Hong Kong gets its skates on

Last popular in the 1970s disco scene, roller-skating is coming back into fashion.

These Hong Kong skaters are gliding around at their weekly gathering. It’s exciting exercise, even if you get a bruise or two.

Gemma: "I will do it again. But now I feel, my butt’s really painful. I, I fell once - but I guess that's how you learn."

The return of roller-skating is linked to social media trends. However, the pandemic created a huge rise in interest. Many were attracted to this fun, friendly, socially distanced activity as an outdoor alternative to the gym.

Gigi: "The feeling of freedom, you know. The wind in my hair and then just go and skate and, and meet a whole community. That's so nice."

Niki: "It's, it’s literally been the only upside so far - this entire 2020 - this, actual picking this up and meeting the amazing friends, like, and the community with it."

Shops selling the quad skates have been trying to cope with the unexpected rise in demand. The global shortage of skates was the subject of a Vogue magazine report. Milanie Bekker owns Madame Quad in Hong Kong. She says there isn’t enough supply to meet customer demand.

Milanie: "Definitely the manufacturer’s kind of struggling to keep up with the demand. And then as soon as there are, there’s any new stock, it's immediately sold out. Like, it's, it’s pretty crazy." Weniger anzeigen