Pro skater Cory Juneau went to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he competed in the men’s park event and brought home a bronze medal to his hometown of San Diego (where he still lives). 

And which shoes were on his feet the whole time? The Golden Goose Ball Star. Skip forward to now, and the 22-year old skater dude and Golden Goose brand ambassador has helped design a new line for the Italian apparel company: the Ball Star Pro, a Golden Goose shoe targeted squarely towards skateboarders and skate enthusiasts.

“Together with the team, we dreamed up and engineered the Ball Star Pro, a ‘for skateboarding use only’ sneaker,” Juneau tells V. “The way the sole is crafted and paired with an ultra-cushioned insole immediately granted me an unmatched board feel. Also, special supports in white knurled rubber were positioned where it counts—a rubber piece, a rubber ollie pad on the outer side and a spur at the rear—ensuring reduced impact while providing greater durability for performance. We decided to make the tongue padded in raw cut foam rubber to guarantee maximum comfort.”

Juneau is a lifelong skater, hence the Olympic medal and his understanding of what is and is not a good skate shoe. “Mike, my older brother, got a skateboard when he was eight,” he says. “And about a year later, when I was around that age, I was begging my parents for a board too. So they got me one, and it kind of just took off from there. Mike set the spark, but being from San Diego, California, it was only a matter of time before I was introduced to skateboarding!” 

A thoroughly stylish guy himself, Juneau actually found out about the magic of Golden Goose footwear from a friend’s mother years ago. “I think it was 2017. My friend’s mom was actually a stylist at Nordstrom,” he says. “And I don’t know how she knew, but she just knew I would like them. So I checked the pair out and I ended up getting a couple pairs that day. The Ball Stars have been my favorite shoe ever since.”

And today, Juneau and Golden Goose are revealing the Ball Star Pro and the first of four new colorways for the line, each inspired by a different city’s cool vibe from around the world. First up is Milan, represented on the Ball Star Pro with a red suede upper and white leather star, with two knurled white rubber reinforcements, and, as a final touch, handmade wording of “A Dreamer from Venice” on the sole. Alongside each drop will be a video episode of “Cory’s Way,” a mini-series about urban-discovery seen through Cory’s eyes, streaming on Golden TV, the brand’s innovative community-driven social media. The Milanese episode will be airing today!

As for what’s next for Juneau, “I’m excited for what’s to come with Golden Goose for the rest of the year!”—he’s talking about the upcoming cities, which include Copenhagen, Austin and then Portland—“And, definitely, for more athletes to get into fashion. Because, I love it!”