This is our story.
It was the summer just after Impala had hit the market with these fun holographic and retro classic skates, and stirrings of a skate resurgence were beginning to bubble. My friend and I had been to a wild Studio54 themed party where skaters in light-up wheels served us drinks. We thought this was the coolest thing ever, so we decided to buy our own. And yes, of course they were Impalas! We spent the whole summer gliding along the foreshore of St Kilda, reliving our youth and watching the smile effect this had on the people we passed.
A lot of our mates wanted to join us but no-one had skates of their own (it was just before the big skate resurgence). We didn’t like the idea of driving ages away to the skate rinks in the suburbs. We loved the outdoors, the beach, the sunshine on our faces, the wind in our hair and the meditative way you can just switch off when you’re skating. So we had this idea to bring the skate rink to the beach instead!
We were in Bali on holiday, when Rolla Bae went from fun hobby to business light bulb. We decided to apply for a permit with Port Phillip Council and make our mobile skate dreams a reality. 5 months later, we had our permit, a retro caravan (which we’d gutted, re-sprayed and fitout with custom built shelving), 100 pairs of colourful Impala roller skates and a team of energetic skaters, ready to hit the St Kilda foreshore with our mobile skate disco!