skating brands represented at the trade show featured some of the coolest brands in aggressive skating at the time including Pawn, Fiction and Rise Above and others. 

It may not have been fancy, but our booth at ISPO Munich had Matthias’ grandma’s old brown couch and a quarter pipe. We still wonder what happened to the quarter pipe over the years.

Not too many skate companies have their own superhero, but Disroyal was never just another skate company. In 1996 Captain Disroyal conquered the skating world and even got his own comic book. At the time, we thought Captain Disroyal would go on to star in TV shows and movies like Spider-Man and Captain America. Captain Disroyal was designed and styled by J.Rank, now head designer at Adidas.

Known all over the globe as one of the premier skating events at the time, Lausanne was the cradle of European aggressive skating and attracted the best skaters from Europe and some of the best professional skaters at the time, including the great Arlo Eisenberg who is seen here with a classic, stylish soul grind.

It wasn’t fast, it wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done…although Jürgen may not agree. The famous Magirus Deuz Disroyal promo truck, the “Silver Arrow" consumed 25l/100km, and had a top speed of only 80km/h.

Still, the big Silver Arrow had the space for brand samples and all the skaters’ equipment. Looking back, in most cases, the event was over by the time Jürgen arrived. Maybe we should have tried to find a faster vehicle after all.

In 1997 the Bindlach Open was back and an example of how Matthias has always wanted Bindlach to be a destination for skaters of all styles and disciplines. 

Here is skater, owner and founder of Disroyal, Matthias Knoll in his younger days. Wearing the medium TV shirt from Shane Coburn with pride and watching the amazing skating. The good old days...

In 1998 Pawn was the premier protective equipment brand for aggressive skating. Not only did Pawn offer some of the most innovative and stylish products available, they also had one of the best team of riders. Do you notice anyone in the image below?

Champion Baumstimler is on the far left and, next to him is Jake Elliot also from Medium / Pawn who also joined the tour. You’ll also see Jürgen, who was running Disroyal at the time, and you’ll even find an incredibly young Miguel, THE Miguel, the  announcer from Winterclash. 

As a special treat, in this picture you’ll even see Toto the founder of OUT skates jumping the racing truck from Disroyal booth. And last but not least, the guy in the back in the white tee is Mark Heineken from Tribe, Medium, Senate, and 976.

OUT Skates was one of, if not the original skater-owned aggressive skating brand. Started by skating legend Toto Ghali, skaters from the ‘90s will remember the unique design of the innovative OUT Skates like the Poppy and other models. Disroyal was proud of distribute this groundbreaking skate brand which later was the foundation of Remz.

Disroyal continued to grow its product catalog, distributing the best brands in aggressive skating at the time including Slam! -  a brand owned by the legendary Team Paradise skate shop. 

The cap pictured is truly special as it has signatures from some skating’s true legends such as Arlo, Brooke, BK, MO, B Love, Chris Hines, Randy Roadhouse Spizer, Jess D, Marcus Thomson and many more.

In this image you see some left over stock of the most chill and coolest clothing brands in aggressive skating ever: Rise Above and the iconic Medium brand which was run by Shane Coburn, who later formed Mindgame and was the Mastermind behind Xsjado along with Dustin Latimer.

Disroyal continued to attend trade shows and promote its wide range of the world’s best aggressive skating brands. This picture is from ISPO in 1998 with lots of skaters hanging around enjoying the vibe of the blading boom. Recognize anyone?

After 20 years, it was time to wake the beast. With aggressive and urban inline skating seeing a resurgence a distribution company focused on these skating segments was needed. Disroyal returned in 2021 with new brands, a new team, and the same burning passion to provide the best, most innovative products to skaters all over the globe. Joining forces with inline skating legend Franky Morales and his company GAWDS, Billy O'Neill with Mesmer, and the original IQON brand of urban and aggressive skates, frames, wheels, and other products, Disroyal is back with a vengeance.