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Nice Kicks: How hands-on was Peter in that process?
Hayden Biener: Peter was pretty open to whatever ideas I threw at him. We worked really close together as a team. I would show him different drawings, and then he’d let me know what he was and wasn’t feeling. The process really helped to narrow everything down, and helped in making me more confident that we were heading in the right direction. I feel like it turned out awesome because of this mutual input and effort on both ends. It is my favorite shoe to be skating in right now. I’m super psyched on how it feels, skates, and looks, and it has been getting a great response.
Nice Kicks: Is there a HUF standard in terms of skate shoes that you looked to stick to (for example cupsole cushioning, superior lockdown, enhanced board feel, etc)? Or did you go into it with a blank slate?
Hayden Biener: The HUF standard is to make the best product possible. We basically just start with an overall concept, then incorporate the necessary adjustments from there in order to evolve that specific piece into a more superior state than its original form. This applies to everything here, both apparel and footwear. The Ramondetta Pro is a good example of that process. It is a vulcanized shoe which is obviously amazing to skate in to begin with, but in order to take that a step further we’ve developed our HUF green insole technology. These special HUF insoles don’t inhibit board feel at all, but will definitely do a lot of work to absorb any impact you may come across when skating. As I mentioned earlier, there are some unique design stories incorporated throughout the shoe, such as custom Ramondetta labeling, geometric detailing, and the asymmetrical toe cap; so basically you’re getting all of the core features you need in a classic skate shoe, while also drawing on the visual appeal that will make people stoked to wear the shoe skating or not.
Nice Kicks: What is the overall goal for the Ramondetta Pro?
Hayden Biener: We wanted to give Peter a shoe that would perform as well as it looked. I wanted to create a shoe that would have a long life ahead of itself, and never feel dated in any way. You obviously never want to create anything that one day you will look back on and wish you could have done better, so that’s why we really took our time here and paid attention to every detail possible. It’s nice to make something that people will be so happy with that they will want to go out and grab pair for both skating and just day to day wear.
Huf Ramondetta Pro Wear Test: with Ian Cochran from Nice Kicks on Vimeo.
