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Nice Kicks: How did the collaboration with Michael Ditullo come about?
Alon Karpman: I was working on a long board as our next project, and I?m thinking,? I?m looking around – nobody has a long board shoe. When you long board you wear out the sole. You push a lot more so you wear out the sole, but nobody has this. It was odd, but maybe because it?s a smaller market that?s growing. But hey, someone has to do it. So I hit up Michael, who is also a contributing editor at?Core 77 design blog. He posts advice for designers and everybody looks up to him because of his experience at?Jordan and Nike. So I hit him up on an email, and said, ?Hey, I?m thinking of making a long board shoe. There doesn?t seem to be one out there. I was wondering if you could give me tips on how to start the process.? He writes and says he knows me, and he had been following my company for years. He said, ?Let?s make a shoe.? You don?t say no to this guy. He hit up some of his contacts, and he said he loved the shoe. I never made shoes, but now I?m sitting there with one of the top designers. I was thinking I?m done. This is it!
Nice Kicks: Do you feel the shoe has the crossover appeal to be worn as everyday wear?
Alon Karpman: Definitely.
Nice Kicks: How many ELBY models are going to release?
What I plan on doing or what I?d like to do is say, ?This is our design aesthetic. This is what I believe in. This is it.? I?m not putting out 20 lines, and hoping the buyers pick one and that be the one I make. I?m actually producing this one. It?s at my warehouse ready to go. I believe in it, and the people that dig it will dig it. I?m not going to throw darts at a board and see what hits. I believe this is it. What I kind of want to do is keep this as the main line, the same way as?Converse?and the “Chucks”. The?Chuck Taylors don?t really change. They don?t take away red in the fall or spring. Red stays. Black stays. That?s what I want. I want to shoot for a staple. So we?re introducing this line as our staple. Colorways are not going to go away. We are going to add special colorways, and have special editions, but there?s always going to be a red, and always going to be a black. Chuck Taylors have been selling since the ?50s. This can sit on the shelf as an alternative to that. You like that look where you can wear some Chucks with some jeans. People are wearing them with suits. This shoe also falls into that. You can put them on with anything.
Brooklyn Workshop ELBY – Black
