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“Boys, we’re moving to the Caribbean.” Those were the words I heard from my father at the age of 15 when my brother and I learned that Fresno would no longer be home. My parents had just taken up a professorship gig at St. George’s University in Grenada.
Arriving in the dark of night, I had no idea what my eyes would awake to the following morning. I knew very little about my new home of Grenada before I landed. Sure, there were some blurbs in encyclopedias and two websites about the island nation, but for the most part, I was going in blind to a new land I knew nothing about.
Nestled on a hill looking over the darkness of the sea, I could hear the crashing waves on the beach below. Little did I know at that time that beach would become one of the most impactful places in my life. What I awoke to and where I spent most of my time while I lived in Grenada was that beach – Grand Anse.
The beautiful sight of nature, the sounds of soca and calypso rhythms, smell of roadside grills, taste of island cuisine, and touch of the soft white sand Grand Anse only begin to describe what makes the place so special. More than a beach, Grand Anse is a venue and epicenter for the island culture of Grenada. It was on this beach that I ran triathlons, learned to play cricket, pick up games of beach foot (soccer), and just swam in the beautifully blue water.
It felt like every weekend an event or gathering took place in Grand Anse. Whether the event was focused on sport, music, or just having a good time, I was welcomed by my new friends of Grenada as though I was one of their own from the get go. Not an opportunity was ever missed to welcome a new comer to the island and immerse a young man in his formative years to the culture of Grenada.
Fast forward fourteen years later, I was given the opportunity to hit the pen to paper and design a new special release for New Balance. It was with little hesitation that I wanted to pay tribute to a place, an island, and a community that still means so much to me to this day- Grand Anse.
Each and every panel of materials has a significant tie to the beach. The front of the shoe, with its aqua toe, represents the low lying water just as one enters the water, while the deeper blue represents the deeper part of the bay. The sandy, light grey midsole resembles the sandy beach that makes Grand Anse on of the highest rated beaches in all of the Caribbean. White accents grace the upper in just a couple locations to resemble the sails of boats you often see in the bay. Lastly, the shoe is finished off on the sole with a light blue translucent sole to represent the warm water of Grand Anse Bay.
In addition to the colors, there are some hidden elements to the shoe including a reflective tongue that resembles the way the sun shimmers on the waves of the bay and perforated reflective panels hidden beneath the mesh panels. The inspiration behind this is the no pictures can truly do the shoes justice just like no photo can do the same for Grand Anse – you must be there it in person for the full experience.
As much fun as it has been to build this project with New Balance it has been an even greater pleasure to tell the story of Grand Anse and Grenada through a shoe. My goal of the project is to tell everyone I possibly can reach about this piece of paradise on earth.
