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Nice Kicks: What was the most surprising piece of knowledge you encountered during your research of recycling and during your trials/lab tests of manufacturing REMYXX sneakers?
Gary Gagnon: There are many, many products that have the recycling symbol, but there is no home for them. From my view, it’s not a highly policed process. You can put the recycling symbol on something that’s only 50% recyclable. In the recycling industry, I’ve learned that there are lots of recyclable products, but there’s not a home for a lot of this stuff and the processors do not know what to do with them.
Nice Kicks: One of your slogans for REMYXX sneakers is “Keep it out of the Earth.” How does that phrase define the direction of your brand?
Gary Gagnon: Well, it started as “Keep it out of the Trash,” but in the bigger picture of REMYXX, I think it?s a style, a fashion and a design to show to the entire world that I subscribe to the recycling practice. I’m not a tree hugger. I’m just an everyday guy, and I think this is a step in the right direction, especially for people that wear sneakers. It just speaks to the fact that you can advocate and initiate your own daily practice to recycle. If you do it as a consumer, everybody else will follow, including the shoe companies. I’d like ?Keep it out of the Earth? beginning with my first step of the sneaker.
Nice Kicks: What is your message to sneaker enthusiasts who maybe want to put more of an emphasis on recycling starting with REMYXX sneakers?
Gary Gagnon: If they like sneakers, these are definitely cool, hip and different. They’re very stylish. You can wear these in the school hallway, at the mall, or at a dinner. They’re what I call a ?casual street sneaker.? You’ll be making a statement with your feet in these. By having these on your feet, you’re saying, “I care a little bit more than the other guy.” You’re supporting sustainability and when other people see them on your feet, you’re spreading a message. It starts as a sneaker, but the message can build and grow.
Nice Kicks: Where can you purchase REMYXX kicks?
Gary Gagnon: I don’t have inventory right now, but you can pre-order these on Kickstarter.com. You can buy it, you can live it, you can breathe it, and you can be the first of any, through Kickstarter, to get your own pair of REMYXX sneakers. I also have some other incentives on Kickstarter for this purchase. You’ll be posted, in eternity, on my wall as a supporter for the first ever launch of REMYXX.
Nice Kicks: How are you looking to develop REMYXX in the future?
Gary Gagnon: As the development grows, I want to create a sneaker that will be made from 50% recycled material in my own closed loop system – where you wear the sneakers, I get the sneakers back and I make new sneakers out of the old materials. That would be golden. I’m already lab-certified and technically proven, but I don’t have the financial resources at the moment. Plus, I know the development will take a long time again, so I need to sell what I have and find the consumer interest. In the next generation, I can maybe create high-tops and add some more cushioning. I?d like to create a heavy-duty, skater-padded style. I know it has that skater look already, and I love it. That’s why I call it a ?street sneaker.?
