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Is it possible to take a step forward by taking one back, to honor the old with something new? Kenny Anderson is no fresh face to the skate scene; he?s been a pro for well over a decade. Compared to his sponsor though, century-old Converse, Anderson?s still a young buck.
That bridge between moving on and looking back has played a big part in the story for the Vegas native, who?s with the Star Chevron again after a 3-year run in the nineties. Now he has a new signature sneaker in stores with the legacy-inspired KA-One, which he was kind enough to break down for us. Get the insider?s scoop in this special 1 on 1 with Kenny below, and look for this sneaker in stores now.
The KA-One is your first Converse signature. What were some of your inspirations going into designing it?
I rode for Converse before in ’97, ’98 and ’99, so it?s all about me coming back on and doing something that honors the legacy. I saw what they were doing after I came back; padded Chuck Taylors and stuff like that. They were sticking to what Converse is all about. I wanted to do something that?s a heritage piece. You don?t want to veer away from that; it?s why Converse is Converse. And when I was designing the KA-One, I had an inspired-by Star Player Skate that was already out, so I wanted to do something different than that.
You wanted to look but still move forward.
The Star Player?s the perfect vulc shoe. So I thought, ?Okay, let?s do a cup sole. Now which cup?? I was looking into the archives and found the Classic Trainer, which was made in the 70s. I really like the shape and that cup skates just like a vulc. For me, it?s all about board feel.
Do you feel like this shoe really nailed it as far as matching your skate style and what you look for?
Definitely. People see it and to me they?ll say, ?It?s you.? It?s form-fitting, tight, clean, simple and?comfortable. It?s one thing to look at it, but when you put it on, it?s even better.
So you like the feedback you’ve gotten so far?
It?s awesome to hear the feedback. It?s one thing when you like something and want to do something, and to have the whole story with Converse?s heritage shoes behind you, but when someone puts on your shoe and says ?Man, it?s really comfortable. It skates really well, ? it?s awesome
Do you feel like you added to the Converse legacy?
I think so. You never want to veer away from that too much, especially going with the cup sole. You?re moving away from that legacy already when you?re trying something new, but with this we stuck to the heritage pieces and modernized them a bit for skateboarding. And to hear the feedback has just been awesome.
