© Hype DC 2023
Produced by Archetype Media for Hype DC. Printed and bound in Australia.
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PUBLICATION BY HYPE DC
General Manager Liam Robson
Head of Marketing and Digital
Tia Paterson
Marketing Manager Stephanie Jackson
Marketing Lead Natalie Or
PUBLISHING BY ARCHETYPE
Publisher Frunch Nazzari
Editor Dylan Rainforth
Managing Partner Andrew Montell
Producer Dan Pardalis
Strategic Planner Rebecca Adams
Founders Danny Gilbert
Cindy Gilbert Brand Partners adidas
Converse
Lacoste
New Balance
On
Reebok
Vans
Contributors
Mia Besorio
Steve Duck
Sean Irving
Ella McNicol
Andrew Montell
Dylan Rainforth
Tim Rossi
Eleanor Scott
Matt Slocum
Sarah Szelig
CREATIVE BY THE AGENCY
Art Director Lucy Jane Brand
Designers Christopher Simon Siobhan Stanley
AR Designer Nick Wood
Interviews
Steve Van Doren
Joe Foster
Bobbito Garcia
Charlotte Lee
Jeff Staple
Steven Smith
Limit’d Artists B Wise
Client Liaison
Sampa The Great Ta-ku
Wafia
Since ’98. In 2023, we’re celebrating 25 years as Australia’s premier sneaker authenticator.
This is Hype DC. This is our FUTURE LEGACY.
We’re speaking with the historic founders and the futuristic thinkers. We’re connecting with sneaker designers, musicians and cultural heroes. Within these pages, we honour the past, celebrate the present and embrace the future.
Twenty-five years. A quarter century in the sneaker game. It’s a big deal. We’re celebrating the milestone with our FUTURE LEGACY campaign and this limited-edition book that I’m stoked to introduce and share with you. This important anniversary is a chance to reflect on some of our achievements and look forward to even greater things.
Everything starts somewhere, and with Hype DC it began with the vision of two young sneakerheads, Danny and Cindy Gilbert. I salute the vision and tenacity they showed in elevating the Hype DC brand over so many years, making it the number one destination for Australian sneaker fanatics. We were lucky to have Danny and Cindy walk us through many of the details of the earliest days of the brand, and you can read all about that in this book.
The founders talk about the importance of company culture, and that hasn’t changed. Hype DC is the only footwear specialist in the marketplace. Every other retailer is a multi-category seller that does footwear, apparel and accessories – this makes us unique. Sneakers are our lifeblood and we’re always hungry for the hottest new drop, something that will obsess the fans.
We have a saying that we live by: "Deliver outstanding and memorable moments for our customers." That's the goal we set for ourselves every day.
I’m proud of our team and our culture. That’s every person behind the scenes as well as every team member who has handed a customer a pair of sneakers in a Hype DC shopping bag. Our people continue to drive the brand for us. Thank you.
And I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do for Australian fans like those who had the chance to see design maestros Jeff Staple and Steven Smith, as well as sneaker superfan and cultural powerhouse Bobbito Garcia, as part of our live in-store series with The Weekly Drop – or those who saw the video interview we did with New Balance designer Charlotte Lee. Read on if you’re interested in what these influential figures had to say.
My own story is that I come from brands, and I’ve always been into sneakers. I worked for adidas and then PUMA for a combined 14 years before I was lucky enough to land the general manager role at Hype DC. So when it comes to our brand partners, I mean it when I say we don’t have a business without them. Many of our major partners have been with us throughout our whole existence –we owe them 25 years of great success, and I hope they continue to walk with us.
In these pages, you can read the stories of some of these worldwide leaders of sneaker culture. With New Balance, we’re even releasing an exclusive to celebrate the Hype25 anniversary. Look out for that in late 2023.
Should we even talk about the ‘unprecedented’ events of the past few years? If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that omnichannel shopping is here to stay. And I think we do that better than anyone. We have our strongest brick-and-mortar footprint ever alongside a market-leading online proposition, and the two things go hand-in-hand. It enables our consumers to interact with us how they choose – they can sit on the couch and get a window into our brand on their mobile, or they can experience Hype DC in the biggest, most fashionable retail precincts in Australia.
It's natural to ask what Hype DC will look like in another 25 years. As our world changes so rapidly, the retail landscape will probably appear totally different than it does today. But retailing has already changed a lot over the past 200 years or so, and the human element has always been consistent – I predict that won’t change. With the help of our amazing team, we’ll keep delivering outstanding moments. Because there’s nothing like that thrilling feeling you get when you lace up a box-fresh pair of new sneakers.
Liam Robson General Manager, Hype DC
Words Interview Images
Dylan Rainforth
Andrew Montell
Brand Archives
Hype DC Archive
Dylan Rainforth is a writer and editor. He works at Archetype, a publisher, production studio and media network that has collaborated with Hype DC on several campaigns over the past decade.
Andrew Montell is a managing partner at Archetype. He’s also the founder of Acclaim magazine and was the managing editor for Limit’d and The Weekly Drop
Hype DC’s founders, Danny and Cindy Gilbert, managed to transform a passion for sneakers and a trip to Europe into a hugely successful nationwide business. They walk us through it, including that time they were nearly buried under a wall of sneakers.
Not everyone knows that the ‘DC’ in ‘Hype DC’ stands for Danny and Cindy. That would be the company’s founders, Danny and Cindy Gilbert. These two sneaker fanatics were each only 25 years old in 1997 when the seeds for Hype DC were sown.
“We were on a holiday, a 12-month holiday through Europe, and we kept buying all these trainers that we’d never seen before, from Nike and PUMA and adidas,” Cindy says.
“We were running out of money, and we were deciding what we were going to do when we got home. We said, ‘Why don’t we open up a trainer store and take these sneakers back to Australia?’ And that’s basically how it started.”
The pair had no prior retail experience. Cindy had owned a cafe in Dee Why on Sydney’s northern beaches; Danny had worked for a Japanese bank. Their ‘market research’ overseas consisted of observing how popular some of the London shoe shops were during the Christmas retail season. Danny picks up the story.
“There was a company called Shellys, and one of their biggest stores was at Oxford Circus, on a corner opposite Nike Town. I remember Cin was in the store looking around and, back in the day, I was a smoker, so I was having a ciggie outside. And I was just amazed at Christmas time how many bags were rolling out of this store,” he says.
The pair flew home to Sydney and began negotiations to open a shop in the Oxford Street mall in Bondi Junction. But they also discovered that a major global footwear show was happening in two weeks’ time in Dusseldorf, Germany. Despite having just flown in from London, they headed back to the northern hemisphere to order all the stock they could.
They missed out on the Bondi Junction spot but, upon landing in Sydney again, they immediately spotted a For Lease sign on the corner of Military and Spit roads in Mosman. This would become the first Hype DC store – but the course of true sneaker love never runs smooth.
“We were drawn to trainers, but when we said, ‘Oh, hi Nike, we’d like to stock your product,’ they just laughed at us. So we actually ended up opening more as a fashion store at Mosman with Shellys of London, New Rock – I don’t know if you remember New Rock boots – Dr. Martens, Skechers.”
The Mosman store opened in mid-1998 with a blue-andsilver livery to complement a modern, gallery-like display for the shoes, clothes and accessories the couple stocked.
“The first store was a great billboard for us, but it wasn’t so much a money-spinner. On the first day we sold one Kangol beanie for $29,” Danny says.
“And we’re like, ‘Oh, maybe this is a mistake. This is going to be really hard,’” Cindy laughs.
“We were really young. You can’t get any greener. You know, you talk about size packs or size curves, building a line of shoes, cashflow, open-to-buys, budgets. I mean, you name it, we knew nothing – we were learning on the hop.”
In conservative Mosman, the store necessarily became a destination for more fashion-forward consumers from other suburbs, including those shopping for the New Rock boots associated with the goth and rave scenes.
“When someone from Mosman saw New Rock boots sitting in the window,” Danny recalls, “they were probably thinking, ‘What planet have these guys arrived from?’”
A relationship with Accent Group was formed early on, as the company represented many of the brands the couple were stocking. And it wasn’t long before the big sneaker brands came around, too.
“In the end, it was Nike that approached us,” Cindy says. “And that’s when I think we really started to turn the market. Danny and I used to travel the world constantly and bring back trainers to the likes of Nike, adidas, PUMA and Reebok and say, ‘We want this shoe.’ And the brands had never even seen it in their collections because Australia was never offered that premium product before, because there was no outlet for it to be shopped in.
“So we actually educated, very quickly, the top trainer fashion brands in Australia, and things changed big time. Instead of just having your Air Jordans and your cross trainers, all of a sudden they had this brand new market which was fashion trainers.
“You’ve got to remember that 25 years ago there were no sneaker shops, trainer shops, like there are today,” Cindy continues. “There was no internet. There weren’t all these other competitors in the market; there was pretty much no-one, and Hype DC brought the fashion sneaker world to Australia, basically.”
Though they say they were as green as could be, the couple showed acumen by negotiating 12-month exclusives on the premium products they were sourcing.
“The sneaker brands in particular really needed Hype DC to work because there wasn’t all the competition that we have today, even to the point where we very rarely went on sale because our suppliers used to take back our stock that didn’t sell because they didn’t want to see – we didn’t and they didn’t – their product on sale in Hype DC. They could sell it to an outlet or put it in an outlet or give it to another shop or whatever else. So, our stock was constantly
The first store was a great billboard for us, but it wasn’t so much a money -spinner – on the first day we sold one Kangol beanie for $29.
Danny Gilbert
Danny and I used to travel the world constantly and bring back trainers to the likes of Nike, adidas, PUMA and Reebok and say, “We want this shoe.”
as fresh as Europe or America. Our suppliers really looked after us, and we looked after them as well.”
Danny and Cindy also kept an eagle-eyed watch on their products’ freshness. “We were really adamant on stock,” Cindy says. “We made sure we knew where our stock was and how old it was. That was a hard lesson for us.”
“When you’re trying to sell 12-month-old shoes, that was a big lesson for us to turn our stock as quickly as possible. We didn’t even know ‘stock turn’ was a phrase but that was a massive thing that I think helped Hype DC to get to where it was, that our stock turn was so high.”
Buoyed by their early success – and made wise by the mistakes they’d made along the way – the couple added a second store only a year after the first one opened. It seemed like a good idea because they’d already accumulated a garage of overflow stock that was literally threatening to bury them.
“Yeah, it took us a year to overbuy too much stock,” Danny laughs.
“We used to keep all the spare shoes in our garage at Manly and each day, when we would sell a size, we’d replenish it each morning. And the garage just kept getting fuller and fuller and fuller. And one day we went to grab a pair of shoes and the whole lot collapsed on us – a wall of shoes.”
“And we were like, ‘Do you know what? We’ve got a whole store of footwear sitting in this garage doing nothing.’”
In a stroke of luck, just two weeks later the owners received an offer to take over a retail lease in the then-soughtafter pedestrian strip of The Corso in Manly. After paying out the struggling retailer’s two-month rent backlog, the couple settled for a minimal fit-out that reflected the limited funds they had at the time.
“We put a little cable window display in, gave it a fresh coat of paint – it was slat wall back in the day, so you could just buy the accessories,” Danny says.
“We were open for business a month later, and it was just before the Olympics. Suddenly we’re exposed to a whole different and diverse customer base: overseas travellers, domestic travellers, people on the ferry going to Manly Beach, local people.”
The opening of Hype DC’s third store marked both a highlight and one of the company’s toughest moments in its early years.
“We opened our first city store, in the Imperial Arcade, a week before the September 11 terrorist attacks. So that was a real low for us, to have such an achievement as opening our first CBD store overtaken by these tragic events,” Danny says.
“The government just shut down the city and there was no-one around,” Cindy explains. “Retail had to close, basically, and that hit us really hard because we still had to pay the rent, and we were still small at the time.”
But by now Hype DC was on a roll, and a fourth store was added at Chatswood before a fifth store opened in a landmark CBD location: Pitt Street Mall.
“That was the biggest moment in Hype DC’s history; it took us from being a suburban retailer to a global player,” Cindy says.
“Yeah, that was going from a jet to a rocket. It really was a game changer,” Danny adds.
The rocket flew on, now travelling interstate for the first time. “We had made a commitment to opening QV Melbourne in Swanston Street, which was in 2003 when they rebuilt the centre. It was a great site, again on a corner,” Danny says. This was to be store number nine.
“But before that opened,” Danny continues, “we were at a Diesel conference in Santa Barbara in California. And there was a chain of three stores called DC Street in Melbourne – a name which we thought was quite funny at the time – and we were at the Diesel conference and the stores’ owner, Peter Isaacs, came up to us and said, ‘I’m a seller, so if you’re interested in talking, meet me for dinner in Las Vegas’, because he and his wife were heading to Vegas.”
“We drove from Santa Barbara to Las Vegas because we couldn’t afford a flight, so we made a 10-hour drive and we agreed to take over Peter’s DC Street stores. So that gave us four stores instantly in Melbourne. We had Chapel Street, Bourke Street and Bridge Road as well as Swanston Street at QV Melbourne.”
Two Brisbane stores – a prominent corner site in Queen Street Mall and one on Albert Street – were next. “So that was another huge step, and then from there we went to Adelaide and then Perth,” Cindy says.
“Essentially, we’d start in the CBD of a city, and then we would branch out as opportunities came up,” Danny adds.
“And as we were growing, we were mindful that we didn’t want to end up with a McDonald’s look. We didn’t want to have to go back and refurb 50 stores. So what we tried to do was carry our favourite elements through from our last store but always add in a couple of new elements to the design. So everything was always evolving.
“And then you’ll probably notice in some of the later stores that we started to introduce some timber and some more earthy feels; our floors went from hard concrete to a little pebble ‘crete. So, we were mindful that our fleet never looked too dated.”
By now, Hype DC had an established national presence. The company and its founders couldn’t have achieved this without having the hottest product and a great culture.
You’ve got to remember that 25 years ago there were no sneaker shops, trainer shops, like there are today … Hype DC brought the fashion sneaker world to Australia, basically.
Cindy Gilbert
“So basically, we had the four Ps,” Danny explains. “Number one was our people, both our staff and our customers, and then product was our second one, where we were just absolutely passionate about our product.
“The third P was our position, which was our store positions; we always tended to like corners. We had a saying in the early days that shopping centres were for prams. So we tended to avoid shopping centres until we could no longer avoid them, which was probably Bondi Junction, when the junction just destroyed Paddington, and we realised that if we were going to grow and become a national retailer then we had to go into the centres.
This worked well because at the time there were a lot of new shopping centre developments and rejuvenation, so we managed to get into the new wing of a centre and be positioned around like-minded retailers.”
“So that was it, and then our fourth P was really passion, just the passion of the staff and the team and the way we did things. We had really strong camaraderie.”
One of the Hype DC team who’s been there almost from the start – and who has now moved from the retail floor to the marketing team – describes the crew as “fiercely proud, fiercely close”.
Danny agrees completely. “Yeah, absolutely. You know, like if the Hype DC crew had to go to war, we went to war together. We did everything together.”
Danny and Cindy would eventually reap the reward of almost a decade of hard work and total commitment when, in 2016, they sold Hype DC to Accent Group. The dynamic duo stayed on as co-CEOs before stepping down the following year.
They’ve continued to watch Hype DC’s growth with a sense of well-deserved pride, and they remain dedicated sneakerheads. Danny shows us one of his prized possessions, a pair of limited-edition adidas Superstars produced, in 2005, for the 35 th anniversary of the shoe made famous by hip-hop legends like Run DMC. These rare-as-hens'-teeth VIP pairs came in their own briefcases, with wooden shoe trees, brushes and polish.
“That was presented to me at an adidas meeting in Melbourne. A big, burly guard walked in with the case handcuffed to him, and they presented them to us,” Danny says.
Damn.
You’ve got to respect that as a legacy.
Words
Images
Steve Duck Brand ArchivesSteve Duck has been in the sneaker game for decades. Former editor of foundational Australian hip-hop magazine Out4Fame , co-founder of Acclaim and former editor at Complex AU , Steve is probably too old for all this but will never grow up and wear hard-bottom leather shoes.
At Hype DC, we’ve been in the sneaker game for 25 years. We’ve been there from the jump-off for Australia’s footwear fans. So, to celebrate our silver anniversary, here are 25 of the most hyped shoes we’ve had the honour of showing on our shelves.
Since opening our first set of doors in 1998, Hype DC has witnessed the entire journey of Australian sneaker culture. What was once a niche interest shared by a small number of die-hard enthusiasts in the late ’90s has grown to become the defining style of youth culture, not only in Australia but also globally.
The early days of Hype DC pre-date almost every shoe on this list, which means we were there for every atmos x Nike Air Max collab. We were there in 2005 when adidas celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Superstar with 35 unbelievable collaborative releases. From when the NMD brought Boost to everybody in 2015 to the current day of Panda Dunk domination and the spectacular re-emergence of the New Balance 550, Hype DC has been a part of the culture.
As Hype DC stores spread from Sydney’s North Shore to shopping malls across the country, local sneaker culture, too, has grown at the same rate, from the inner cities to the outer suburbs, with everyone developing their own style. Some kept it classic with PUMA Suedes, adidas Campus and Nike Air Force 1s. Others played it fresh with the clean lines of the ASICS Gel-Lyte III or the timeless Air Max. And as the game has changed, developed and grown, more of us are pushing boundaries with Salomon, HOKA and other new brands with new ideas.
Australian sneaker culture can no longer be summed up with the popularity of one or two sneaker models, or by sweeping generalisations. It’s now a diverse scene with its own flavour, and Hype DC is proud to have helped it take shape. Looking back on 25 years of stellar sneaker releases, we just had to list 25 of our favourites.
In 2017, Nike handpicked 16 creatives from across the globe to concoct hybrid Air Max designs. The winner would be voted by the public and put into production. While we were personally cheering on ex-Hype DC staff member Alex Hackett, the winner would eventually be decided: consignment store owner Sean Wotherspoon’s vintage-inspired flip of the Air Max 97, in multicoloured corduroy, sitting on the classic Air Max 87 midsole. The resulting release caused global pandemonium as all pairs were snatched up with the quickness and resale prices set sky-high, even to this day.
Marking the 30th anniversary of the Gel-Lyte III in 2020, ASICS unleashed the four original colours of the splittongue trainers on an unsuspecting public, including this blend of eyepopping orange with black and grey. The ‘Flash Coral’ colour would go on to be used on several of ASICS’ most popular styles, including Kayanos and Gel-Quantums.
The Dunk Low entered the world as a basketball sneaker, before the kick flipped to become a skater staple. With a cosign from the two biggest cultural influences in the sneaker world, it was inevitable that the Dunk Low would have a lasting run at the top. Dip it in black and white and it’s a nobrainer. The pand-emic will never end.
Most musicians are happy to collaborate on one shoe. But those people are not Pharrell Williams. Proving that he was playing on another, much higher level, Pharrell linked up with adidas and dropped the classic Superstar in a total of 50 of his favourite colours. You could wear one a week and still be pulling out new pairs in December.
New Balance put on a masterclass with the 2002R. The Boston brand revived its 2010 performance running shoe and somehow transformed it from track and field to something more adept to playing the field. This thing was stylish. A scorching hot collab with designer Salehe Bembury kicked things off, but when NB covered the 2002R in shredded suede panels and killer colour palettes for the Protection Pack, it cemented its place as a true classic.
We’re celebrating 25 years of Hype DC, but did you know 2023 also marks 10 years of the Salomon XT-6? True to its outdoor heritage, the utilitarian trail runner was first seen on influential trail runners such as Kílian Jornet. But only a few years later it was seen on Rihanna during her Super Bowl Half Time Show. That unbelievable ability to keep one Quicklaced foot in the wilderness and the other in fashion has made the XT-6 a fast favourite and a must on this list.
A perfect accompaniment to the ‘Anniversary Red’ colourway, the ‘Anniversary Royal’ also came out in 2017 in homage to one of the original colour options for Nike’s revolutionary running silhouette. The suede makes the sneaker light, the mesh keeps the air flowing, but it’s the colour combination that keeps this Air Max cool.
One of Nike’s longest-tenured collaborators, and a designated sure shot anytime they link with the Swoosh, Japan’s atmos make magic anytime they touch an Air Max bubble. Having already created a classic with their Safari Air Max in ’02, atmos returned to the wilderness in 2007 to source a little inspiration. The result was the Air Jordan 3’s celebrated Elephant print, a white leather toe box and a striking jade Swoosh on the classic Air Max 1. It was so fresh they brought it back 10 years later to the same rapturous reception.
The year was 2015. ‘Hotline Bling’ was massive. Everyone wanted you to watch them whip, and then watch them nae-nae. And adidas had us in a chokehold with their Boost sole. The super-comfy cushioning was paired with a flexible Primeknit upper to create a sneaker that felt like the future but which, with those midsole tabs that came straight from the 1984 adidas Micro Pacer, still maintained a link to the past. The shoe was the NMD, and – along with a particular celebrity signing the same year – it took the Three Stripes to the top of the game.
Picking a favourite from the New Balance 99x franchise can be a little like picking your favourite child but, for at least one of the world’s most influential people, the 991 couldn’t be overlooked. A long-time favourite of Steve Jobs, the 991 has also been the canvas for several high-profile collabs including JJJJound, Aimé Leon Dore and Palace.
Another of the ASICS Gel-Lyte III’s original colourways, the scorching orange and purple colourway is reminiscent of a certain NBA team but also of the moment in time when flaming neon orange neoprene would be a normal thing to see on the shelf at your local sneaker spot. That mesh panel under the Tiger Stripes might have been added for fire safety, cos these things were sweltering hot.
The Air Max 98 was designed by Sergio Lozano, the mind behind the iconic Air Max 95. While the DNA of the ’95 can be seen if you squint hard enough at that wavy upper, the big difference was a full-length sole unit for max comfort. The ‘Tour Yellow’ was an OG colourway which returned to fanfare among maxheads in 2018.
There are few sneaker lines as widely adored as New Balance’s 990 range. Debuting in 1982 and dropping at the kind of painstakingly slow frequency more commonly associated with Dr. Dre albums, the first three were released across a staggering 30 years (’82, ’98, ’12). The pace picked up after that, with the 990v4 landing in 2016 only four years after its predecessor. The 990v5 arrived, v5 brought with it the kind of technical advances – plus a new shade of just slightly different ‘Slate Grey’ – that the 990 fan base goes sensibly nuts for.
When it’s presented alongside the hybridised 1/97, the elephant-printed atmos collab and the untamed ‘Animal Pack’, we develop a stronger appreciation for the subtlety of the Air Max 1 ‘Kumquat’. A tasteful blend of whites, soft greys and deft touches of its titular citric hue. But even this one flexes that wild safari print across the mudguard, as if it harbours some deep desire to answer the call of the wild and join its brethren in the deep of the jungle.
A tribute to some heavyweight sneaker history, released in 2017. A 30thanniversary retro of the first Air Max, the very first sneaker with visible air, a genuine game changer for Nike and for sneaker culture. Back in ’87, and famously inspired by the facade at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, designer Tinker Hatfield had created a window into the world of Nike Air, and the sneaker world was never the same again.
When long-time collaborator atmos stepped into the Air Max 1 in 2006, it came as no surprise that the Japanese brand would bring out the wild side of the old classic. A composite pattern made up of tiger, giraffe, zebra and leopard print – with a touch of ponyhair on the toe box – it’s an entire menagerie for the metatarsals.
Another one from the brilliant mind of designer Steven Smith. The New Balance 550 was intended for the hardcourt and spent a brief period gliding across the Boston Garden on the feet of Celtics players. The 550 was soon superseded and banished to the dusty world of vintage catalogues and archival imagery. It wasn’t until 2020, when an eagle-eyed Teddy Santis spotted the silhouette in one such catalogue and requested a retro, that the world would finally recognise the simplicity of the 550 – a sneaker more adept to chillin’ courtside than killer crossovers.
Digging through the archives, ASICS unearthed this gem of a Gel-Lyte III from the sneaker’s original run in 1990. Re-released for the sneaker’s 30th anniversary alongside other OG colourways, the ‘Emerald’ was a sparkling addition to the GL3’s Pearl anniversary.
The oldest sneaker in these pages. Before the days of visible air, sock uppers, pump valves or celebrity endorsements, there was the Samba. A shoe so timelessly stylish that now, in 2023, it’s still poppin’. A full 74 years after its initial release in 1949, when it was designed for soccer players to train on icy surfaces. After all the decades and trends that have come and gone, the Samba is still here, in either black or white, still flexing on every other shoe in the game. A true sneaker icon.
Some colourways are so perfect that you struggle to envision the same sneaker in any other combination. Air Max 90 Infrared, Air Max 95 Neon, Air Jordan 1 Chicago and, of course, the Air Max BW ‘Persian Violet’. The consummate colourway for the Air Max with the Big Window, the Persians were as famous in ’91 for their striking palette as they were for getting pinched from the front porch. Keep them clean and, please, keep them inside.
The Air Max 1 ‘Master’ dropped as part of the shoe’s 30th anniversary and, perhaps inspired by the Nike SB ‘What The Dunk’, featured hits of some of the sneaker’s most celebrated collabs. There are touches of the CLOT, Kid Robot, Parra and Patta takes on the silhouette, plus nods to the OG blue and red colourways, the Safari print and, of course, some of the wild atmos animal prints. It’s a tribute not only to the sneaker but also to the creatives who have made their own contributions to the legend of the Air Max 1.
This blend of royal blue, obsidian, university red and metallic silver hits different depending on your point of reference. For some, it’s an OG Air Max 98 colourway, seen only once since its original release. For others, it’s a mighty tribute to the RX-78-2 Gundam, an 18-metre-tall manned battle robot seen in Japanese TV series Mobile Suit Gundam . It’s all about perspective.
For many years, the word ‘huarache’ referred to a specific kind of sandal. But it’s a testament to the work of sneaker designer Tinker Hatfield that, after 1991, Huaraches were sneakers. Not just any sneakers, either. Long after the sandals have been forgotten, the word Huarache conjures an image of that iconic leather upper, sliced through the middle to reveal a neoprene bootie. And in this striking ‘Purple Punch’ colourway, it will likely never be forgotten.
Designer Shigeyuki Mitsui had to fight to make the ASICS Gel-Lyte III happen. The split-tongue design, intended to make the shoe easier to slip on without using your hands, had initially split opinions at ASICS’ head office. Mitsui persisted and, when the GL3 dropped in 1990, we were all beneficiaries of not only his hard work but also his belief in just how game-changing a slip-on sneaker would be. The very first colourway, dubbed ‘Citrus’, was retroed for the last time in 2019 and will reportedly never return.
Reebok revolutionised the sneaker world with the Pump in ’89. But, when you’ve innovated your way to the top of the game, what comes next?
Designer Steven Smith kept the Pump bladder, subtracted damn near everything else and transformed a giant, ankle-hugging sneaker into something sleek enough to run your morning 5K in. Then, as if the jagged edges and porous neoprene upper weren’t eye-catching enough, he dipped the whole thing in the brightest slap of citron he could find. The revolutionary Pump had itself become revolutionised.
Words Images
Sean Irving, one of the editors of Hype DC’s Limit’d – a groundbreaking magazine and app – looks back on the eclectic group of artists, musicians, skateboarders and athletes who shared their passion with us.
Limit’d was a way to shed some light on the movements that were flourishing in the margins, out of sight of mainstream eyes.
Sean Irving
Produced from early 2014 to mid-2017, Limit’d was a monthly print and digital publication we created with Hype DC as an extension of the work we were already doing at Acclaim magazine, where I was working as managing editor.
Together, we formed it as a platform to highlight artists, musicians, labels, designers, skaters and anyone else doing something compelling, interesting or different enough to capture attention. It was a way to shed some light on the movements that were flourishing in the margins, out of sight of mainstream eyes. Partnering with Hype DC always felt natural. Subcultural movements have used style choices – particularly footwear – as a means of identification and signalling since forever. Just look at the history of shoes like the PUMA Suede, Converse All Star or, closer to home, the infamous Nike Air Max Plus. So, with Limit’d, we felt like we were connecting the dots on what was already happening organically around us.
From the outset, we made efforts to ensure we covered a diverse group of predominantly Australian creatives. Looking back, it’s wild to think of the range of people we were able to get involved with the project. I remember shooting with Alison Wonderland for the cover story of Issue 1 – I got lost on the way to her hotel and nearly blew the whole interview. Despite that inauspicious start, we quickly found our rhythm. We covered Tkay Maidza in Issue 3, which was among her first press in Australia – she’d only been singing for 18 months at the time, but it was clear she would go on to great things. There’s a whole group of people we connected with in the early stages of their career arc – emerging stars such as Wafia, Oscar Key Sung and Skin On Skin (known then as UV Boi) – as well as more established artists like Remi, Allday and Ta-ku. We also scored interviews with a few well-known international musicians, including Sampa The Great and Stormzy. Outside of music, we worked with artists such as Rhys John Kaye, Callum Preston and Jimmy Bliggs as well as skaters and athletes. It was an eclectic group, for sure, but the throughline was always the obvious passion these people had for their craft. This extended well beyond the talent, too. We built a whole network of photographers, stylists, Hype DC staff and others around the project.
Limit’d was available via a dedicated app (as an editor, nothing filled me with dread more than sending a push notification to thousands of phones each month), and each release was paired with a video, but it was the printed incarnation that held a special place in my heart. Even in 2014, when we started Limit’d, we were well into the decline of magazines and print media. To create something tangible that people could pick up in-store and take with them felt special, a rare privilege. The zines and free magazines I collected as a teenager from record stores around Melbourne always felt important, a way of capturing and distributing knowledge that meant something real. They helped shape my tastes and unlock interests that have stuck with me for decades. Limit’d was a testament to that energy. For a few years, we did everything we could to tell the stories we hoped would connect to our audience in the same way.
Looking back, I don’t have any regrets from the time we spent making Limit’d Well, except maybe for when Hype DC ’s head office moved and we lost an entire month’s print run because we sent it to the wrong address. But we don’t talk about that.
Ta-ku’s talents must make other multi-hyphenates wonder if they’re working hard enough. These days, his Insta describes him as a recording artist, photographer and creative director. Let’s leave it at that. When Limit’d caught up with him in December 2014, he’d released two thematically linked EPs and was aiming to complete a trilogy with a fulllength album. Thirteen years later, he’s fulfilling that promise in August 2023 with his debut album, Songs To Come Home To, which features an insane lineup of guest artists – everyone from Wafia to ?uestlove.
Perth’s own Ta-ku is a true polymath. He’s most widely recognised for his contributions to music, including last year’s sweetly melancholic EP Songs To Break Up To. But a lot of people overlook the fact that he’s also an accomplished photographer, a devotee of style, a barber-in-training, and is soon to be a restaurateur. A tireless work ethic coupled with a relentless passion for perfection underpin his every endeavour. In fact, Ta-ku shot and styled the photos and videos for this story himself. We caught the rising star as he was about to head to the airport for a creative sojourn in Europe and tried to unwrap just how he goes about doing it all.
YOU’RE JUMPING ON A FLIGHT LATER TODAY RIGHT? WHERE ARE YOU HEADING?
I’m heading to Paris. I’m going to France for about two weeks and meeting up with a few people over there.
YOUR MUSICAL OUTPUT DOESN’T SEEM TIED TO A PLACE – IS THAT A REFLECTION OF THAT TRAVEL HABIT?
It’s definitely a global perspective. This year has been a bit quiet musically, but that’s allowed me to expand to other creative fields. I’m getting the itch to write more music again, which has come at a good time. I’ve just finished my next EP and I’ve got an album to write as well.
HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN LOOKING FOR INFLUENCES OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA?
I never really travelled as a kid, but as soon as I started to make my own income it’s something that I always tried to do. Perth is really small – it’s great, but maybe it’s not the most culturally happening place in the world. You really have to go and find that yourself or try and get perspective from other places. It’s always a good base to come back to, though.
FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, NOT HAVING ACCESS TO THAT CULTURE GROWING UP CAN ACTUALLY INSTILL AN URGE TO GO AND FIND IT LATER IN LIFE. IS THAT TRUE FOR YOU?
Definitely. I think you find that in a lot of places like Perth there’s always going to be a couple of creatives or acts who are on the same level. Being somewhere a bit more isolated will give you a bit more drive or hustle than others, I think.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?
Just wrapping up Songs To Make Up To, the follow-up to Songs To Break Up To. And working on an album that’ll be out next year, hopefully, which is my first attempt at a full-length actual album. I’ve always messed around with beat-tapes and remixes; I’ve never really sat down and tried to make a cohesive album.
WOULD IT BE A CONCEPT ALBUM IN THE SAME SENSE THAT SONGS TO BREAK UP TO WAS, WITH A STRONG NARRATIVE?
I definitely wanted to do a three-part series – Songs To Break Up To and Songs To Make Up To tell a story, and I’d like this LP to continue it. Just so if you ever wanted to sit down and listen to all three in succession, you could do so, and then you could find the emotional connection between the three.
YOU’RE ALSO DOING A LOT OF STUFF WITH HWLS AS WELL AT THE MOMENT, RIGHT?
Yeah, HWLS has its own legs now. It’s me and Kit Pop, a mate from Perth. It’s more of the electronic, bass side of things, which is music that I still love to make.
IS THAT ELECTRONIC, BASS STUFF THE FLIPSIDE TO THE MORE INTROSPECTIVE STUFF THAT WE GET WITH SONGS TO BREAK UP TO?
I think that it is. For a while there I was really into the whole remix, bass, trap kind of thing. But I feel like for me, with the Ta-ku thing, I really wanted to go back to my roots. In the sense that I’ve always made hip-hop and electronic music, that’s what inspired me to make music in the first place. I feel like Songs To Break Up To and Songs To Make Up To are really low-slung hip-hop–electronic vibes that are more suited to the Ta-ku project than the trap sounds.
IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE DIVERSE? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO CHANNEL CREATIVITY INTO DIFFERENT PURSUITS?
For me, I don’t like to be pigeonholed as “Oh, that’s what he’s known for.” I like to try different things and not be defined by one thing. It’s fine if people want to talk about Ta-ku as one thing in the media or whatever, but for me I just want to know that I can do other things. Basically, expressing myself through different mediums is creatively refreshing for me, and it’s inspiring for me to keep going and pushing in different areas to see what impact I can make. Even it’s just for me personally.
I’ve always been passionate about Perth and trying to give it a little more cultural influence, even if it’s a small thing like opening a barbershop. It adds to Perth and what it can be, and that’s something that I’m passionate about. The shop is something that I’ve always wanted to open, and I’m really happy with it.
YOU’RE LEARNING TO CUT HAIR YOURSELF, RIGHT?
It’s a slow process because I’m away a lot. I’m always at the shop, because I feel like when you step into a new creative field or profession you have to earn your stripes. So when I’m there I observe a lot, sweep the floors, make sure the towels are done. I just watch the other boys cut; I’ve got a mate of mine who trusts me enough to cut his hair, it takes me a bit longer than the other boys but that’s alright. I once nicked a mate’s ear and drew blood, but it was free for him so he shouldn’t complain. [Laughs .]
WOULD IT BE FAIR
Definitely. In my early days I had dreams of doing all kinds of things, and when I left high school I wanted to be a graphic designer. I had always had an eye and appreciation for design, and I wanted to be an artist. But I’ve been colourblind since I was a kid, so I was unsure if that was something that I could do. There’s a lot of things that make up who I am, what I want to do, and what I’m passionate about. I think music will always be what I’m known for the most.
Being half Kiwi and half Filipino, eating is pretty much all we do. I’ve always been passionate about food, and I think Perth has so much room for it. So, end of this year, or middle of next year, we’re looking at rolling something out. I’m really excited to share that with you guys.
For me, everything that I do I just want to give it my all. I would never agree to do something with someone that I knew I couldn’t put my all into to make sure that it does well.
Limit’d caught up with Sydney artist B Wise for our January 2017 issue. Back then, this stalwart of the Australian hip-hop scene had just one EP, Semi Pro, to his name. He’s gone on to release two award-winning albums and collaborated with the likes of ONEFOUR, Sampa The Great and the UK’s Kojey Radical. You can also find him holding down his weekly radio show B Wise by Your Side on CADA, where he plays the freshest homegrown hip-hop. But let’s rewind to 2017…
With a name like B Wise, the bar is set pretty high for the Sydney-based artist. Yet when his lyricism meets unapologetic honesty, it’s safe to say that he lives up to his moniker. His tracks speak volumes about both his lived experiences and wider social issues, spitting bars that reveal his unique insights into the whirlwind that is modern Australian society.
HOW DO YOU VIEW THE AUSTRALIAN HIP-HOP SCENE IN ITS CURRENT STATE AND WHERE DO YOU SEE IT GOING? WHO SHOULD WE BE WATCHING?
It’s in a good place. I think it’s growing and I think it’s definitely headed in the right direction, as long as we stay on track, because there is this feeling as well that there might be a separation between the newer wave of Australian hip-hop artists and hip-hop artists who were already around. I think it would be good if we all work together to push forward because experience and new talent will help us grow on the world stage. At the end of the day Australia isn’t even a part of the conversation when it comes to hip-hop, and that’s facts. We know what we’re doing … if everyone gets together and pushes our sound, the rest of the world can start to hear what we’re doing. But I think we are in a good spot and if we continue to support and grow and everyone finds their own sound and their own way it could be a really good situation.
IS
I think without a doubt when I did ‘No Questions’ on my EP, that song means a lot, but the song ‘Drugs and Drama’ also meant a lot because that came from a genuine place and a genuine conversation I had with someone that had to kind of like pull me up and say, “Hey, things might be moving at a certain pace but remember your roots, don’t get ahead of yourself.” So those two kind of sit pretty heavy with me.
Not as much when I was doing it, but when I was listening to it back I was like, “Oh okay, should I say that now or should I hold it back?” There were some things that I said in ‘No Questions’ that maybe my partner now probably wouldn’t have wanted me to share with the world, but I left it because that’s who I am, I can’t change that. So there were no regrets with the song.
Semi Pro is a movement. It’s a project I’m still working on –it’s definitely more than just an EP title. Semi Pro is something I’m going to expand on in the sense of music and also merch and things like that. But it’s also the mind frame of treating everything in the sense that we want to grow and be better but not to the point where we say we are professional and can’t hear anything else – we always want to grow.
At the end of the day Australia isn’t even a part of the conversation when it comes to hip-hop, and that’s facts … [But] if everyone gets together and pushes our sound, the rest of the world can start to hear what we’re doing.
Back in January 2015, when we last spoke to Netherlands-born, Australiabased Iraqi-Syrian singer-songwriter Wafia, she was anticipating the release of her first official EP, which would appear in November that year under the name XXIX. (The folky self-released 2012 debut EP mentioned in the interview no longer even appears on Wafia’s official discography.) But it was 2018’s collab with Louis The Child, the single ‘Better Not’, that rocketed the artist into mainstream success. Now, with her total streaming plays reaching almost 400 million, Wafia is using her profile to empower marginalised communities, and women in particular, through musical expression. But cast your mind back to 2015…
According to Wafia Al-Rikabi, she never really intended to make a career in music – which seems strange, considering that she made her public debut performing songs on national television at age six. Personally, we’re glad that she changed her mind, because we’re obsessed with her fluid take on the pop sound. One listen to her treatment of Mario’s 2004 release ‘Let Me Love You’ should be more than enough to get you hooked as well. With an EP release coming soon, and a full-length album on the way, it’s time you got formally acquainted with Wafia.
SO HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN MUSIC?
THERE’S NOT A WHOLE LOT ONLINE.
I was born in the Netherlands. Once I was singing in class and this lady scouted me out and asked if I could do a Christmas pageant. I did that and then did this whole weird tour thing. Then I somehow ended up on national television singing these songs in this competition. I came second place and I remember sulking on TV.
HOW OLD WERE YOU?
Six? It was the worst.
SO YOU WERE ALWAYS AN OVERACHIEVER THEN?
Oh yeah, my parents will vouch for that.
YOU JUST TOOK IT FROM THERE? THAT WAS IT FROM SIX YEARS OLD?
Well, I did that and that was the peak of my career. [ Laughs .] We always moved around, then a few years ago we lived in Adelaide. That was a great vibe, I think, and I started really getting into music again, doing choirs and stuff. I got really timid because I didn’t really know how to make friends and I was always a very anxious child. From there we moved to Queensland and I was invisible. Grade 11 I was singing in the stairwell, a Taylor Swift song, and these two guys who were very popular went over the railing and saw me. I just remember pure shock on my face. Then they went and told everyone in the school that I could sing, and this teacher forced me to do music. I got up to sing at assembly and it was the most traumatic experience of my life. From there, after high school I did university and I didn’t take music seriously.
Then something washed over me and I realised that I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Everything has just been a buildup from those experiences.
SO MAYBE BEING FORCED ON STAGE BY THE POPULAR KIDS WAS A GOOD MOVE FOR YOU IN RETROSPECT?
I’m not sure, maybe. [Laughs.] I’m still remembered for it at school; I’m still that girl that sang ‘White Horse’ by Taylor Swift at assembly and everyone was surprised ’cause she was actually kinda good.
SO YOU RELEASED YOUR DEBUT EP IN 2012. HOW WAS THE RESPONSE TO THAT?
Well, amazing. I put it out because it just made sense; I was working on all this music without a team. It did really well for me having expected nothing. I think it got a few mentions on The Guardian . It was really strange for me because I didn’t have PR, I didn’t have a manager. I’m a big believer in just putting things out in the world and seeing how people react to it. That EP just reaffirmed that. It’s very different to the stuff I’m doing now, but I wouldn’t take it back.
I WAS GOING TO SAY IT SEEMS TO BE A LOT MORE ON THE FOLK SIDE THAN WHERE YOU’RE AT NOW.
At the time, I was always thinking about the live aspect [of the music]. The only way I knew how to translate that was with guitar; I didn’t know that there was all this other music. To be honest I’ve always been a pop kid, so the only lyrics I knew how to write were folky things. It was never intentional – I guess I’m in a different environment now.
HAS THE KIND OF MUSIC YOU’VE LISTENED TO CHANGED OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS?
Yeah I definitely started listening to variations of pop. I’ve always been able to appreciate it, and when I say ‘pop’ I mean a broad range. I love everything from Taylor Swift to Drake. I’ve always loved R&B as well.
YOU’VE BEEN WORKING WITH MORE INDEPENDENT PRODUCERS LATELY. WHAT DO THEY BRING TO THE TABLE IN TERMS OF YOUR SOUND?
I’m not very good at the programming stuff; I’m only just learning how to do that. So it’s about finding other producers that are like-minded and understand these programs very well. When I work with producers I’m “very much like coproducing it with them”. Though it might not be me pressing the buttons, I’m very precise – and I know what I want. They definitely bring lots of ideas to the table as well. I worked with Thrupence on my cover of ‘Let Me Love You’, and he is just brilliant. He understands samples and textures. He really knows how to work in the hard hip-hop beats, and he helps find a melody over the top of that. It’s a very big learning curve for me, but I’m very much enjoying it.
DO YOU FIND YOU’RE ON THE SAME CREATIVE WAVELENGTH WITH THRUPENCE?
Very much so. We love the same kind of music, which is great and he’s always willing to experiment. I think that, because he's never worked with a vocalist before, he’s never been a big music collaborator. He’s not really held back by rules and all of that. He’s not restricted by his work in the past or how his previous collaborations have gone, so he’s free to try new things.
THAT COVER OF ‘ LET ME LOVE YOU ’ HAS HAD TWO MILLION PLAYS ON SOUNDCLOUD SINCE AUGUST. WERE YOU EXPECTING THAT RESPONSE?
It’s pretty nuts, I didn’t really expect anything like that. My method for that song was “I want to put out a song because I haven’t released anything in almost two years, but I don’t want to sacrifice an original,” because I really am working on making this the best EP possible. So [Thrupence and I] were just mucking around in the studio and it just happened. That cover alone has opened up so many doors for me it was insane. I am really so thankful for Mario and NeYo for letting me sing such an incredible song. Two million people is nuts, I can’t even fathom that. They say you only meet thirty thousand people in your lifetime, and to think that over thirty thousand people have heard me is insane.
PROBABLY ENOUGH PEOPLE FOR SEVERAL LIFETIMES. SO WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THE SECOND EP?
So, right now we’re still getting a couple of the tracks. Like everything is right there. We’ve had a lot of label interest over here in Australia and abroad, but my team is just working on making sure the rest of the people that join my team are the right fit. So I guess maybe mid-2015.
ARE THERE PLANS FOR A FULL LENGTH?
Yep, definitely – I’ve already started writing.
WOULD THAT BE A 2015 RELEASE, OR EARLY 2016?
I don’t think I can remark on that. I’m not into making lots and lots of music. I’m into really strategising and figuring out exactly what I want.
YOU’RE IN IT FOR THE LONG GAME?
That’s exactly what I’m in it for. I don’t really believe in hype tracks. It is what it is, and I believe good music is good whether it comes out now, or in six months time, or a year.
It’s hard to sum up everything Sampa The Great has achieved since Limit’d interviewed her in August 2016. But let’s try. In 2019, she won four ARIA Awards (among a stack of others) for her debut album, The Return. She’s toured the world and conquered stages at huge festivals such as Coachella and Glastonbury. And she’s embarked on a profound personal, spiritual and musical exploration of her Zambian roots, expressed in its fullest form yet across her second album, 2022’s As Above, So Below
Sampa The Great is a poet, a singer, a writer, and a rapper. The young artist has been catapulted onto the scene after the release of her debut offering, The Great Mixtape Her music flows seamlessly through a sea of experimental beats, jazz inflections and powerful rhymes; she aims to inspire – to listen is to learn.
Oh man, I think that would be the age of nine, when I realised I could write. I brought home a song I wrote because my parents had left me at school. I sent it to my cousin and he said, “You didn’t write that!” and I was like, “Yes, I did.” Because I had to defend it – I felt that something special happened. And from then on, I just started writing and singing and speaking – plus, discovering Tupac was like, “This is a whole new world and I want to be a part of it.” And that’s when I started loving music. Because then it didn’t matter if I got left at school, I was like, “It’s cool, I’ve got my notebook.” If anything went down or something happened … I had my notebook, and then I could create my world.
Even if I wrote a song first, I started off writing as if I was writing in a diary. So I’d just speak whatever I had written down and that became the spoken word element. But it turned into rap shortly after I was introduced to Tupac. And then I witnessed this boy band at school do hip-hop. They were rapping and I thought that that was amazing because I’d just been introduced to something and then seen it in reality. I was like, “Okay, this is real and people I know are doing it.” But then they told me I couldn’t do it because I’m a girl. Then I discovered Lauryn Hill and I was like, “Yes, I can.” It all happened really fast.
All my inspirations were also quite political and, being a passionate artist, how can you not react with empathy to some of these things?
My sister was planning to move to Australia to finish her studies and I just felt inspired by that, so I went to Sydney to finish my studies as well. It was another two years of me finishing everything off and then on the side making the mixtape [her debut, The Great Mixtape]. Then the mixtape started getting all this attention – it’s been fast, but it’s been beautiful.
My parents really did want this to be my plan B. But they came recently and saw that it’s real, it’s work, it’s not just me talking – they realised I was serious. Now, more than ever, they’ve said I can do whatever I put my mind to … it’s a whole weight off my shoulders. They understand now that I’m both learning and doing – so they’re really supportive.
I guess I’m slowly coming to the realisation that not a lot of people think or look at things in that way. And just analysing that I grew up in a place where some of those things, they were just the reality. It wasn’t anyone searching for these things; they were just there. To bring to life that these things are happening, to say it’s not out of our reach to express that we don’t like what’s happening and it needs to change –I don’t know, I guess it’s a mixture of things. It’s never been my plan to rap this way; it’s just what I’ve been around so I vocalise that. All my inspirations were also quite political and, being a passionate artist, how can you not react with empathy to some of these things? You know … we’re living in it so what else can we do?
We met at a jazz and hip-hop night that happened every Friday on Harris Street [in Sydney]. And it was improv, so you just had to jump on stage and show what you got. I remember going the first night, dragging my sister and my friend with me, seeing all this talent and saying, “Okay, I think next week is when I’m going to go on stage, definitely.” And my sister just wasn’t having it. She forced me up on stage and it went really well; I remember thinking, “I can do this.” Dave was there; we met and agreed that we should work together. That was the beginning.
I think it’s the only show I don’t have an answer for yet because I’m still not sure if it was actually me or not. I still can’t get my head around it. It was one of the most inspiring moments I’ve ever had, to be on that stage and witness him being on that stage as well. And to see my set list next to his just made me feel like I can do something like that – I can make it.
Oh, they were awesome! I almost wanted to say, “Oh no, Kendrick’s not coming on. It’s just me right now.” They really gave us a chance to just show them what we were about, even if we weren’t a part of Kendrick’s crew. I really loved that we got that chance; it was really beautiful.
We’ve been doing a bunch of recording, and if we’re happy with it we may release something in November. There’s a lot of stuff that’s been written down; there’s a lot of inspiration that has come at this time. We’ll definitely be releasing something by the end of this year.
When we spoke to Client Liaison for the April 2017 issue of Limit’d, our writer noted that the duo “are fascinated by corporate mythologies and iconography”. Harvey Miller and Monte Morgan have continued their total-concept approach to pop, striving to create a multisensory experience where, in their words, “business is the new religion and absurdity the new norm, where fashion is your liberator and music is the door to your salvation”. Religion – or perhaps just the religion of pleasure seeking – is also the new business, a theme the duo explored on their second album, 2021’s Divine Intervention
Client Liaison are fascinated by corporate mythologies and iconography. Every part of their debut album Diplomatic Immunity is curated and considered, from their office-themed stage plot to their logo-based live projections available for purchase as merchandise. Founding members Harvey Miller and Monte Morgan speak fondly of their ongoing “Client Liaison narrative”, a world unto itself that people can access and become part of. Sitting with them in their top-level Melbourne CBD office, it is very apparent that their corporate fascination has now become a fully realised lifestyle.
Monte: The corporate world was always super uncool when we were growing up. We like dressing up and dressing smart. It is an access point for us into our new aesthetic – the idea of corporate music. My father is a businessman. It’s funny how you go in a circle of rejecting your parents and then you end up celebrating them.
Monte: Yes. Our heroes are Prince and Michael Jackson. We got to play at Mardi Gras which was amazing. The main act Tegan and Sara pulled out so we had a day’s notice. Mardi Gras production had a threetiered stage with a scissor lift, lifting us up upon entrance. They had dancers that choreographed to our show; fire, visuals, lighting. It is where we’ve always wanted to be; it was like our dream come true.
Monte: We’ve done covers since our early shows. We started out as a two-piece, so I never liked the idea of doing covers without establishing your own sound. Our first cover was for Like A Version so it kind of forced us into it, but we realised that’s pretty fun. Harvey reproduces the beat from scratch which is quite a lot of work.
Harvey: We learnt that from the festival circuit. Obviously, everyone is into our tunes, which is cool, but when you have other DJs playing number-one hits from a back catalogue of about 70 years of pop music, it’s hard to compete. Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ or Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ one after another are songs that have sold millions of albums so it’s easier for a DJ to rev up a crowd. But if we can slip in one or two of these monster hits then we can get in on that space.
Monte: Giving it our own flavour as well.
Harvey: Despite being very proud of our own music we’re still yet to write something like INXS’s ‘Need You Tonight’.
Harvey: Yeah, that’s the plan. When we sing about politics, we’re not just singing about Australian politics but about politics in general. It just so happens to be that we live in Australia. So, if we’re going to talk about something like the landscape, for example, it’s because we grew up here. It’s hard not to.
Monte: We’ve been overseas three times and received a great response. We’re going to go again this year. We hope there are universal themes that people can jump on.
Monte: We turned up to San Francisco at this very small gig and there were these hardcore fans dressed up in the same style as our ‘Pretty Lovers’ film clip. They had an afterparty for us and had an ice swan made. Their interpretation was a bit weird to us – it had an American slant on it – but we like that. It’s like how we drink Foster’s but Americans just think we’re drinking regular Australian beer. But we like Foster’s. It’s a good beer; enjoy it.
Harvey: We like transcending the irony. Whether we’re abroad or sitting here at home, we’re always sipping on Foster’s. There’s actually some at arm’s reach over there if you’d like one.
Harvey: We have a limousine business. We have a whole online reservation system you can access with a professional driver.
Monte: It will have Foster’s inside and will be Client Liaison themed. You can go on a Client Liaison tour.
Harvey: Or you can just go to your Year 10 or Year 12 formal, or a wedding, or a weekend out with your mates, or even a ride home from work. We’ll pick you up in the limousine.
Monte: It’s a different experience; we’re putting the glamour back into it.
We like transcending the irony.
In 2020, Hype DC organised a live video interview between New Balance senior designer Charlotte Lee and The Weekly Drop host Steve Duck. Seen by over 125,000 people on social media, the interview gave sneakerheads a glimpse into the design process of one of the year’s most revered silhouettes, the New Balance 327, and the story of its formidable designer. Lee was 28 at the time of this interview, and the 327 was the first shoe she designed for New Balance. Since then, she’s gone on to design some of the brand’s most notable silhouettes from the last few years, including the 237 and the XC-72. Read on to learn about the colossal success of the 327, Lee’s own meteoric rise within New Balance, and the exclusive 327 collaboration with Hype DC.
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE SUCCESS OF THE 327! DID YOU ANTICIPATE THE RECEPTION THIS SHOE EVENTUALLY GOT?
Thank you! I think when you’re designing a shoe, you’re not actually thinking about how well it’s going to be received; you just want to do your best and create a product you really believe in. I think success is hard to predict with new silhouettes, especially because New Balance is so known for creating heritage products. There were high and low moments throughout the design process. But I’m here talking with you today, so I guess it worked out okay in the end.
THERE ARE PLENTY OF DESIGNERS OUT THERE WHO WOULD LOVE TO BE IN YOUR POSITION ONE DAY. YOU’RE STILL QUITE YOUNG, AND THIS IS THE FIRST SHOE YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO DESIGN FOR NEW BALANCE. HOW DID YOU GET TO THIS POINT?
I’m a farmer’s daughter, so you wouldn’t expect me to have ended up here. But when I was 16, I got the opportunity to do work experience at Clarks the shoe company here in the UK. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do at that point, but I just took it. I’d always been creative but, coming from a farming background, I didn’t really know how to turn my creativity into a career. When I did that placement, I met a designer who inspired me and told me I could study footwear design at university; that was the moment that I realised I could turn this dream of creating into a reality.
Later I went on to study at a university called De Montfort in Leicester. I interned as much as I could during those three years to gain exposure to different brands and get a feel for the work. New Balance has good ties with De Montfort, and through that I was able to get an internship. I ended up doing a year-long internship there. Most internships end so I didn’t expect much, but I pushed myself to work as hard as I could. They kept me on after that internship, and now I’ve been at New Balance for six years.
THAT’S FANTASTIC. MANY SUCCESSFUL SNEAKER DESIGNERS ARE QUITE A BIT OLDER THAN YOU. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU DID WELL IN YOUR SIX YEARS AT NEW BALANCE TO GET TO THIS POINT –DESIGNING YOUR FIRST SHOE AT 28?
I think that even prior to the last six years, I did everything I could to get internships and experience. Those internships laid a foundation for me by the time I came in to New Balance. Once I was in, I knew I wanted to be creating products, but I still made sure I built up knowledge in every area. I worked on quite a lot of ‘MADE in UK’ products in my first few years; I assisted other designers; I did some graphic design. I just took every opportunity I could because I knew that would give me exposure to not only product but also people.
It’s more low-tech than people would expect. It’s just me with a pencil, pen and whatever else I can find. Quite often it starts on Post-it notes or scraps of paper. When I begin my research, I look at internal references and archives, I look at trends, I look at colour, and I start to lay down shapes.
My first sketches are tiny; they’re an inch big so that I don’t get too into detail. The initial stages are about getting a general feel for the shoe and its shape. Those sketches then evolve into bigger sketches, and we start to blow out the scale of the design so we can home in on the details. Then we have a design review, and then it evolves into a computer-aided design and we start to send out tech packs to the factories so they can send back samples. We go through probably three to five rounds of revising the shoe until we get it right.
Surprisingly, we’re actually a really small product team. I think people see New Balance as this big company, but there are actually very few people behind the scenes. For the 327 I was working with a product manager in Japan and a product developer in the UK. We all happened to be female, which was interesting. We often talked about that, and it’s something I feel very passionate about. We also worked a lot with the US team, as colour and material comes from the US, so it was a global effort.
SO
Yeah, I was the only designer. I not only designed the shoe itself, but I also got to do all the colourways as well. With this shoe, I wanted to make sure it was designed as a men’s and women’s shoe – they were equally important. So we’ve got a lot of colourways that blur the lines of the genders, which has been really interesting.
SPEAKING OF COLOURWAYS, WE’RE OBVIOUSLY HERE THANKS TO HYPE DC AND NEW BALANCE. THERE’S A PAIR OF 327S NOW AVAILABLE AT HYPE DC. CAN YOU TALK TO US ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR COLOURWAY?
So this colourway feels very ‘70s but it’s got a bit of a twist – it has this asymmetric detailing. The whole shoe is asymmetric anyway, with the large N only being on the outside and not on the inside. One of the main features is this midsole detail that’s asymmetric as well – so the whole thing feels a little bit twisted. It feels quite contemporary.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The design process is more low-tech than people would expect. It’s just me with a pencil, pen and whatever else I can find.
Charlotte Lee
Fusing the heritage and craftsmanship of the New Balance brand with the future-led and innovative lens of our 25th anniversary year. This exclusive release champions our long-standing partnership, while celebrating the beautiful unpredictability of our biodiverse Australian landscape.
Words Images Sean Irving Converse
Since its 2013 release, the Converse Chuck 70 has quickly garnered a following of artists, musicians and designers. Writer Sean Irving takes a closer look at this broad canvas on which so many creatives have chosen to express themselves.
Is there a sneaker as beloved worldwide as the Chuck Taylor All Star? As recently as 2015, its maker, Converse, was selling 270,000 pairs per day. No other shoe has been as comfortable on the feet of such a diverse range of people, from Olympic ballers on-court at the 1936 Berlin games to punk icons like Sid Vicious.
But, like a Shakespearean tragedy, if there were to be a challenger that could usurp the reigning monarch of sneaker royalty, it’d be one of the king’s own progeny: the Chuck 70.
Both future-facing and full of history, the Chuck 70 combines contemporary design sense with a lineage that stretches back to the All Star’s roots as a performance basketball shoe – when the eyelets on the sides of the sneaker were considered cutting-edge ventilation technology.
2013’s Converse Chuck 70 release, lovingly retro-fitted from a 1971 pair the company acquired via eBay, sports some deliberate refinements that make it extra appealing to an in-the-know crowd that includes Alexa Chung, Rihanna and Playboi Carti. Its chameleonic qualities – the ease with which it can slip into any and every role – have made it a modern marvel, a sneaker as comfortable walking the runway as it is in the pit of a DIY hardcore show.
Compared to the modern All Star, the 70 model boasts a heavy-duty 12ounce canvas body with reinforcements around the toe (the eagle-eyed will spot the extra stitching at the front of the shoe). The 70’s rubber foxing stands proud, about half a centimetre higher than the All Star’s, and is treated with a varnish that gives the sneaker its signature glossy sheen.
Additionally, the thin band that runs the length of the sneaker is a separate piece of rubber on the 70 rendition, compared with an inset stripe on the traditional model. On the heel, the iconic Converse ‘licence plate’ is swapped for a period-correct version. Not everything about the Chuck 70 is retro, though. Converse retooled the model with modern cushioning, making it extra comfy for all-day wear.
These details, minor as they are, are exactly what’s earned the approval of a discerning crowd sensitive to nuances that elevate an already beloved model to new heights. Since its release, the Chuck 70 has quickly garnered a following of artists, musicians and – particularly – designers.
By 2015, Neighborhood, Missoni and Maison Martin Margiela had already made their marks on the Chuck 70’s canvas via Converse’s lauded First String release program. In particular, Margiela seemed to take the concept of a blank canvas literally. The French fashion house dunked the entire shoe in a signature creamwhite paint which cracks and flakes away with wear to reveal the coloured material underneath, ensuring no two pairs are identical.
2015 was also the year Converse’s first ever – and longest-running –collaborator, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, turned her attention to the model. She created the mind-meltingly popular Comme des Garcons Chuck 70 Play, adorned with instantly recognisable all-seeing hearts. This particular intersection of street and high fashion has been spotted on the feet of everyone from Travis Scott to countless teens gingerly dipping their toes into the world of Japanese designers.
As if this weren't enough, hype for the silhouette reached new heights in 2017, when the late Virgil Abloh revealed he’d be leaving his Off-White stamp on the model as part of ‘The Ten’ collaboration, the designer’s take on 10 iconic Nike shoes (well, nine Nike models and one Nike-owned silhouette). When Virgil released the Chuck 70 as the final instalment of the pack in Spring 2018, demand was at a fever pitch.
Virgil’s translucent take on the iconic shoe swapped the traditional canvas for a see-through upper. He also adorned the model with two signature design choices: the “BLOCK QUOTE” text and the utilitarian orange pull tag. The release was an instant smash hit, disappearing from store shelves and digital inventory faster than a credit card autofill.
The following year, the collaborations kept coming thick and fast. Jonathan Anderson – creative director of his eponymous label, JW Anderson, and Spanish luxury house LOEWE – got experimental and attempted to merge the Chuck 70’s DNA with a running shoe, creating an entirely novel silhouette in the process: the Run Star Hike. The model takes the Chuck 70 to new heights (literally), with an almost six-centimetre platform midsole and an eye-catching jagged tread, and has become a staple of Converse’s offering since its release.
In 2021, the Chuck 70 collected even more high fashion bonafides with a co-sign from both Kim Jones and Rick Owens. The former’s take on the model encased the upper in a translucent cage while, down below, undulating foxing gave the whole shoe a wavy energy. In the latter’s case, it seemed like fashion’s dark prince was coming full circle. As evident in his DRKSHDW releases, Owens has long been inspired by the iconic All Star silhouette. His square-toe rendition of the Chuck 70 with exaggerated sole and extended tongue feels like a loving tribute to a lifelong muse.
What exactly do all these designers find so appealing about the Chuck 70? Presumably, it’s the same thing that keeps the punters coming back for more. The shoe’s enduring legacy has a lot to do with its malleability.
Whether artist, athlete or anarcho-capitalist, no matter what – or who –you are, the Chuck 70 likely fits into your lifestyle as easily as your wardrobe. The sneaker is a blank page – a cultural canvas – on which millions can, and do, write their own story.
At just 10 years young, the Chuck 70 has already launched into the rarefied air of an all-time classic. As to what the future holds for the sneaker, we can only imagine it’ll continue to surprise – as generations to come use it as a platform to shape, refine and define their voices.
The Chuck 70’s chameleonic qualities – the ease with which it can slip into any and every role – have made it a modern marvel, a sneaker as comfortable walking the runway as it is in the pit of a DIY hardcore show.Sean Irving
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On’s technical innovation has seen it become a major player since its 2010 launch. Yet for ‘everyday elite’ runner Tim Rossi, co-founder of the NYC run crew Lostboys, the company's commitment to performance culture — embodied in the On Athletics Club worldwide — is just as important and leading-edge.
It feels inaccurate to call On the new kid on the block, but the Swiss company founded in 2010 is indeed a young brand. Young, that is, in an industry where several of the main players have been around for more than a century: Saucony, 1898; New Balance, 1906; Brooks, 1914; Dassler Brothers (leading to adidas and PUMA), 1924. Yet, in its short 13 years, On has made some major waves.
I remember the brand first coming onto my radar because of its shoes’ unique aesthetics. People would walk into the New York City running-shoe store I was working in at the time and rave about the ‘clouds’ they had on their feet.
This was sometime in 2014, not so long after On had launched, and was, memorably for me, the same summer that my buddies Jeremy Mulvey and Jerry Faulkner and I founded the Lostboys Track Club.
For some context, the Lostboys are all about runners chasing big goals while having fun and living normal lives (aka having full-time jobs). These ‘everyday elites’ remember that running is fun, and that chasing your dreams is fun. We take running seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. And that vibe has resonated with runners of all abilities, from Olympians to first-time 5Kers. If you’re in NYC, hit us up. Or if you see us at a race, fly the L. But I could rant about this forever.
Anyway, it got to the point where I had to go into a different shop during my lunch break and try on a pair of On’s shoes because I was sick of people talking about this thing I’d never felt for myself. And while they felt interesting, I dismissed them as a gimmick. A brand making amazing looking shoes, but not something for pure performance.
Sure enough, that changed. This little Swiss company kept growing and growing – expanding and innovating. They’ve since won over countless runners with their amazing product and its unique feel, and with their willingness to push boundaries.
Olivier Bernhard
It all starts with the product and the company’s co-founder Olivier Bernhard. This lifelong runner and multiple Ironman champion had a vision for a new running sensation – not a product per se but a feeling. He once said: “I always felt there was room not for another running shoe but for a different running feel. I had no clue how to build or manufacture a running shoe, but I had this vision or dream that stuck with me [where] I really wanted to bring that different feel to life in a running shoe.”
This pursuit of sensation led Olivier to create a prototype where he glued pieces of garden hose to the bottom of running shoes to create a softer impact and a “springboard” to create propulsion. Even Olivier thought these prototypes looked “hideous” – that’s his word for it – but it’s clear that they showed the way towards a real performance leap because you can still see their DNA in today’s On offerings.
And it worked. On brought something to the market that no one else was doing, and people loved it. And this spirit of innovation and pushing boundaries doesn’t just apply to the product.
You may have heard of On via the various athletes that the company sponsors. For those of us dedicated to running, our immediate thoughts don’t necessarily go to Roger Federer, On’s Swiss compatriot who has now invested in the company. Instead, for us, the spearhead of the company’s commitment to running is the On Athletics Club. The OAC launched in Boulder, Colorado, in 2020; OAC Europe (based in St Moritz in summer, and Berlin as well as Leipzig in winter) left the start line last year, in 2022; most recently, in April 2023, Olivier travelled to Melbourne to cut the ceremonial ribbon for OAC Oceania.
OAC Boulder – in this American’s mind just OAC, but I digress – was a statement from the brand. At the time, distance runner Joe Klecker was the talent coming out of the American university athletics system, the NCAA. Everyone expected this guy to be the next big thing, and because of that everyone expected either Nike or adidas to sign him. Enter On, who not only swooped him up but also formed a team in Boulder, where Klecker was living, with other big-time talents like Australian Ollie Hoare, fellow NCAA champ Alicia Monson and New Zealander George Beamish, all to be led by coach Dathan Ritzenhein. Big-time talents, all of them.
But they weren’t done. With OAC Boulder, the team’s timeline accelerated. Individually, these athletes may initially have been focused on the 2023 World Championships or the Paris Olympics in 2024. But suddenly you had a slew of athletes representing the brand and their countries at Tokyo 2020, the COVIDpostponed Summer Games eventually held in mid-2021.
With OAC, you have national champions, Olympians, record holders as the backbone. And – when their promise demands they be admitted – you have new athletes joining the team, adding strength and depth to an already strong and deep team.
People would walk into the New York City running shoe store I was working in at the time and rave about the ‘clouds’ they had on their feet.
Tim Rossi
All the while, On has stayed true to OAC’s innovative and formative idea of inviting runners from varying countries and events to ensure that the team is just that: a team. You don’t have people showing up to practice every day knowing they’ll be competing with their teammates for Olympic spots or national titles. Instead, you’ve got a group repping various nations with the shared goal of helping one another improve so they ultimately can end up in World and Olympic finals together – and, okay, then they’ll take no prisoners.
More still: OAC Europe and OAC Oceania. Same concept, different goals. With Europe, On is focused on developing athletes for the Olympics in LA, and with Oceania – coached by Australian running legend Craig Mottram – they’re getting even younger, focusing on longer-term development. They’ve created a global pipeline of talent, meaning you’ll undoubtedly see On athletes on the biggest stages for years to come.
And then, on the other end, you have the brand signing people like Kenya’s Hellen Obiri as she transitioned from the track to the roads. All of these athletes have also helped On elevate their product, with athlete insights driving various performance innovations from On.
And now, On is everywhere, from the front of marathons and on top of the Olympic podium to the Saturday joggers in Central Park. It’s no accident; they’ve committed to the sport, driving it forward – and it’s super exciting.
Running needs people and brands to push, to keep everyone on their toes. That’s what On has done. There are countless people like me who, back in 2014 or whatever, initially thought On just made cool walking shoes. But we’ve slowly turned around. The Cloudmonster, the Cloudsurfer and the new Cloudboom Echos are all amazing shoes. And OAC worldwide, with its pipeline of new athletes and its national and global champions, has convinced us that On is dead serious about its innovation and its commitment to the sport of running. On has a buzz around it, and that buzz is here to stay.
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How did working-class British football fans transform terrace culture into one of the most influential sneaker movements to evolve outside of the United States? It’s a story with adidas at its heart, and it’s back in a big way.
Before the 1970s, sneaker culture outside of the United States was something of a desolate landscape. This all changed when the storm that was terrace culture hit the United Kingdom and, soon after, Europe. Terrace style would go on to become one of the most influential modern sneaker movements to evolve outside of the States. Notably, it emerged from the fashion choices of working-class football followers rather than from the basketball, running or skateboarding scenes that had, prior to this, influenced the development of sneaker culture Stateside.
After they escaped the football field, terrace silhouettes – led by German brand adidas – morphed into the lifestyle sneaker choice of musicians and fashionistas the world over. While never far from the fashion spotlight, these styles have had at least three peaks: in the 1970s, the Britpop ’90s and right now, in the 2020s. We’ll touch on all these moments, but let’s start at the beginning.
It was a group of fervent football fans, known as the casuals, who were responsible for the meteoric rise of what would become recognisable as terrace silhouettes: adidas Gazelles, Sambas and Spezials, to name a few. So let’s take a dive into the origins of terrace culture, the history of its most revered sneaker styles, and their modern revival.
The term terrace culture first came about to describe the scene that existed around the loyal English football fans who would travel across Europe to support their teams. Back then, stadiums were less than luxurious and included standingonly areas without seats – terraces – where fans would stand for the entirety of the game. Gum-sole adidas ‘creps’ became the uniform for these spectators and were central to terrace culture because of the behaviours they were associated with: fierce camaraderie and equally fierce rivalry. The name ‘casual’ reflects the fact that these fans avoided wearing club colours, which made them a target for police and stadium authorities, and instead opted for expensive designer labels. On the terraces of European stadiums, you’d find passionate English fans – decked out in Gazelles, Spezials and Sambas – cheering and yelling their club’s football chants.
While terrace silhouettes rose to prominence in the ’70s and beyond, the shoes adopted by the casuals were far from new; shoes such as the Sambas and Gazelles had debuted in the ’50s and ’60s.
The Sambas made their introduction in 1950 as adidas’ first football boot. They arrived just in time for that year’s World Cup, which was hosted by Brazil. To celebrate the South American country’s unique customs and football culture, adidas named it after Brazil’s national dance. However, it still took another 20 or so years before Sambas really took off, thanks to the casuals, as a then-dominant Liverpool FC was sponsored by the three stripes. The club’s hardcore followers have been credited as among the first to favour European designer labels, adopted while following their team to its continental matches, thereby defining the casual look.
These days, Sambas look a little different to their first iteration. They started out as a mid-top and were designed for gripping icy football fields. The shoe didn’t take today’s widely loved low-top form until 12 years later, in 1962. But the silhouette we see now largely resembles a 1972 version – one popular among the burgeoning futsal crowd for its ability to grip hardcourt surfaces – which sported the three stripes, a narrower shape, a gum sole and a blue adidas tag on the tongue.
Alongside the Sambas, Gazelles were also slowly staking their claim as another timeless style. The shoe debuted in 1966 in two colourways: red, intended for indoor sports, and blue, intended as a training shoe. Two years later at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, adidas released a third colour, gold, nicknamed ‘Mexicana’.
Fast forward roughly 10 years and, thanks to the casuals’ adoption of the shoe, Gazelles had become one of the most stylish footwear choices seen on the terraces. And so, much like the Samba’s, the Gazelle’s status was cemented as an iconic silhouette that became the inspiration for many adidas models going forward.
Sambas and Gazelles, and many other terrace silhouettes too, were never intended to be popular mainstream shoes. Originally, these styles were intended for athletes or affluent amateur players. Eventually they found a home off-field, providing an identity to the football casuals. Growing out of this influential subculture, it didn’t take long before gum soles became the lifestyle shoes.
Football fan that he was, Bob Marley was an early adopter in the 1970s. In the same decade, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards literally rocked Gazelles, and a young Michael Jackson wore them while practising his smooth moves back in the Jackson 5 days.
Manchester United supporter Freddie Mercury famously wore a pair of adidas Hercules wrestling boots onstage at 1985’s Live Aid mega-concert –but their low-slung silhouette below the ankle looks a lot like a pair of Sambas, and it’s that model that actor Remi Malek, playing the Queen front man, wears in a backstage rehearsal in the cinematic recreation, Bohemian Rhapsody
During Britpop’s heyday in the mid-1990s, and as Oasis swept the charts, the Gallagher brothers borrowed liberally from terrace culture’s swagger; they were often spotted in Sambas and Gazelles, and more recently Liam has endorsed a Spezial release. Contributing to this ’90s resurgence, in Danny Boyle’s 1996 cult film Trainspotting , lead character Mark Renton, played by Ewan McGregor, wears burgundy Samba Supers. A 1993 photo of English supermodel and scenester Kate Moss wearing a similar burgundy hue, but in the Gazelle silhouette, would later become the basis for a 2016 reissue in a dozen bright suede colourways. There’s even a 1990s image of Moss’s fellow supermodel Helena Christensen naked except for the Gazelles on her feet.
From the ’70s and the ’90s and on to the current era of social influence, where fashion trends seemingly travel the world overnight, terrace silhouettes have seen another revival in recent years. Sambas and Gazelles are hotter than ever right now. In other words, these styles are no longer the preserve of casuals on the stadium terrace –they’re a part of everyday casual attire for everyone from celebrities to digital creatives.
Along the way, (hat-tip to Kate and Helena in the ’90s) terrace styles transcended the masculine world of football’s hardcore fans. British Vogue ’s May 2023 issue called the Samba “the it-girls’ favourite trainer” while noting its pedigreed history. Marie Claire UK agreed, saying “the sneakers are now regularly seen on off-duty models and A-listers”. Rihanna, Kendall Jenner, Jennifer Lawrence, Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber have all been snapped wearing terrace silhouettes.
Not to let the women have all the fun, A$AP Rocky, Frank Ocean and Robert Pattinson have all sported Sambas at one time or another over the past few years. And when soccer superstar Mo Salah appeared on a 2022 cover of British GQ with a pair of suede Gazelles on his feet – juxtaposed against a muddy pair of adidas football boots hanging around his neck – and with the whole fit set off by a tweed overcoat worn over a mesh singlet and loose cotton pants, the contrasting shoe pairs perfectly encapsulated terrace shoes’ transition from functional trainer to essential lifestyle sneaker.
No look at the modern revival of terrace styles would be complete without considering some of the influential collaborations and interpretations we’ve been blessed with. Just this year, Pharrell Williams reprised his legendary 50th-anniversary Superstars edition (2015) with a rainbow of monochromatic Humanrace x adidas Samba ‘Colors’.
Rewinding a couple of years, Grace Wales Bonner, under her eponymous label, arguably did more than anyone else to jumpstart the current Samba wave. In her 2020 adidas Originals x Wales Bonner collection, the Black British designer celebrated Afro-diasporic culture – and Jamaican music’s influence on the UK in particular (think back to Bob Marley wearing adidas) – with a range featuring elevated details such as corduroy uppers and hand-stitched crochet stripes.
So, while terrace silhouettes are rightfully associated with the intensity of the pitch – in all its loyalist, chant-leading glory – they’re now just at home on the high street and the fashion runway. They’re certainly here to stay, so it will be interesting to watch how these styles, already 70 years old in the Samba’s case, will continue to cross-pollinate across the culture.
While terrace silhouettes are rightfully associated with the intensity of the pitch – in all its loyalist, chant-leading glory –they’re now just at home on the high street and the fashion runway.Matt Slocum
Putting the Van in Vans, Steve Van Doren has been involved with the iconic sneaker company his father founded since he was just 10 years old. He shares a lifetime of experience and a message of integrity.
HEY STEVE, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO TALK TO US! COULD YOU BEGIN BY TALKING ABOUT THE EARLY DAYS, WHEN YOUR FATHER BUILT THE VANS COMPANY FROM SCRATCH?
It was 1966 when our company began, but it took a hard 15 months before that to get ready for business. My father, Paul Van Doren, along with James Van Doren, Gordon Lee and Serge DeLia, were the original founders of Vans.
My father grew up in Boston and at 16 years old he left his first year of high school to go work at the local shoe factory, called Randy Shoes. He worked there for 20 years making vulcanised footwear. In 1963, the East Coast shoemaker asked Paul to move to California and save their West Coast factory that was losing $1 million every two months. Paul took Gordy, Jimmy and three other men with him, and nine months later he succeeded in reorganising that West Coast plant so it was even doing better than the long-running East Coast plant.
After one year on the West Coast, my dad decided to quit that company as he did not believe in its integrity anymore. In early 1964, he had a dream of manufacturing his own shoes and selling them direct to consumers in Vans shoe stores, which differed from his previous company that was solely a manufacturer.
Paul’s philosophy was to make the best quality shoes at a competitive price and provide superior customer service. This is Vans. Well, it took about 15 months to finally open at the 704 East Broadway location in Anaheim, California. I was 10 years old. In 1966, my brother Paul Jr and I went with our dad to work every summer and weekends as my dad, Jimmy and Gordy built everything in the factory that was needed to manufacture vulcanised shoes.
We opened the first store on March 16, 1966, and I worked on the weekends going with my dad to local swap meets and passing out flyers and spreading the word about Vans being a brand-new shoe company to anyone who would listen. This was the beginning of a long, hard effort to build the company’s name with potential customers. Eventually, Paul opened 10 Vans retail stores, followed by another 10 stores, and we were still going to swap meets on the weekends so we could sell enough shoes for the factory to make a profit.
Since I was 10 years old, I would follow my father around, learning from him how to work hard and observing his talent for building strong rapport with everyone he interacted with. My brother, Paul Jr, was interested in machinery, engines and mechanical engineering. I liked sales and naturally gravitated toward selling our products – I did what I saw my father doing but added my personality to it.
In my mid-teens I worked in our warehouse where we inventoried every shoe each Friday by hand and recorded it manually. We learnt to double-check every number. Being accurate was very important. Passion and pride were part of what I learnt, and that people are the number one asset to a company. Honesty and integrity were also learnt as I grew up in the business, but hard work was always a must. You led by being there and setting an example – nothing was above doing yourself. These are the same values that I uphold today. I never had any intention of doing anything other than working for the company my dad started.
In the mid ’70s, I saw that skateboarders had adopted our shoes, and loved wearing them for their grippy outsoles. They had created a culture, and by supporting this group of individuals we quickly built our brand’s name and credibility. Skateboarders really adopted us before we supported them, but we’ve spent the past 40-plus years since then supporting skateboarding however we can, from our owned event platforms to our roster of talented athletes across the globe.
VANS IS A BRAND THAT’S KNOWN FOR STAYING TRUE TO ITS DNA. BUT THERE WAS A TOUGH POINT IN THE 1980S. COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT AND HOW YOUR DAD RESTORED THE COMPANY?
The early ’80s were magical for our brand. We were on the heels of introducing our first skate shoe, the Era featuring the signature ‘Off The Wall’ heel label. The early ’80s saw the release of Fast Times at Ridgemont High starring Sean Penn as Spicoli, and the Vans Checkerboard Slip-On was born. It’s one of the most popular shoes in all of shoe history and remains that way today, 40 years since the very first ones were seen in the movie. Nothing says Vans more than a Checkerboard pair of shoes.
Our company was growing fast. My Uncle Jim was Vans president at the time, as my father, Paul, was trying to back off some from the business. Jim wanted to expand our shoe line and start making many athletic shoes for running, tennis, wrestling, boxing and basketball. For the next few years, we started expanding into these different styles, but the cost to develop these shoes, combined with our company’s first foray into advertising, hurt the business. The bank did not want to fund this growth and forced our brand into Chapter 11. Vans owed $11 million dollars as well as a personal guarantee of $2 million my dad vouched for.
The courts approved a reorganisation plan for the business with my dad coming back to lead Vans, and my
uncle Jim was removed as president. Paul explained his plan and that it would take three years to repay the $12 million debt. The banks offered to settle on 25% for them and the creditors but my father said, “No, we will pay it all back.” And that’s exactly what he did. After three years, we exited Chapter 11. We also stopped making athletic shoes when Paul took over and went back to just manufacturing vulcanised styles.
The biggest lesson I learned during these tough years from 1983 to 1987 was integrity. Say what you mean and do what you say. In 1984, we could not afford to pay a skate team manager and had to part ways with the best skate manager ever, Everett Rosecrans. He went to Vision Street Wear for three years, and, as soon as we got out of Chapter 11, I hired Everett back and he was able to bring back our whole team in skateboarding, surfing and BMX.
One of the most important things any company can do is stick to what made you who you are. Go back to the basics. We would not be here 57 years later if we wouldn’t have gone back to Vans’ DNA, had the integrity to pay off our debts and get back to what made us the number one skate brand in the world: a vulcanised shoe manufacturer that stays true to our roots in action sports and skateboarding.
The first shoe we made was style 44, known today as the Authentic. The next was style 95, or the Era, created in 1976 and was our first skateboarding shoe – [it was] adopted by Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta and the Z Boys. They represented this “Off The Wall” spirit at the time,
skating backyard pools and paving the way for thousands skaters and surfers to follow.
From there, we came up with a style 98, a padded collar Slip-On. The style 36 Old Skool came next in 1977, and Stacy Peralta was featured in the first skate ads for this new shoe, which marked the introduction of our famous Sidestripe, then called the “jazz stripe”.
Next, in 1978, came the style 38, or the Sk8-Hi. This was a high-top version of style 37, but when skaters saw all the padding and reinforcement around the ankle with the Sk8-Hi, they switched over quickly.
And finally, in 1989, the full Cab shoe was released, followed by the Half Cab about two years later. We just celebrated 30 years of the Half Cab and Steve Caballero for having one of our first signature shoes.
I am so glad my dad moved to Southern California back in 1964. Southern California is the bedrock of skateboarding and surfing. Vans’ roots began in Costa Mesa where we opened our first store at a separate location from our factory in Anaheim, California. So much of our company’s history is based on our roots in Southern California culture. In 2016, 50 years after Vans began, we moved our offices back to Costa Mesa where we remain today.
In the mid ’ 70s, I saw that skateboarders had adopted our shoes. They had created a culture, and by supporting this group of individuals we quickly built our brand’s name and credibility.
Steve Van Doren
STEVE, YOU’RE KNOWN FOR YOUR GENEROUS PERSONAL SPIRIT AND YOUR SENSE OF HUMOUR. YOUR OFFICIAL TITLE IS VICE PRESIDENT OF EVENTS AND PROMOTIONS, IS THAT RIGHT? COULD YOU SHARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE MARKETING OR COMMUNITY-BUILDING EVENTS YOU’VE PUT ON OVER THE YEARS?
Yes, my title is vice president of events and promotions, although I prefer Vans global ambassador. We have great people who run the day-to-day operations at Vans. Our global brand president today is Kevin Bailey.
People often think I’m the CEO as they know I have been at the company so many years. But for me, whenever I hear that term in regard to what I do, I think of CEO as ‘chief entertainment officer’, as my main job is to help build our brand locally and globally through events and activations that bring our communities together.
It’s been an honour getting to be at the forefront of all these grassroots achievements, from 25 years keeping the Vans Warped Tour going and delivering music and skateboarding to over 11.5 million fans, to the 30-plus years working on the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and now Vans Pipe Masters.
I am extra proud of my team who have helped provide on-the-ground support for the many disasters over the last few decades, like the hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the fires in Northern California and the devastation to the Bahamas and Florida. We travelled there in the aftermath and helped many thousands of families by providing much needed shoes, socks, shirts, et cetera and supported those on the frontlines.
We’ve also been working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and have big plans coming up. They also just inducted longtime Vans Family and skate team member Tony Alva into their Hall of Fame for his work as a young teen giving back to the Santa Monica community before he became a professional skateboarder.
Nothing in life is better than a live event. Especially when most all of ours are free! Vans has always been about giving back to the community and ensuring that everyone from the fans to the athletes is taken care of.
Vans’ identity has been shaped in part by the grassroots events we’ve become known for. It’s all about having fun, watching contests with your friends, and stopping by to see our events team here and all the great regional teams around the world that produce Vans’ events. It’s all about the people. We cook for them, from BBQ to waffles-on-a-stick, and we want everyone to feel like they’re part of the event.
I love cooking for everyone and passing out free gifts and even making limited shoes for those who attend. It’s a way to say thank you in a small way so they remember a few hours of their time was spent at a Vans event.
JUST
BEEN IN CALIFORNIA, VANS HAS BEEN EMBRACED BY AUSTRALIAN SKATERS. ARE YOU AWARE OF THE ROLE HYPE DC HAS PLAYED OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS CONNECTING TO THAT SKATEBOARDING COMMUNITY?
I want to congratulate you all at Hype DC. Twenty-five years is a major achievement, and you should be recognised for that. You have built your own family of loyal customers. I always loved coming over to the Sydney area. I visited for about 10 years in a row for the Vans Bondi Bowl event, and Hype DC has always been a strong partner for us.
I also have friends from Melbourne that I’ve stayed in touch with for more than 50 years, after getting to know a foreign exchange student from there when I was in high school. Doing the Vans Warped tour four times in Australia was another highlight and many of our best athletes have also come from Australia.
Hype DC has helped the Vans brand keep its DNA in skateboarding by featuring our brand in their store and throughout the local community for the last quarter century, so thank you to the Hype DC team.
HOW DOES A BRAND LIKE VANS, ONE WITH SUCH A KEEN SENSE OF LEGACY, LOOK TO THE FUTURE?
We look to the future by staying true to who we are and keeping skateboarding and our consumer at the forefront of everything we do around the world. We’re committed to listening to our consumers and catering to their needs. One of the most iconic examples of that is our Checkerboard pattern, which came from our customers drawing on some of our early canvas shoes. We will continue supporting the core of our brand with skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding and BMX, as well as the many artists, musicians, and creatives who are at the heart of Vans’ mission to empower everyone to be their most authentic self.
Thank you, and here’s to 57 more years of skateboarding and surfing.
Joe Foster is a living legend, the direct descendant of the man who invented the spiked running shoe. Building on his grandfather's commitment to athletic innovation, Joe launched Reebok in 1958 with his brother Jeff. Joe visited Australia in early 2023 and came to speak at Hype Sessions, our culture-building event series. He gave us a wide-ranging interview in which he explained Reebok’s history and looked ahead in its unfolding relationship with Hype DC.
Reebok has a history dating back to the late 19 th century. But you could argue it was Jane Fonda who put it on the map.
In the 1960s, the Foster brothers – Joe and Jeff – had found success for Reebok by producing running shoes and track spikes designed by Joe for the local English market. In this, the brothers were following in the family footsteps, a history we’ll return to shortly.
Yet it was two seemingly unrelated events in the late 1970s that would change the company’s fate forever. An outdoor wholesaler named Paul Fireman purchased the rights to distribute Reebok in North America, and a new fitness craze called aerobics started sweeping the USA.
One savvy American salesman quickly noticed that his wife and her friends were attending aerobics classes barefoot or in ill-suited footwear. He convinced Paul Fireman to gamble on a women’s sneaker model suitable for the exercise.
At the time, this was something of a revolutionary idea. None of the athletic brands designed shoes for women, much less any that catered to specific activities.
In 1982, Reebok broke the mould with the release of the Freestyle, the first sneaker designed for women. The shoe would become so synonymous with aerobics that, after the release, the queen of the movement herself, Jane Fonda, started wearing the shoes in her wildly popular workout videos.
“Aerobics was our white space,” Joe says. “We grew from a $9 million business to a $900 million business in just over four years.”
But there’s a whole history that leads to those halcyon days of legwarmers and big hair. The story of Reebok starts in the late 19th century in Bolton, England, with another sports footwear brand. “It’s a legacy going back to my grandfather in 1895, when he invented the spiked running shoe,” Joe recalls.
This invention led to the creation of J.W. Foster & Sons, the first (but not the last) of the Fosters’ forays into footwear design and manufacturing. The pioneering company was a success, at least until Joe’s grandfather died in 1933 and control of the business fell to its eponymous sons, Joe’s and Jeff’s father and uncle.
“Unfortunately, they didn’t get along at all,” says Joe. “As a result, the wonderful business my grandfather had grown started to fail – and fail badly.”
Once the brothers returned from compulsory national service, they decided to take matters into their own hands. They left the family business to set up their own company, Mercury Sports Footwear, in 1958.
But there was one more hurdle they had to face. As it turned out, the British Shoe Corporation had already registered the Mercury name.
The company offered to sell the moniker to the Foster brothers for a king’s ransom: £1000. “We’d just set up our company and machines for £250. We didn’t have £1000,” says Joe. So, the two turned to the dictionary instead – landing on the page of the grey rhebok and adopting its Afrikaans spelling – reebok – as the new name for their company.
Fast forward to Fonda and those Freestyles and, while Reebok was experiencing astronomical growth, Joe was determined that the company wouldn’t be known as a one-trick pony.
“We got to a certain size and decided we’ve got to get away from just being an aerobics shoe,” he says. So, Reebok turned their attention to tennis, a sport they thought they could have a real impact in.
The now beloved Club C was an attempt to get into this market, though its legacy would be almost entirely off the court. The shoe was an updated take on an earlier model called the Revenge Plus and featured a minimal white leather upper and the first iteration of Reebok’s signature ‘window’ label, featuring the logo alongside the Union Jack.
“Performance-wise in tennis, I don’t think it was the best,” laughs Joe. “But it was a shoe that became an icon.” In his opinion, the key to the Club C’s success – and its enduring appeal – lies in its simplicity.
“This was a shoe that crossed over from performance to street,” he says. “When people buy a pair of shoes, they love seeing some of these really complicated ones, but they want a nice white shoe that goes with everything.” The Club C was that shoe. Clean, minimal and approachable – able to be dressed up or down.
The combined success of models like the Freestyle, Club C and Classic propelled Reebok to unfathomable heights during the 1980s. Joe sold the full rights to Reebok to Paul Fireman in 1984 but stayed involved with the company as it became the largest player in the sneaker game – it reigned supreme over adidas and Nike with an annual sales figure in the billions.
By 1989, Joe had left the business entirely and Reebok entered a new era as a performance company. That year’s key release best represents this transition: the iconic Pump – a bold, brash shoe full of tech. 1997’s release of the DMX sole technology – a futuristic pod-based cushioning system designed for running –is a catalogue entry with a similarly ambitious design spirit.
Aerobics was our white space. We grew from a $9 million business to a $900 million business in just over four years.
Joe Foster
Still, when reflecting on his favourite silhouette from Reebok’s extensive archive, Joe doesn’t point to any of these storied models, or to the classics that made Reebok a household name to begin with. Instead, his choice traces right back to the company’s roots in Bolton and his family’s legacy in running shoes.
“We did a shoe called the World Ten. [It] was called that because the guy we designed it for, Ron Hill, broke the world 10-mile record in that shoe,” says Joe. The model, made from lightweight suede that gave it a glove-like fit, was released in a burnt umber colour billed as ‘snazzy fox’.
As Joe tells it, Ron was so protective of his snazzy fox World Tens that he wouldn’t leave the shoes with a technician when they needed repair, instead choosing to wait around until they completed the work. “It’s probably not the biggest volume of shoes we sold, but it’s one of the most iconic as far as I was concerned,” Joe recalls.
More recently, Reebok has had an eventful few decades, being acquired by adidas in 2005 before they divested in 2021 and the company changed hands once again, this time to Authentic Brand Group.
Joe is decidedly optimistic about the future. “The brand has such a legacy,” he says. “I look around, and I see a lot of Reebok shoes and a lot of my design still in there. The sole, the window we used on the side, the lettering. I’m amazed that from when those were designed by me in 1975–76, they’re still there.”
It’s a legacy that in Australia has been helped in no small part by Hype DC. “I’ve loved seeing the partnership between Reebok and Hype DC over the years,” says Joe. “I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen in the future. It’s going to be very, very interesting.”
To many, Lacoste is synonymous with nostalgia. After all, René Lacoste was a 1920s French world tennis champion who started his eponymous brand back in 1933. Lacoste’s crocodile-logo sports shirts became a midcentury staple, revived in the 1980s as an icon of preppy fashion. But Lacoste has always challenged tradition to pursue a radical future. And that philosophy began with the man himself.
René Lacoste was 15 when he realised he could improve his racquet grip by wrapping the handle in surgical tape. He also patented an automatic tennis-ball serving machine at age 24.
“Inventor! If I had to put a profession on my business card, that’s what I would write,” said René. “I’ve been inventing my whole life.”
Sick of sweltering on the court in heavy, long-sleeved shirts, in 1928 René defied conservative tennis dress codes by designing a revolutionary shortsleeved shirt in stretchy, moisture-wicking piqué cotton. In dispensing with the starched-collar ‘tennis whites’ the game had been played in until this point, Lacoste was inspired by an aristocratic friend, the Marquis of Cholmondeley, who wore his polo shirt on the tennis court.
The moment René stepped out in his own polo creation for the final of the French Championship is the historic event that defines the beginning of sportswear as we now know it. It caused such a sensation that René started a company in 1933 to sell his garments, the breast embroidered with the reptile he’d adopted as his personal emblem. ‘Lacoste’ – now a brand as well as a tennis champion – became the very first company to put a visible logo on clothing available for sale.
But he didn’t stop there. René designed improved golf clubs for his wife Simone, a champion in her own sport. And in 1963, he patented the world’s first tubular steel tennis racquet, which was wielded in 46 Grand Slam titles between 1966 and 1978.
A champion and a gentleman, René Lacoste had one passion beyond tennis: invention. With his deep-rooted love for the sport, he developed the first dedicated tennis shoe in 1958. The featherweight René plimsoll used herringbone cotton canvas, with a matching rubber sole for grip. An anti-slip inner. Metal ventilation eyelets. Reinforced heel seams and rubber toe. And absolutely no adornment: the blueprint for the modern all-white court sneaker was drawn up here.
That innovation continued. With EVA cushioning, protective reinforcements, anti-slip grips, ventilation systems, Lacoste shoes have always featured avantgarde technical properties that push the limits of performance and continue to evolve the sport.
Other shoes followed through the 1980s and ’90s. The sleek, all-leather Ardeur and Carnaby. The swaggering Missouri, aka M85. The G80, whose chunky sole offered better hard-court shock absorption. The Indiana, with gusseted cut and quilted collar. The V-Ultra, whose perforated leather recalled René’s famous racquet grip.
What we see now as timeless elegance is really tireless innovation. As a German ad campaign put it in 1987: “Wie das Hemd, so der Schuh.” Like shirt, like shoe.
Archive elements abound; this is a shoe for the modern sneaker fan who knows their references.
Sarah Szelig
Lacoste’s appeal to tennis heritage and the athletic lifestyle, across both its apparel and footwear ranges, has seen a string of prestigious brands line up to collaborate. Streetwear legends Supreme, fellow French brand A.P.C., and Tyler, the Creator’s label, GOLF le FLEUR, are just some of those who have teamed up with the Crocodile.
In 2006, Lacoste became the first ever brand to collaborate with Melbournefounded magazine Sneaker Freaker, unveiling the Missouri 85 ‘Minty Fresh’. Relaunching a silhouette that hadn’t been seen since the mid ‘80s, this iconic collaboration arrived as more and more sneakerheads, skateboarders and streetwear fans began to rock Lacoste, embracing its movement from the court to the streets. The ‘Minty Fresh’ quickly won eyeballs over with this classic combo of black, white and grey suede, leather and mesh, with ultra-vivid mint pops.
With such a rich history in sport, fashion and streetwear, Lacoste’s footwear offering today has strong ties to its past while looking to the future. Let’s look at just a few favourites: the Carnaby, LT 125, L001 and L003 silhouettes. Launched in the 1980s, the Carnaby is Lacoste’s most iconic court shoe. An elegant leather upper defining a simple lace-up silhouette reflects the premium aesthetic of this archive shoe. A stylish leather collar and top tongue further enhance the heritage look. The Carnaby takes Lacoste’s timeless, tennisinformed aesthetic and refreshes it with a modern mood. A shoe that can be dressed up or down, and styled for any occasion, it’s still a bestseller. Clean and cool, it’s the very definition of the white court sneaker – a contemporary classic. Lacoste’s LT range aced the ’90s like a 150 mph serve. It spearheaded the brand’s performance tennis line and saw the likes of French player Guy Forget win countless championships with the LT 125 on foot. Relaunched in 2023, the LT 125 has made a full comeback, stepping into the contemporary realm through an array of design modifications that bring the LT series into play as a lifestyle shoe.
In its original incarnation, the LT 125 was characterised by its focus on stability and freedom of movement. Challenging accepted norms – as René had done way back in the ’30s – and pursuing the idea of ‘future tennis’, the LT 125 aimed to push the boundaries of the sport.
Respecting that foundation, the reinvigorated LT 125 arrives equipped with a comprehensive material treatment that nods to two prevalent textures of tennis: towelling and nylon. Meanwhile, a number of technologies from the original have been faithfully conserved: the rigid lace keeper, reinforced toe end and heel stabiliser all find their way back onto the LT 125.
In 2021, Lacoste debuted a completely new sneaker, the L001 – the first of the L00 series. On some colourways, the crocodile takes a back seat, stamped almost invisibly into the sneaker’s skin. Instead, your eye is drawn to a triangle motif – the same shape as a tennis racquet’s throat. Archive elements abound; this is a shoe for the modern sneaker fan who knows their references and has a respect for the cultural artefacts of the game.
The L00 series continued to grow with the introduction of the dynamic L003 Neo, a lifestyle sneaker with fashionable details inspired by streetwear and performance. Born as a runway concept shoe in 2022, it represents a true blurring of fashion and sport.
Taking inspiration from the tennis ball, the outsole is created from responsive EVA and comes with flexible grooves for ultimate movement and stretch, while the shoe’s upper features eye-catching padded synthetic panels, vibrant open-mesh detailing and looped lacing details on the heel.
The L003 breaks down the boundaries that have existed between smart and casual, style and sport, men and women, offering something that works across contexts and cultures.
In 2023, Lacoste celebrates 90 years of the Crocodile. That’s 90 years of connecting cultures and building the world of tomorrow. Loved by everyone from tennis players and golf fanatics to vintage collectors and fashion-forward trendsetters, from hip-hop heads to skateboarders, Lacoste bridges sport and fashion. From the court to the street, Lacoste has ignited the movement.
Lacoste has always challenged tradition to pursue a radical future. That philosophy began with the man himself.
Sarah Szelig
In 2019, with our friends at The Weekly Drop, Hype DC put on a series of live events that gave Australian fans the chance to hear from three major international players in the history of sneakers. We recently caught up with The Weekly Drop ’s editor and host, Steve Duck, to look back at these influential events.
When I think about the events, what stands out to me, first of all, is that I want to give Hype DC props for putting it on and for understanding it.
When I conceptualised these events, it was really about community because there was not as strong a sense of that in sneakers at that time. We’d moved away from an earlier time of camping out overnight for a pair of Jordans or whatever and meeting people in the queue – or little brand parties with beers and a raffle for a new drop – to a more online era.
So that was really the motivating thing for me: to build and energise the community again. The heart and soul was just engaging with sneaker fans and putting on something that people like me would enjoy.
So I was impressed when Hype understood that. They didn’t say, “Okay, we’ll do this, but you have to buy a pair of shoes to get in,” or something like that. They were like, “Yeah, this sounds good, let’s do it.” I’ll always be grateful to them for understanding the vision and going ahead with it.
And we made three really great events. People sometimes still, especially if I’m in a sneaker store or whatever, will be like, “Oh, I know you from somewhere.” And then eventually they’ll be like, “Oh, you interviewed Steven Smith, or you did that The Weekly Drop live event with Bobbito.” This happened to me in Perth, for example. You know what I mean? Thousands of kilometres away and these people are saying, “I really liked that. This was my favourite part,” or whatever. “Are you going to do more of them?”
Well, we were lucky because The Weekly Drop had been around for, I don’t know, three years, five years. Something like that. Anyhow, because of that we were able to authentically engage with that community because we were in it ourselves. When I say we, it was me and Andy (Nguyen), he ran the socials, and Zac (Hayse), who hosted the videos. We were basically just talking to our friends and to likeminded people.
We did that through our videos, through social media; we did that through the newsletter. And when it came time to do an event, we’d just put out there: “Hey, this is what we’re going to do and you’re welcome to come.” It was that simple, really. It wasn’t like a hard sell to get people to come and watch these talks, that’s for sure.
We were very fortunate that, with Jeff Staple, Andrew (Montell, managing editor of Complex AU, Acclaim and Hype DC’s Limit’d magazine) had a connection with Jeff and was able to call in a favour. ’Cause that was the first one, so at that point it’s an unproven concept anyway. So we got him in.
I think Bobbito was going to be in Melbourne because he had a screening of a documentary. So we were able to just piggyback off that.
And with Steven Smith that was Vinny Tang, who was at Hype DC. He was basically a personal friend with Steven because not only were they both sneaker guys, they were also both car guys. And I think they had met through Vinny’s experience at Sneaker Freaker. So when you want to talk about Hype’s connection to the world of sneakers and stuff, look at Vinny Tang coming from Sneaker Freaker and making a connection with someone as legendary as Steven Smith, going to Hype DC and then leveraging that relationship. Like with Andrew and Jeff Staple, he was pulling in a favour. I think Vinny was like, “Oh well, I’ll just holla at my boy, Steven Smith, and see if he wants to come out.”
They all work together as a nice little triangle. Steven Smith is purely product, Bobbito Garcia is purely culture and Jeff is a bit of both.
So if you start with Steven Smith, he’s studied industrial design and ended up working at New Balance. As he told us, prior to that you wouldn’t know who a sneaker designer was. He had a pair of New Balance 990s he ran in as a teenager, but he didn’t know who designed them because at the time the people who designed shoes were just the guys in the factory: cobblers and patternmakers and stuff. There wasn’t a creative visionary at the top.
So he gets that opportunity to go to New Balance, and it’s a case of right place, right time because he’s then able to design shoes that go on to have these long-lasting legacies and become legendary shoes. Along the way, he’s done your classic New Balance things – like the 996, 997, 1500 and the 574 – but, after moving to Reebok, he also comes out with my favourite shoe that he ever designed: the Instapump Fury. It’s such an aggressive, forward-thinking, insane shoe, where you take a Reebok Pump and then strip everything off it and just leave the bladder and then put an air pump on it and make a bootie with the bladder. It doesn’t make any sense – you know what I mean? But that’s what he did, and it’s the greatest shoe I can think of.
And from there, he also worked at Nike, and he worked at FILA. He worked everywhere. And then I suppose what made him even more well known was when he went and worked with Kanye on the Yeezy brand. If you want to talk about forward-thinking designs and progressive designs, that was all on show at Yeezy. Obviously, it’s a very polarising brand because of Kanye, but when you look at those products on their merit and you look solely at the beautiful design work, it’s incredible. Also, this was at a time when Nike was trying to simplify and economically streamline their output with things like Roshe Runs and Hyperfuse, putting one-piece uppers on top of soft EVA soles and that sort of stuff. Then Kanye and Steven Smith come out with the Yeezy 700 Wave Runner – I think there were 16 different fabric pieces on that shoe.
So anyway, when people talk about sneaker designers, they talk about Tinker Hatfield, who obviously had a lot of experience with Jordan – he designed Jordans 3 through 14 and many, many other classic Nike shoes – and then Steven Smith is the next name they mention.
So, Bobbito famously wrote the first ever magazine article about sneaker collecting. This is way back in 1991 in The Source. I’ve got it, I’ve got that issue. Bobbito wrote an article called 'Confessions of a Sneaker Addict' and in it he talked about what it meant to be someone who collected sneakers, because that was quite a novel idea at the time. But this was New York City and there were people who were coveting … everyone had a pair of Superstars, for example, but one guy had a pair that had orange stripes as opposed to black or red or whatever. And everyone’s like, “Damn, where are these from?” Because they were putting these special products into just one mom-and-pop store in Harlem or in the Bronx or wherever it was. And that spawned a culture.
And because Bobbito wrote that article in The Source it placed him as something of a figurehead in sneaker culture. And then, as time goes by, he becomes a cultural figure in his own right because of The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show that he did, a radio show where Nas and Big L and WuTang and all these people – Jay-Z – everyone would come on and freestyle. Just legendary stuff.
So he’s a DJ, and he also worked in A&R and radio promotion for Def Jam before that. But because he was a DJ who was in New York in the ‘70s and the ‘80s and he was someone who loved basketball, and played basketball, he just became synonymous with the world of uptown basketball. And obviously, hoops and hip-hop came along hand in hand with that.
So his cultural standing spans, like we’ve said, street ball, and it’s obviously linked with New York hip-hop and the people who ended up changing the world with New York hip-hop.
At the same time, he wrote a book in the early 2000s, which was called Where’d You Get Those? It’s about sneaker collecting in New York, so it was an expansion of that first article. Now, I couldn’t tell you if it was the first ever book about sneaker collecting, but it did come quite early in the piece, and it documented all the different shoes that he would remember from that time. It’s not just Superstars and Air Force 1s and stuff; there’s a lot of stuff in there about PRO-Keds and all the sneakers that had an impact on the New York street ball scene at different eras.
He’s someone who was there at the genesis, the very, very beginning of sneaker culture in New York. And that New York sneaker culture then informed the rest of the world.
YOU TALK ABOUT CULTURE AND THAT’S IMPORTANT, BECAUSE IT CAN’T JUST BE ABOUT THE DESIGN ALL THE TIME. IT’S ALMOST LIKE A MOLECULAR STRUCTURE – YOU NEED ALL THESE DIFFERENT PARTS THAT COME TOGETHER.
Yeah. Without those cultural figures like Bob, then the product that Steven Smith is making wouldn’t make a difference – it wouldn’t cut through.
AND THEN THERE’S JEFF STAPLE, WHO YOU SAID SITS SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE.
Jeff is someone who has been involved with sneakers at some level for a very, very long time. People think of Jeff and they think about the Pigeon Dunk and then the other STAPLE collabs that he’s done. And those are monumental, especially the Pigeon Dunk.
But when you go back and look at that interview and you see the history and how long he was working alongside Nike, just trying to get his foot in the door. It was a very long period after initiating that contact, while he was doing these little odd jobs and freelance design work, before he actually got the opportunity to do the Nike SB collab.
This was part of a cultural shift, because Nike wanted to play in skateboarding but skateboarding did not want Nike anywhere near it. So they had to rethink their strategy completely and what they did was collaborations. They did a lot of collaborations that were culturally aligned with skaters, with skate shops. They did what they could to put money back into skate shops by giving independent skate shops collabs, like the Diamond Supply collab for example, which then puts a lot of money back into the store. Of course, one of these collabs was the Pigeon Dunk.
Nike SB as a whole thing was a turning point for sneaker culture because of that collaboration concept, but the Pigeon Dunk itself was a turning point in the history of Nike SB because of the riots that happened around the store when he tried to release that shoe. So basically, that puts him at the centre of this enormous cultural shift. And so that’s the importance of Jeff.
Oh man, it’s my pleasure. It’s not often I get to look back on something like this. Normally, you do it and then the next day you’re back in the office thinking about the next thing that you got to do. It’s only in retrospective that you look back and go, “That was really fucking good. That was great.”
In 2019, Hype DC and The Weekly Drop put on a series of live events that gave Australian fans the chance to hear from three major international players in the history of sneakers. For one of these events we spoke to Jeff Staple, a creative visionary whose work encompasses graphic design, fashion design, footwear design and brand marketing.
OKAY, WE’VE ORGANISED THIS AS THE PAST, THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE PAST, IT’S VERY TEMPTING FOR US TO TALK ABOUT PIGEON DUNKS, BUT I THINK WE’VE ALL HEARD THAT STORY MAYBE ONCE OR TWICE BEFORE.
INSTEAD, LETS GO FURTHER BACK, TO WHEN YOU WERE THE ART DIRECTOR AT THE FADER. HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO GO FROM THERE TO BEAVERTON, NIKE HQ?
It was maybe even a little bit harder than that, because The Fader at the time was a very small magazine. The team at The Fader was five people, and I was the art director and designer of the entire magazine. But I happened to have a journalism background; before I went to design school I went to journalism school, so I could work my way around a Word document.
And there was this story that I wanted to really get across, this is going back to 1998 – so probably before many of you were able to speak – but there was this idea of parallel importing. So, back then, Nike and all the sneaker brands would release stuff regionally. So there would be a Japan drop, a Europe drop, a Southeast Asian drop, a North American drop, and they would just do it regionally.
And if you lived in America and if you wanted a Japan shoe, you had to go there and get it. And some people would go to Japan with an empty suitcase, buy 20 pairs of this Japan-only Dunk, and then bring it back and sell it. And this is really the birth of what you guys know now as Stadium Goods and Flight Club. This is the early, early stages of that.
I wanted to know why, if Nike knew that this stuff was happening, this parallel importing, why weren’t they just
making more of them or just distributing them everywhere?
So I convinced the publishers of The Fader : I said, “I want you to fly me to Japan. I will figure out how to interview the people of Nike Japan and get the story of why this parallel thing is happening, why they’re making shoes in limited quantities.”
And it’s funny, because I remember back then, the publisher of The Fader was like, “Wait, Nike’s making shoes in limited quantities?”
I’m like, “Yes, they’re making shoes in small [runs].” And he’s like, “Why would they do that?”
I said, “I don’t know. That’s what I want to find out too.” And he was like, “You know how to get the story done, right? You know how to get in touch with Nike?”
I was like, “Yeah, yeah, I got this.” I had no fucking idea how I was going to do this. So he paid for my ticket, paid for my hotel. And I literally just landed in Tokyo, and I just started going into sneaker stores.
I’d just walk into a store and I’d just be like, “Who gets you Nikes?”
No, I can’t speak Japanese. So I was like a detective just going from one lead to the next, trying to work my way up to the top of the food chain. Finally getting a meeting with somebody at Nike headquarters in Japan, and then figuring out and getting that story.
And that’s how I ended up meeting Hiroshi Fujiwara, who’s the founder of fragment. Because that guy at Nike said, “If you really want to understand how and why we choose which shoes to bring back and which shoes to make limited, you got to talk to this guy, Hiroshi Fujiwara.”
And that’s the first time I met Hiroshi. And I had to make a photo shoot happen because I was making this magazine.
It’s funny, one of the criticisms that I hear a lot is like, “Oh, you just put a pigeon on a shoe and you became big.” But Nike doesn’t just let people put their logos on shoes.
Jeff Staple
I was calling around to different friends who had photographer friends, and I was like, “Hey, can you help me shoot some stuff? Shoot some stores, shoot some stuff at Nike, shoot some shoes?”
And they were like, “Yeah, yeah, we’ll help you out. This is great. We love The Fader.”
And then I was like, “Yeah, can you help me shoot Hiroshi Fujiwara too?” And everyone’s like, “Oh, no. I can’t shoot. I can’t shoot Hiroshi.” I was like, “Why? You’re going to shoot all this other stuff?”
“Oh, he’s the god, you can’t shoot the god.” They were all scared to shoot him. Finally, I found one American dude who didn’t know who Hiroshi was. I didn’t know who Hiroshi was either.
And so finally we made the shoot happen, and we became fast friends since then. And that night after the interview, he was like, “Hey, do you want to come to my house for dinner?”
I go to his house – I’m not even joking – I walk in and James Jebbia, who’s the founder of Supreme, is sitting on his sofa. And then, out in his backyard, Eric Clapton is grilling barbecue. He’s like, “Hey, you want fish or steak?”
And I’m like, “Ah, steak. Hey, James.” It was the most random thing. And that’s the life of Hiroshi, basically.
So anyway, I was able to parlay that interview. The guy [at Nike] that I met there, he was like, “Oh, so tell me more about yourself. You art direct The Fader. You have a streetwear brand.” I had Staple at the time. “You’re a big sneaker connoisseur. We should work together.”
I was like, “Yeah, we fucking should.”
He’s like, “Okay, let’s arrange for you to go to Beaverton and start meeting some people.” And so that’s how that relationship started. It was really me just trying to get a story. I wasn’t going there seeking a collab. It’s not even a thing that anyone would ask for – it’s so weird now.
No, there weren't collabs happening at all. And the thought of me somehow being able to work with Nike in the capacity where they ask me for something and I ask for money and they pay it – that was unfathomable.
I was just happy. I wasn’t even trying to get a pair of shoes. Even getting a pair of shoes from the headquarters would’ve been a blessing.
So for him to be like, “You should go to Beaverton.” I was like, “Go to Beaverton.” That’s like, “You should go to the Wizard of Oz. You should just meet Oz.”
And I think within three months I was in Beaverton.
WOW, AND WHAT’S THE PROCESS? OBVIOUSLY THE PIGEON COMES OUT IN ’05. PRIOR TO THAT, YOU HAD THE [AIR MAX 1] NAVIGATION PACK [WITH THE LASER-ETCHED MAP OF NEW YORK CITY].
It was before that.
PRIOR TO THAT. SO WHAT’S THE PROCESS FROM BEING IN BEAVERTON, APPROXIMATELY ’98, TO THE NAVIGATION PACK. WHEN WAS THAT? ’04.
2004, RIGHT. SO THERE’S SIX YEARS IN BETWEEN. JUST A LOT OF HUSTLING AND JUST MAINTAINING THE RELATIONSHIP, OR WHAT HAPPENS?
After you go to Beaverton, you get blessed by the headquarters. And then Nike has a lot of regions. So then Nike NYC was like, "Because you’re from New York City, we will take care of you." And they gave me work to do.
There was a lot of really cool assignments. One of them was we formed a basketball league for people who were not good at basketball, basically. I basically pitched to Nike that you want everyone to wear Kobes, LeBrons and Jordans, but nobody actually plays basketball in these shoes. Because in New York City it’s really hard to get access to a court.
It’s funny, the word ‘influencer’ didn’t exist yet. So I was like, imagine people who have jobs where other people look to them for inspiration. I was like, these people have influence – what if you gave them basketball shoes? But then you also gave them a court to play on, and officials. An umpire to keep stats and everything. And then imagine if we played the playoffs and the finals at Madison Square Garden.
And, shout-out to a guy named Gerry Erasme, who’s like an OG at Nike, he was like, “We should make this happen.” And I remember Fight Club the movie, was really big then. The two rules of Fight Club are that, one, you never talk about Fight Club and, two, look at rule number one.
We wanted to create this Fight Club phenomenon where there were only 100 people allowed into this club. There were 10 teams, 10 people per team. We called it the Nike Recess Federation.
Each team was named after a shoe. So it was like Team Huarache versus Team Foamposite versus Team Air Force One versus Team Terminator. And then we ended up playing our finals at Madison Square Garden. And it was a seasonlong thing; I think we had six seasons of it. It was pretty special and amazing.
I’m Team Terminator, yeah. We won one year.
The trophy was a Nike Dunk Low made out of basketball leather. There was only 10 of them made, for the winning team. So if you have one of those, it’s a one of 10.
It’s all pre-Pigeon. It’s funny, one of the criticisms that I hear a lot is like, “Oh, you just put a pigeon on a shoe and you became big.” But Nike doesn’t just let people put their logos on shoes. You have to get to a point where Nike’s like, “Oh, do you want to do something?” They don’t just call random people, like cold call.
So, to move forward, we understand the story of meeting Nike and how it led to the Pigeons and so on, and various other jobs and collaborations. But currently, if we look at the present, Jeff’s really well known for the Business of HYPE podcast.
I wanted to do a podcast where I would interview all my friends who have businesses, and I’d go into depth about the financials. I thought that because I’m a fellow business owner it would be more of a casual conversation versus a Q&A from a journalist.
Probably the fact that social media is really fucking shit up for a lot of people. Because what happens is, when I started a brand 20 years ago, there was no social media. So the fact is that now part of owning a brand or part of doing anything is not only the operation of the brand or the company itself, but it’s also how you show and perceive the success of your brand to the outside world.
Whereas, before Instagram, that wasn’t something that I had to worry about. When I started Staple, I didn’t have to worry about how Staple looked like it was doing to the outside world. I was fully focused on the business at hand. But right now, as you know from image consultants or influencers, and even if you have a brand, it’s all about, “Man, if I rent a car, I can’t just rent the cheapest car. I have to rent this fly whip so that when I’m doing the selfie, people see the BMW logo.”
“If I’m flying coach, I can’t take a picture that I’m flying coach because then people will know I couldn’t afford a business class ticket.” These are things that these kids have to think about nowadays, and it’s so preposterous. Just concentrate on making your brand.
SWITCHING GEARS, I WOULD LIKE TO GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SNEAKER SCENE THESE DAYS. IT FEELS LIKE EVERYTHING IS EITHER A YEEZY OR AN OFF-WHITE COLLAB, OR MAYBE SOMEONE’S GOT A FEAR OF GOD TO SELL. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
It depends on what you want. For me and the era that I came from, nothing infuriated me more than if I walk into a room and someone else is wearing the shoes that I’m wearing. I will go home immediately. I’ll just leave the party right away.
I don’t know if that is a generational thing or something, but now it seems like you go into a room and everyone’s wearing Yeezy Inertias. You’re in a clique and you’re like, “Oh, we’re the ones who got this, and no one else could like us. The eight of us have this thing, and now we’re like a crew.”
So maybe there is a little bit of clique mentality that’s happening, where there’s the Off-White gang, the Yeezy gang, and then there’s the gang that just wears Chuck Taylors. They don’t give a fuck, but they really do give a fuck.
RIGHT NOW, THE CROSSOVER BETWEEN SNEAKER CULTURE AND HIGH FASHION IS SUCH A HOT THING. DO YOU THINK THIS IS GOING TO CONTINUE??
Absolutely. It’s a gateway drug. A lot of kids get into luxury brands through the footwear. Gucci is a huge example of that. So they get into it, and then they start buying from the feet up. So that’s why I call it the gateway drug to get customers in. And for a lot of luxury brands, it’s making the whole brand.
I JUST WISH THE FIRST HIT WAS FREE.
Right, good analogy. But yeah, I don’t think it’s going away at all.
WE’VE GOT VIRGIL ABLOH, WHO’S NOW WORKING AT LOUIS VUITTON. SO, NOT ONLY IS HIGH FASHION PROFITING FROM ORDINARY SNEAKERHEADS BUT IT'S ALSO USING PEOPLE THAT HAVE COME FROM SNEAKER CULTURE.
Yes, I think Virgil is in a very amazing moment in time for so many reasons. For street culture, sneaker culture, people of colour, minorities. He’s got a lot of weight on his shoulders. And a lot of people on the other side of that fence, meaning the suits, the corporations, the shareholders, are all anxiously waiting to see how this pays off.
Because it’s a risky proposition for a brand like LV to do something like that. And to them, all they care about is the money. If it makes money, they’ll hire all the Black people they can get. They’ll be like, “Come on in.” But if it doesn’t make money, they’ll be like, “I told you so. I told you we should have got a French guy in there.”
So yeah, he’s got a lot on his shoulders, and the whole world’s waiting.
IN 2017, WE SAW THE PIGEON DUNK COMEBACK, THE BLACK PIGEONS. 2018, PANDAS. WE’VE HAD CONCEPTS. WE’VE HAD THE [DIAMOND SUPPLY CO.] TIFFANY DUNKS COME BACK.
A LOT OF PEOPLE LOOK BACK AT THAT ’04, ’05 ’06 PERIOD WHEN THE SB DUNKS WERE REALLY POPPING AS THE GOLDEN ERA OF THE WHOLE SNEAKER SCENE. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE’RE ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE AGAIN?
The resurgence of the Dunk in particular? Yeah, I think it’s already here. There was a long period of time where I couldn’t put a pair of Dunks on – it was like oversaturation. So I put them away for many, many years. And then about three years ago, I started putting them on again.
It was actually when atmos released a Co.JP two-tone dunk. It was the Hoyas’ colours but reversed. And when they brought that out, I put it on. I was like, “Wow, I can wear Dunks again.”
So usually comebacks last a year, a year and a half. For instance, dad shoe is a trend that was born online and is still going. And I know a lot of companies are like, “Should we get on the dad shoe bandwagon? Because maybe it’ll end next week, and it takes us 18 months to make a shoe. So when do we jump on this bandwagon?”
The Dunk could be that, too. Who knows? I feel like the Timberland six-inch wheat boot is also having a moment. I see people wearing that in a fashion way, not in a hiphop, gangsta way, necessarily. They’re wearing really nice, tailored clothes and then six-inch Tims, and I’m like, “Ooh, he’s working it. That’s a good look.” So I think they’re going to have a moment too, but it might just expire.
DO YOU THINK THAT THAT’S A PROBLEM OF THE TIMES THOUGH, IN THAT THERE’S NOT REALLY AN ABILITY TO HAVE NICHE MARKETS AND SUBCULTURES THESE DAYS BECAUSE THEY GET CONSUMED SO QUICKLY?
I don’t think that’s a problem. It’s a benefit. I think that because of the internet – for instance, going back to Timberlands or going back to the Dunk – there’s now always going to be enough of a pocket of humans that are into it and have access to it, that there’ll never be a thing that you can make where it’s like, "Wow, that was a complete flop". If you look at camouflage or polka dot or stripes, or whatever, people try to say like, “Oh, camo’s coming back in.” Camo is happening somewhere on Planet Earth at any certain point. It’s going in and out of fashion at any given moment, and I think that goes the same for Dunks or Timberlands, or whatever.
ALL RIGHT, THANKS VERY MUCH. ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU TO HYPE DC FOR TONIGHT.
Thank you so much.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Bobbito Garcia with fans
In 2019, Hype DC and The Weekly Drop brought Bobbito Garcia to the stage to talk about his massively influential career within New York City’s street culture. For around 30 years, Bobbito has been at the centre of the conversation between sneakers, basketball and hip-hop.
ALL RIGHT, SO WE’RE HERE TONIGHT AT HYPE DC [IN THE SWANSTON STREET, MELBOURNE, STORE]. WE’RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT SNEAKERS, CLEARLY, BUT WE’LL ALSO BE TOUCHING ON HIP-HOP AND A LITTLE BIT OF BASKETBALL BECAUSE WE’VE GOT THE GREAT BOBBITO GARCIA HERE.
LET’S KICK RIGHT OFF AND GET INTO THE SNEAKER THING. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THREE CLASSICS FROM THE STREETS OF NEW YORK: THE PUMA SUEDE, THE ADIDAS SUPERSTAR AND THE NIKE AIR FORCE 1. WHAT ARE YOUR SPECIFIC MEMORIES OF THOSE PARTICULAR SHOES THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH US?
Oh, wow. Each has a heavy history. The PUMA Suede and the PUMA Clyde really hit New York in the early ’70s and it was a transformative shoe in that there was a game back in the ’60s called stepsies. If you bought a new pair of Chuck Taylors, first day on the block everyone’s like, “Oh, you got new sneakers – stepsies!” And they’d just stomp on your shit, and you’d just have to be like, “Dang, my new sneakers are fucked up.”
PUMA stopped all that. Once people bought the Suede and paid $25 in 1972 for a pair of sneakers it was like, “I’m going to punch you in your face if you step on my shit.” And not only that, it was a revolutionary casual, lifestyle shoe. I mean, cats in the ’60s, and the ’50s even, they surely wore Chuck Taylors to the movies and on dates and stuff. But the PUMA Clyde was like, you could practically wear it to a wedding. It was just a gorgeous shoe.
I think it put a light bulb in a lot of people’s heads that there was a new approach and a new ideology towards having a pair of sneakers. Cats would have a toothbrush on their ear at school in 1980 when I was at Brooklyn Tech, and if somebody stepped on your sneakers by accident, or you’re eating a slice of pizza and the oil dripped off, you got the toothbrush out and you cleaned your sneakers immediately. I didn’t do that, but it was, in many ways, a turning point for the culture.
The shell toe, the Superstars many people call it, was also a turning point in that it was the first low-cut leather basketball shoe that really took off in the streets. Uptown in Harlem there was a playground legend by the name of Joe Hammond, aka The Destroyer. His single-game scoring record stood all the way up until about three years ago, and he did that without a three-point line back in the ’70s. Anyway, Joe Hammond loved the Superstar and, because he was like Elvis Presley to cats uptown, that shoe became another transformative shoe. Eventually the hip-hop heads started wearing it, but they all took their cue.
Similar to the PUMA Clyde too. The PUMA Clyde was a basketball player’s shoe at first, and then, because it was cool in the basketball courts, then the hip-hop heads started wearing it. Those two shoes are, by the early ‘80s, the archetype of what a hip-hop head would wear. I didn’t wear them, though.
I was a kid that was like, if everyone’s wearing those two shoes, well, we want to wear this brand that no one knows about, or we want to wear this model that no one knows about, or we want to wear this colour that no one knows about. So we were the progressives and we were a small community relative to the greater scheme of people who were wearing sneakers, and we were really excited about it in the ‘70s and ‘80s. One of those shoes that was transformative for us, when everyone was wearing PUMA Clydes and shell toes, was the Air Force 1; it came out and we were wearing those to play ball ’cause, holy shit.
And when they came out, we didn’t really know for sure that there was air inside. We didn’t know if it was a gimmick. Because there was no visible air back then. You just had to take Nike’s word for it. The ad where you see the bubble on the inside, we didn’t see that ad. I didn’t see that ad till 20 years later probably. But I was an outdoor ball player. I was playing on concrete, hours upon hours, every single day, so the Air Force 1 really made a difference in my life. My knees felt better after playing; I improved as a ball player.
And the shoe wasn’t really sexy at first. It took a little while to become sexy.
IT’S STILL SEXY NOW THOUGH.
It’s very sexy now. By ‘86, the shoes were very, very sexy, but it was almost like the mentality had to catch up to the design. When I first saw the Air Force 1, I thought they were hiking shoes, literally.
BECAUSE THE MIDSOLE WAS QUITE CHUNKY?
That the leather was thicker than most of the leather that was available back then. The midsole was a lot thicker, so it just looked more boxier. But it was sleek – but you got to remember the era; I’m coming out of wearing adidas Top Tens with a very small midsole.
Anyway, these three shoes are tremendous, and I’ve been fortunate to collab with each of them.
YEAH, THAT’S WHY I ASKED.
In 2005, I did the 35th anniversary Superstar. In 2007, I did the 25th anniversary Air Force 1. I did seven different colours. You guys call it ‘colourways’.
THAT’S RIGHT, WE CALL THEM COLOURWAYS. Because you’re young.
WERE VERY, VERY SEXY, BUT IT WAS ALMOST LIKE THE MENTALITY HAD TO CATCH UP TO THE DESIGN
I remember the first time I heard ‘colourways’. I used to consult for Nike back in the ’90s, and I was in the office and somebody said ‘colourways’. It’s always interesting to me that your generation picked up the word because it’s such an industry word. And to us, from the hood, we never wanted to sound like corporate America. So it was always an interesting phenomena to me that the young kids were like ‘colourways’. I was like, "You sound like a corporate asshole right now. Don’t you realise what you’re saying?”
You’re like, “No, I’m cool. Colourways!” Like, shut up! Sorry, does that sound like an old grumpy dude right now?
Anyway, so that’s my little stuff. Oh, I did the PUMA Clyde in 2016. I was very happy to do those.
SO GETTING BACK TO WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT – THE AIR FORCE 1S AND THE PUMAS AND SO FORTH – THEY’RE ALL SNEAKERS THAT WERE DESIGNED BETWEEN THE ’60S AND ’80S. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS? WHY IS THAT THE GLORY PERIOD OF SNEAKER DESIGN?
That’s a great question. The formative years, right? I authored a book. How many people here own Where’d You Get Those? New York City’s Sneaker Culture, 1960–1987 ? There’s one right there. Perfect.
This time period, it’s the foundation for what becomes the modern era of sneaker culture, and I think the models and the silhouettes that came out in that era, we are endeared to them because they’re what started it. It would be similar to thinking about Kool Herc and Rock Steady and Run DMC and all the groups and organisations and crews and DJs that created this hip-hop movement. It’s like they’re forever dear to our hearts. We wouldn’t be here without them, so I think that’s one part of it.
But I think the other part is that you got to understand that some of those shoes were designed prior to computers, and so there’s a human aspect in them. There is an imperfection to them, and there are a ton of memories attached. So when you put on a pair of shell toes or PUMA Clydes, you can have an immediate linear experience to all these great moments in hip-hop; and you put on the Air Force 1, and you can have all these moments with hip-hop as well as basketball if you know about that. But look, bottom line, they’re sleek and they’re simple.
And when the [Nike] Roshes became popular, I wasn’t surprised. I was like, “Yo, they’re sleek.” And they’re simple. It’s like there are two ingredients to any great design, and usually the sleek and simple sustains its interest post-release.
It did, because it had a lot of sales. But I bet you in 10 years, if they put them back out in 10 years, people would be like, “Oh, the Roshes.”
YEAH, YOU’RE RIGHT.
Or the Stan Smiths right there [on the Hype DC shelf] that I’m looking at. Super sleek, super simple, functional. They’re going to last.
WELL, IT’S INTERESTING YOU BRING UP THE ROSHES. DO YOU THINK THAT THERE ARE CURRENT SNEAKERS THAT HAVE COME OUT IN THE LAST SORT OF FIVE, 10, MAYBE EVEN 20 YEARS, THAT YOU THINK WILL BE LIKE THOSE ROD LAVERS AND AIR FORCES, STAN SMITHS AND SO ON, THAT WILL ALWAYS …
Absolutely. Time will tell, right? We can’t always predict the future, and the tide of sneaker culture has changed so drastically. We are in the midst of an era where there’s a lot of turnover, a lot of choices, which is a beautiful thing. I always get this question: “What do you think of the modern, the current era?” This is the best shit ever.
You could buy a pair of sneakers that come out of New York and not have to travel 32 hours and go through passport control in Sydney. That’s a good thing. I had an advantage in the ’90s because I was working for Def Jam, started travelling, started DJing. I was coming back to New York with shit that you just could not get in New York. And people were like, “Yo, where’d you get those? Oh, shit.” So my rep just kind of, like, amplified.
I WANT TO SWITCH GEARS TO TALK ABOUT HIPHOP WITH YOU, BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD FIND YOU SYNONYMOUS WITH. ONE THING THAT’S REALLY INTERESTING TO ME IS, WHAT YEAR YOU THINK IS THE BEST YEAR FOR HIP-HOP, RIGHT? I WOULD SAY ’96 BECAUSE IT GAVE US ALL EYEZ ON ME, BUT THAT’S JUST ME. BUT I’VE READ THAT YOU’VE SAID ’93, ’94 WAS REALLY THE APEX.
Well, the golden era for rap music for me is actually like ’86 to ’89. So it’s funny because me and Stretch [Armstrong], for those who know, we did a radio show for eight years [from late 1990 to early 1999]. There’s a film on Netflix, titled Stretch and Bobbito: Radio that Changed Lives . And we provided a platform for all these kids who were unsigned at the time, teenagers who went on to completely change the music industry. Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, Wu-Tang. And Eminem, Big L, Company Flow … Fugees, Cypress Hill, Fat Joe, Big Pun, Mobb Deep. I mean, I can go on and on. And all these artists, the first time they were ever publicly heard live was on our show.
And it’s amazing to think that I was a part of that with my boy Stretch. Stretch would say the same, too. But that’s not our golden era. Like, ’86 to ’89 for rap was phenomenal. Phenomenal. And if I’m going to say hip-hop, not just rap, but hip-hop, it even goes back further. My golden era for hip-hop is probably ’77 to ’81 when I’m experiencing graffiti for the first time and I’m experiencing B-boying for the first
time, and I’m hearing beats and everything is fresh, and there’s nothing commercial about it, It’s just all about these unforgettable experiences. That’s my golden era.
So it’s interesting when I hear people like, “Nah, man, ’95 is the golden era.” And I’m like, “No, it’s not – you’re just young!” But I appreciate it. I mean, it’s all your point of reference. So I’m happy that me and Stretch were around in the ’90s and got to have a hand in creating this tornado that is still twirling today around the world and has global impact.
YOU MENTIONED NAS, AND A BIG PART OF THE DOCUMENTARY THAT BOB’S TALKING ABOUT IS WHEN NAS ACTUALLY MENTIONS THAT, WHEN HE WAS WRITING ILLMATIC, HE WAS REALLY WRITING TO THE BEATS THAT YOU GUYS WERE PLAYING ON YOUR SHOW. SO YOU REALLY HAD QUITE A DIRECT INFLUENCE ON WHAT’S CONSIDERED TO BE THE GREATEST RAP ALBUM OF ALL TIME.
I almost fell off my seat when we were interviewing Nas. We did it in LA and it took 18 months to get him. Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, and Eminem, Fat Joe – it took three days. Kool Keith, it took one week. Nas, it took 18 months. Busy people. We were happy that we were able to get him on camera. The film was dope without him; the film became legendary with him. And when he said that … I never knew that.
I hadn’t seen Nas since 1993 until we interviewed him on camera. And when he said that, I fell out my seat. Illmatic for me is the best album in rap ever. Period. Hands down, no competition, nothing. Sorry. Actually, fuck that. I’m not sorry. It’s just an incredible album.
I WANT TO KNOW HOW THE CROWD FEELS ABOUT THAT. IS ILLMATIC THE GOAT FOR YOU GUYS? WELL, YOU GOT BOB TO THANK. SO MAKE SURE YOU DO IT AFTER THE SHOW. And Stretch.
OKAY, SORRY. WELL, THEY CAN’T SAY THANKS TO STRETCH, BUT YEAH, SHOUT-OUT, STRETCH. It’s crazy. it’s just crazy how you impact people and then you may not cross paths with them for 20, 25 years. There was a dude in the back. You, right? [Pointing into the crowd.] He came to my shop, my store Footwork in the ’90s. I had the world’s first sneaker boutique. Don’t get it twisted. I talk about that in the film. Actually, Jeff Staple, who was your earlier guest, talks about it in the film too.
YOU MENTIONED BOBBITO’S FOOTWORK –THE FIRST SNEAKER BOUTIQUE. WE’VE TALKED ABOUT YOUR MANY SNEAKER COLLABS, YOUR RADIO SHOW. WE HAVEN’T REALLY EVEN SPOKEN ABOUT YOUR TIME AS AN A&R AT DEF JAM, AS THE GUY WHO STARTED FONDLE ’EM RECORDS, WHICH IS WHERE MF DOOM CAME FROM. THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS THAT YOU’VE DONE.
I WANT TO KNOW WHY THAT IS. IS THAT THE NEW YORK HUSTLER MENTALITY THAT’S JUST INGRAINED IN YOU? OR IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE THAT’S DRIVING YOU?
Yeah, I have done a lot of things. I started directing films in 2010. Well, actually I started making films in 2010. I didn’t really have the confidence to say that I was a director until probably the third one, the current one, Rock Rubber 45s , my autobiographical documentary. It was my vision to share my narrative, both delicate and sensitive moments, as well as my career path, to show people ...
Because I always get that question like, “If you had to choose between sneakers and basketball and hip-hop, which one would you choose?” And I’m like, I don’t have to choose. I’ve been able to rock all three and Rock Rubber 45s , it’s the title of a film, but it’s also a mentality. It’s also a movement in my mind. It’s like ‘rock’ is for the basketball, ‘rubber’ is for the sneakers, ‘45s’ is for the music.
And yes, I grew up in New York, and yes, our pace is a little bit faster than other cities. And yes, it’s the birthplace of hip-hop. And yes, it’s the mecca for playground basketball outdoors, and it’s the media capital of the world.
So I’m part and parcel to all these things and all these influences. And the fact that I’ve been able to travel the world and impact multiple movements speaks to my work ethic, my vision, but I’m also an opportunity grabber. I have constantly been a person who seeks to fill voids.
I’m not someone who is sedentary and stuck. I just keep on moving forward, progressing, taking risks, calculated ones. And I look back – when I did my film, Rock Rubber 45s , and watched it for the first time, I was like, “Oh shit, okay. I don’t even think I’ve realised how much I’ve done or am doing, but it’s just because life moves on. I’m 52. In another 10 years, I’ll look back and be like, “Oh, I went to Melbourne, man.”
NO DOUBT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. LET’S GIVE IT UP FOR BOBBITO GARCIA.
Steve Duck, Bobbito Garcia and Zac Hayse
Steven Smith with fans
Hype DC and The Weekly Drop introduced one of the most revered sneaker designers in modern history, Steven Smith, to a Melbourne audience. Across his career at New Balance, Reebok, FILA, Nike, adidas and, at the time of this 2019 interview, Yeezy, Smith has created an incredible body of work.
Steven Smith
THANKS FOR COMING DOWN, EVERYONE. IT’S GREAT TO BE HERE WITH MY GUEST, STEVEN SMITH. WE WANT TO SHOUT-OUT HYPE DC, THANKS VERY MUCH FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE.
I SEE A LOT OF FAMILIAR FACES IN THE CROWD BUT A LOT OF NEW FACES TOO. IF THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU’VE COME DOWN, THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE EVENT, WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. LET’S MAKE HIM WELCOME – STEVEN SMITH. Hopefully I don’t disappoint.
YOU WON’T DISAPPOINT, MAN. IT’LL BE FINE. I SEE A LOT OF PEOPLE WEARING SNEAKERS TONIGHT THAT YOU DESIGNED. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT HERE – I SEE YOU.
STEVEN’S JOURNEY IN SNEAKERS HAS BEEN DECADES. SORRY, I DON’T MEAN TO PUT YOU ON BLAST LIKE THAT, BUT HE’S BEEN IN THE GAME …
I’m old.
... A LONG TIME. HE’S DESIGNED FOR NEW BALANCE, FOR REEBOK, FOR FILA, FOR NIKE AND FOR ADIDAS, SO IT’S A REAL PRIVILEGE TO HAVE HIM HERE WITH US TONIGHT.
I WANTED TO START THE INTERVIEW BY GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO YOUR FIRST PLACEMENT IN THE BIZ AT NEW BALANCE. WHEN STEVEN ARRIVED AT NEW BALANCE. CAN YOU TALK TO US ABOUT THE PROCESS OF GETTING ON BOARD AND TAKING THAT ROLE?
I had run in the 990s in college and it was one of my favourite shoes. I didn’t know anybody designed them because at that point nobody did. It was done by patternmakers and shoemakers and cobblers basically. And so, when I graduated from college, I didn’t know what I was going to do and my parents were like, “You going to get a job?” And I’m like, “I guess so, I got to figure out what the hell I’m going to do and where I’m going to work.”
One of the guys who was the graduating senior of the year before me lived up in Lawrence [Massachusetts] where New Balance’s R&D office was. And he’s like, “Hey, I applied there when I got out of school and they had a hiring freeze. And all of a sudden a year later they called me back and I told them about you.”
I went to New Balance and the guy who interviewed me came out in a T-shirt and jeans and, of course, sneakers. And I was like, “Whoa, this is the place for me, I think.”
And so we talked and he asked, “Can you do blueprint drawings, mould drawings?” I’m like, “Absolutely.” Because I had minored in architecture where it’s just endless blueprint drawings and floor plans and layouts. So he showed me around the office a little bit, and then he was like, “Uh oh,
it’s 11:30am. Interview’s over. We’re all going to go running.” And I’m thinking, “Did I wake up in an alternate universe? I mean, you dress casual, y’all go running.”
They called me the next day and offered me the job. My parents were happy: “We got him out of the house. He’s got a job. We didn’t know what we’re going to do with the kid with the art degree.”
Yeah. So I went there and they were excited because I was only the second actual industrial designer they ever had. There was me and this other guy, Kevin Brown, who had gone to Pratt [Institute, Brooklyn, NY] and he was only a year and a half older than me. So now they had these two young kids as the whole design department for New Balance.
Brownie and I would look at the projects and it was like, “All right, you like basketball? Why don’t you do the basketball shoes?” I’m like, “I’ll do the running shoes. I like to run.” So that’s kind of how we divvied up some of the projects. And so, with me having had experience with the 900 series, they’re like, “Oh, you should do that one then.” So I did some [work] on the 995 and that was pretty cool but kind of a no-brainer.
And then the next came: “Okay, we’re going to update it to the 996.” And on that one I got to do a little bit more serious revamping of the model; I did a super cushiony outsole. And that was the beginning for me where I learned from them: you don’t just update it; you make it better every time. And that was the directive that was always ingrained in my head from New Balance: Don’t just make it different; make it better every time. That fed into my whole career trajectory, into innovation and advanced products, because it was always that mission of “make it better”.
IT’S AN AMAZING LEGACY. IF YOU WALK INTO A STORE SUCH AS HYPE, THE NEW BALANCE THAT YOU SEE ON THE SHELVES ARE THE 997, THE 574 AND THE 1500, RIGHT? IT’S ALL THE STUFF THAT YOU MADE.
It’s crazy. And when I worked on these projects I was pretty young – 21, 22 years old – and I looked at these things as my children and I cared about creating them. The way I looked at it, and this followed me through my whole career, is if I’m going to design something, I want the consumer to be as excited as I am. Like, would I pay $150 for this? Because I’ve seen some crappy shoes come out. I’d always ask somebody, when they were designing it, “Would you buy that shoe?”
And they’re like, “Well, I don’t know.” I would say, “Well then, you’re not designing it good enough. If you don’t want it, then how the hell can you expect anyone else to want it?” So that was another big driving factor in how my brain worked on these projects.
MOVING ON FROM NEW BALANCE, WE’LL CONTINUE THE STORY WHEN YOU WERE AT REEBOK. WHAT YOU’RE BEST KNOWN FOR THERE, OF COURSE, IS BEING PART OF THE ADVANCED CONCEPTS TEAM AND CREATING THE INSTAPUMP FURY.
This whole idea of having a dedicated Advanced Concepts team was all new. Nike had what they called APE, which is Advanced Product Engineering, and they were engineers, not necessarily a collective of design biomechanists and engineers all together. We were kind of the first team like that, of all these combined disciplines. Steve Burris, who I worked with at New Balance, left New Balance and went to Reebok and recruited me to be the first design lead for Advanced Concepts. And so we had licence from [Reebok chairman] Paul Fireman to just go and explore things.
We didn’t have to be tied into shoe factories with what we were doing, so we went to aerospace shows, we went to Formula One car manufacturers, we went to biomedical trade shows. We saw things that were not in shoes but then figured out ways they could help us solve problems within shoes of making things lighter, better, stronger fit systems. Air for Pump came from that, from medical devices, from blood pressure cuffs and things, because it was that level of pressures that we were experiencing. We couldn’t allow failures for what we did because if you pay $125 for your Pump shoe you didn’t want it to burst or anything.
I was in this mind-numbing meeting, and I was doodling in my notebook and I drew this little tiny thumbnail and I showed it to [Reebok Pump designer Paul] Litchfield. So I drew the shoe and then I drew the air bladder flattened out as if you would manufacture it, because I’m a weird designer in that I’m an odd combination of artist and engineer in how my brain works. The two normally don’t get along. And I nudge Litchfield, I’m like, “Yo, look at this.” And he goes, “Holy shit, that’s it.”
So I drew it bigger so that other people could understand it, because those thumbnails were for me and my sketchbook, and we presented it to Paul Fireman. He was like, “Whoa, that’s it, boys – go! I don’t care what it costs, just make it.”
It took us almost two years to go from this sketch to make this thing. The way we built the Fury, you can’t take a part of it off and have it still work. We condensed it down to the absolute essential components and, by removing all the foam and reinforcers and all that other crap that we were paying for, it allowed us to reinvest it into the higher tech aerospace and biomedical materials that the shoe was made from at the time.
That’s the way I drew it. I would get in fights with the marketing guy for running all the time, almost to the point of a fistfight where ... It’s funny, as I told the story over the years it became the ad campaign for the relaunch of the classic colourway [with the tagline], “You don’t get it, do you?” Because I was fighting with the guy. I’m like, “Look, this shoe is for early
adopters – it’s got to be totally in your face. It can’t be this thing that just kind of whispers, ‘Oh hey, I’m the Pump Fury.’ It’s got to be like, ‘Look at the fucking Pump Fury,’ you know?”
And he was like, “All right, we’ll release that one. But you wait, we’re going to do this grey, blue, black one and it’s going to outsell that thing 60/40.” He had come from New Balance after I had been there and I’m like, “Dude, you ain’t at New Balance anymore. You’re at Reebok in the big leagues. You can’t be making that boring shit.”
SHOTS FIRED.
So my colourway booked in 60%; that one, the boring colourway, 40%. And I’m like, “Who knew what they were doing?”
AND A LEGEND WAS BORN.
But in the middle of all of that I got so pissed at them I took a pair home and I spray-painted it with grey automotive primer, the whole thing, and I made it absolutely as boring as you possibly could. I flung it on his desk. I said, “Is that what you want?” He’s like, “That I can sell.” I was like, “You don’t get it. You don’t get it, do you?” And in the end, who was right? 25 years later, who’s up here talking to you about it? It’s me, not him.
So then I establish a reputation of being kind of an asshole [laughs].
ANOTHER THING AT REEBOK WAS THAT IN THE EARLY ’90S THEY HAD SIGNED QUITE A LOT OF BASKETBALL STARS. SHAQUILLE O’NEAL WAS IN THE OFFICE, I BELIEVE.
Yeah, it was pretty exciting. We were trying to schmooze Shaq to get him to sign the deal and, if you never know the story, he went to Nike and they kind of dissed him, but he came to Reebok and the whole company came out to greet him in the front lobby. And he was like, “Whoa, they’re serious.”
And so, as part of schmoozing Shaq, Paul Fireman was showing him all the great products that we were doing in the innovation group, to show off his investment in us, and his desire for us to create the future of Reebok and the next big thing. And so Shaq came with his mom and dad and [Fireman] showed him the Furys and Shaq was like, “Oh, I got to try those out.” We’re like, “Dude, you’re size 23. We’ve got 9s and 11s because that’s what we’ve been developing.”
But it turned out his mom was a size 13 men’s, so we took the sock liner out of the size 11 that Peter Foley, the other development director, had on his feet. He took them off and she crammed her size 13 into those things. And we pumped them up and she was like, “Oh yeah, these are great. These are great.”
The next thing you know, we got requested to make a pair for Shaq. There’s a small problem with that. The welding die that the machine that welds the pump bladders in was only like so big. Now you’ve got to grade that thing up to a size 23, and it really didn’t quite fit. We didn’t know what was
going to happen when we made a carbon fibre arch that big. All these things were just ridiculously huge.
Shaq’s so big, I don’t know if you know what a Mercury Grand Marquis is? I mean, it’s the biggest of big American cars, like a Cadillac. And Shaq preferred those, and he drove it from the back seat. They just took the front seats out and he sat on the back seat to drive the car. It kind of gives you an idea of how big the dude is. You’d see other basketball stars like [Domantas] Sabonis and that, and they were just tall and thin and weirdly proportioned. Shaq was like a normal person, just you put him in a copier and press enlarge – it was just crazy what he was like.
He was a lot of fun to work with. And some of that early work we did on the Fury then set up the stage for some of the Instapump Shaq shoes and things that Reebok did later.
NOW WE’RE GOING TO GO TO NIKE, WHICH IS WHERE YOU DID THE ZOOM STREAK SPECTRUM, WE’RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH IT MORE RECENTLY AS A SUPREME COLLAB. BUT THAT WAS YOUR ORIGINAL DESIGN WITH THE FLAMES. HOW DID IT ALL COME TO BE?
I have a real affinity for Japan because I collect stuff and, much like the Japanese, I go deep. When I’m into something I’m way into it. So Inotani-san, who was my marketing guy, every time I would come to Japan, he’d be like, “Oh, Stevensan, I found a new shop for you. Amazing stuff.” I’m like, “Cool, let’s go.” So rather than go right to work, we went and screwed around and went vintage shopping and stuff.
So Inotani and I were out, shopping around, and we were working on this new racing flat. And everything we did was always briefed just for Japan. Eventually, somehow it ended up becoming a racing flat for the rest of the world. So this one, the Spectrum, was one of those where we briefed it for Japan, for Ekiden runners ... I don’t know if you know the Ekiden race, but it’s like 14- to 17-year-old high school and middle school runners and it’s a week-long relay race and it’s nationally televised. It’s a big deal there, and that’s what that shoe is kind of focused on.
Inotani-san knew how much I like cars and hot rods. He’s like, “Oh, I found these stickers that are flames like a hot rod.” I’m like, “Oh, that’s cool.” And he goes, “Want to put them on the shoe?” I’m like, “Sure.”
So I recreated them in Illustrator and tweaked the forms a little bit and I laid it on the vamp of the shoe. It came out and people were like, “Whoa, what’s this hot rod?” Because runners are pretty conservative. “What’s this flame thing all about?” So then Paula Radcliffe was one of the Nike athletes at that point. She was like, “I’ll try those. Those look pretty cool.” So she wears them and breaks the women’s world record in marathon and half marathon in them. And I’m like, “You are not who that shoe was meant for, but hey, that’s great it worked for you.”
Right. And so when I saw that Supreme was going to release that thing, I’m scratching my head. Of all the ones that they could get out of the Nike archive, why my weird Japanese racing shoe? But you know what? Thing came out and it went crazy and it was like, “Wow, that thing launched in 2003 and here it is still relevant in 2019.” It was just amazing.
THAT’S ANOTHER COMMON THREAD HERE. IT MUST BE QUITE AN UNUSUAL FEELING FOR YOU TO SEE EVERYTHING THAT YOU’VE DESIGNED COME BACK AROUND.
It’s really bizarre, and it’s bizarre to go to a shop and you see 32, 33 years of your career all competing against itself. I always say I never set out to create these icons of this industry. I set out to make the best thing I could at that moment in time. And time has shown it was the right thing to do because here they are spanning 33 years of it, still relevant, some of them selling way more than they did originally. It’s incredible. In Japan in particular, I can’t go more than 10 feet without seeing somebody in something I touched.
And every time I see somebody, I want to go up to them and say, “Thank you. Thank you for appreciating my design, it means a lot to me.” At the end of the day, they’re your children. I look at the 574 and the Fury, and it’s like they’ve grown up and made something of themselves.
NOW, DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE STEVEN’S CURRENTLY WORKING? WE’RE NOT REALLY ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT IT, THE WORK THAT STEVEN DOES WITH THIS GUY.
HE’S A FAMOUS GUY. HE MAKES THESE GREAT SONGS. HE WEARS THIS RED HAT THAT PEOPLE DON’T REALLY LIKE. HE MAKES MUSIC IN WYOMING. HOW DID YOU COME TO WORK WITH THIS PERSON?
So, I’m bound by a lot of secrecy agreements and nondisclosures and stuff, so the best I can say is I got a phone call one night and it was him and he asked me to come design with him. And I was like, “Okay.” [ Laughs .]
The next thing I know, that’s what I was doing. And I couldn’t talk about it, so it was like being in the CIA. I would disappear to California. My friends were like, “What are you doing?” I’m like, “Ah, I got a different job.”
The only ones who ever knew were my wife and my mother. And my mother would be like, “Now, I heard the girls at the beauty parlour talking about Kim.” I’m like, “Oh, okay.” She goes, “I didn’t tell them what you do.” I’m like, “Good. Don’t.”
And so then finally Kanye tweeted a few things.
There’s the word. Yeah, that guy: Kanye West. He kind of tweeted a few cryptic tweets out about me working for him. So at that point I could kind of say, “Yeah, that’s my job.” But it’s definitely some of the most fascinating times of my life, and that’s about all I can comment on legally.
ALL RIGHT. NOW, THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR COMING TONIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH, HYPE. WE’VE GOT A LITTLE PHOTO WALL OVER HERE SO YOU CAN GET YOUR PHOTOS WITH STEVEN. I’LL GET A PAIR OF SNEAKERS SIGNED. THANK YOU TO OUR GUEST, STEVEN SMITH.
Thanks.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Sneaker culture is still young. Proud of its history, it’s constantly searching for the new.
We’ve explored the history, commitment and innovation of some of the visionaries who’ve shaped the past 25 years at Hype DC and within the sneaker world more broadly. The future promises to be even more exciting as we embrace unfolding technological and cultural movements. Big things lie just beyond the horizon.
Documenting 25 years of Hype DC’s cultural moments to create this carefully curated anniversary book – alongside many talented people, might I add – has given me an overwhelming sense of pride. Pride in working with an Australian brand that has weathered the test of time. Pride in the rich storytelling we’ve collaborated on with our brand partners to inspire our community. Pride in being ahead of the curve to deliver the most sought-after sneaker assortment from around the world. And pride in working for a brand that fosters the careers, and the sense of individual style, of a large, passionate team across Australia and New Zealand.
As I reflect on years past, there is one moment that will forever be etched in the memory bank. In 2019, I was fortunate enough to travel to New Balance’s MADE factory in Boston USA to film a mini documentary on how the iconic MADE collection is so respectfully constructed. One could argue that this first-hand experience of seeing history, commitment and innovation helped inspire the idea of FUTURE LEGACY. Like New Balance, Hype DC celebrates the past to honour the future. I’m sure that’s something we’ll remain devoted to in years to come.
In my role I’m often asked, “What does the future of sneakers look like?” And while nothing is certain, history tells us that fashion trends will repeat themselves, brands will continue to push the limits of possibility and sneakers will forever remain a wardrobe necessity. But there is also a unique newness to our current moment. Innovations in technologies and materials, responses to sustainability and climate change, and the drive towards inclusiveness and accessibility are just some of the important movements shaping the future of the sneaker industry.
There is another area we can speculate on, too: “What does the future of sneaker retailing look like?” My own prediction is that the technological, ecological and cultural movements mentioned above will enhance the human element of sneakers and the sneaker industry. The future is bright and I strongly believe the consumer will be the main beneficiary.
We often emphasise the community aspect of sneaker culture. It’s about a sense of belonging, and it’s built around sharing the rich stories and history that define each silhouette. That’s why the next major direction in sneaker retail is likely to be a continued evolution of the customer experience, and brands that facilitate this stand to prosper.
In another example of where the industry might go and how the consumer might benefit, we’ve already seen retailers work with sneaker brands – as we did with New Balance for the exclusive release we teased in this very book. Taking this further, another movement to consider – one that a future Hype DC might be well placed to take a leading role in – is where retailers themselves will come to play a greater role in sneaker design, branding and development, partnering with highly responsive regional manufacturers to ship directly to the customer.
Of course, for now sneakers remain a democratic footwear essential. This is what makes them what they are – they’re for all interests, all styles, all occasions, all ages. Sneakers have no boundaries.
This book honours everyone who has engaged with Hype DC over our 25 years. Here's to our FUTURE LEGACY. And here’s thanks to you.
Tia Paterson Head of Marketing and Digital, Hype DC