Lifestyle Mirror

“Derek grew up in New Hampshire and I grew up in South Carolina. We’ve been skating ever since we could get our hands on boards,” says Lauren Andino, one half of the Brooklyn-based skateboarding company DL Skateboards. Andino runs the company with her partner, Derek Mabra, out of their one-bedroom apartment in Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn. Their process is pretty simple: Andino sketches the designs for the boards and paints them while Mabra shapes and carves the solid oak slabs. (“Lauren rarely touches power tools,” Mabra quips.) The designs—which closely resemble vintage surfboard designs from the ’60s—include distressed paint treatments and racing stripes, many of which are accented with neon or transparent colored wheels. They’ll custom design boards too. Andino recalls a favorite recent project: “Recently I sketched a feather using charcoal on a board for a guy in Williamsburg. It was pretty rad,” she says. “I don’t think either of us expected people to be so psyched on the boards.”

When it comes to how to dress for riding around Wiliamsburg, the two admit they’re dressing for comfort. For Mabra, it’s Crocs, and for Andino, she’s happy in her Uggs. “I guess at this age skateboarding doesn’t influence my style anymore—this is just my style,” says Mabra. Later this month the two will take their East Coast riding sensibilities out West where they’ll set up shop in Los Angeles while Andino goes to law school to study intellectual property law. “Pretty much all that is California draws us to California,” says Mabra, adding, “plus there are more than enough tasty skate parks.” —Nandita Khanna