FNG Feature: Sneakersnstuff Interview
novembre 13th, 2009, 01:25 | Posted in: APPAREL, Daily news, SNEAKERS | by Nick
Sneakersnstuff, noto store con base a Stoccolma, oggi è probabilmente uno tra i più importanti ed influenti retail-brand a livello mondiale. Da sempre caratterizzato per la grande qualità e la quantità della propria selezone, il negozio svedese è conosciuto anche per un importante numero di collaborazioni con alcuni tra i più prestigiosi brands sulla scena, tra cui adidas, Puma, Reebok, Tretorn, Lacoste e New Balance.
Abbiamo fatto quattro chiacchere con Erik e Peter, i due proprietari del negozio aperto da oltre 10 anni, parlando di sneakers, collaborazioni, progetti presenti e progetti futuri.
Cliccando sul ‘more’ la nostra intervista con Erik e Peter, e qualche immagine del negozio scattataci dal gentilissimo Johan.
FNG Feature: Sneakersnstuff
An Interview with Erik & Peter from Sneakersnstuff
Sneakersnstuff old sign
INTRO
Hi guys! Can you tell us something about SNS? How was it born and what about your background
Back in 1998 I asked Peter if he wanted to open a store with me. Peter has worked in various sport stores since ‘89 and I had done the same since ‘94, so we both kind of felt we knew what was up. The idea with Sneakersnstuff was to offer good looking sneakers for the people on the streets. Back then there was no such thing as “lifestyle” if you asked Nike, Adidas, Puma or whoever. So what we did was kind of ground breaking.
How is Stockholm these days?
Stockholm is good, thank you very much. We have a little guide that will be available here soon: http://www.sneakersnstuff.com/adidasstockholm
What about the sneaker scene there?
I must say that Stockholmers are representing sneakers very well. If you walk around Södermalm you will find that most people are wearing good sneakers.
SNEAKERSNSTUFF
How was born the idea to build up a whole website to celebrate the 10th anniversary of SNS?
Everything is done online today. We talked about how to make ourselves more “available” to our customers, and this was a good way to let everybody in on what’s going on. Johan Undén (who works here) did the design.
We know Erik was/is great sneakers collector. Do you have a personal Top 5?
I have never considered myself being a collector, even though I have collected many pairs over the years. If I had a Top 5 I would have stopped there.
It’s always nice to know the first pair of kicks ever of anyone. Do you remember yours?
It was a pair of Nike Air Pegasus. But the first love was the Air Jordan 5.
We are almost at the end of the year: what’s the best sneaker release in your opinion?
It was a good year. There are too many good sneakers to choose from. So it’s hard so say just one.
You did a lot of collaboration in these years, New Balance overall, then Adidas, Puma, Reebok, Lacoste, Tretorn. Do you have a personal favourite among all that you have done?
That is so hard to say. I mean, the first collaboration we did with Puma, the ‘Basket Hemp’, will always have place in our hearts as it was the first one. But I mean, I love all the stuff we have done with Adidas, New Balance, Reebok, Tretorn and the others.
Still talking about collaborations in general..don’t you think there are more special releases than general releases? What are your thoughts about this.
Well, there are not more special than general ones, but sure, there are more special now than it was 5 years ago. We try to look at a shoe as a good or bad shoe, not as a limited release or not.
PROJECTS
Let’s talk about the SNS X New Balance ‘RGB Pack’. You have worked with New Balance lots of time since now. How have you developed this new co-lab?
We started talking with New Balance about doing something around our 10 years anniversary. We had another idea from the beginning, but New Balance didn’t have the capacity to go through with that one. So we ended up doing three styles. Peter wanted to stay with the 577, Johan wanted to take on the 1500 and I wanted to do the 1700. And without even planning on it they turned out red, green, and blue. So going forward we decided to call it the ‘RGB-Pack’.
Did it take lot of attempts to arrive to the final result? What were your feelings when you received the first samples?
Peter and Johan got it pretty much right the first time. But New Balance had a harder time when it comes to my versions. To be honest, the final version wasn’t really what I had in mind either, but as time ran out we had to move forward.
Let’s talk about quantities. Will be these kicks damn limited or will they have a larger distribution?
Yes, they will be limited, but not too much. They will be available at a 20 something best doors worldwide.
From New Balance to Reebok. How did you get involved in the celebration on the Pumps?
I guess that is a question for Reebok really, but as they are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Pump, they felt that they wanted to bring the 20 best stores in the world together and do collabs together.
What were the guide lines in your design?
There weren’t too many guidelines. We wanted to do a survival boot and match that with a survival knife..but legal at Reebok said no to the knife thing….I guess that’s a guideline, “Don’t come up with ideas that can hurt other people”.
Moving forward, in December we will see also three new Puma designed by Sneakersnstuff. Could you tell us something more about them?
The Puma pack is pretty much the same basic idea of the New Balance one. As we are celebrating 10 years we wanted to do something with the people that have supported us over the years. Puma was the first brand to do a collab with us, so of course we wanted to do something with them as well. And as we felt that Puma had kind of been al over the place for a while, we wanted to bring back something clean and simple but with extra good quality.
Thanks a lot guys! All the best for now and the future. It was a real pleasure.
Thanks to you and to Freshngood!!
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nick | freshngood.com
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