Following an initial leak earlier this month, we can now give you an official detailed look at Nike SB and Amsterdam retailer Ben G’s collaborative Blazer Hi. Rather than have us babble on about colors and materials, we caught up with Mr. Ben G himself to let him do (most of) the talking.
Continue reading after the jump for our Q & A and a further look at the shoe.
HS: Hi Benny, hope all is good. So, you have worked again with Nike SB on a nice project. How did the process start?
BG: Well since i started the store and had an account with SB I’ve been bugging them to do a Ben G shoe. So i guess they got fat up with me at some point and thought my 5 year anniversary what the right time to do something.
From the looks of things the Blazer is inspired by a popular candy egg. Brand names aside, care to talk about why you decided on this color palette/theme?
Always been a fan of this product and i think everyone used to love it when they we’re young. The whole concept was perfect for a shoe referring the white pebbled leather tot the wrapping of the egg etc.
Also the fact that this concept was a good excuse to make a white and black Blazer since the suede black and white blazer is one of my all time favorite SB shoe’s to skate in….thank god it’s a carry over model!
Can you give us some information on the design process of the sneaker?
It wasn’t that hard to do the shoe when we had the concept. The first sample had a orange midsole which was even more perfect for the concept and it looked cool only it wasn’t something i would have worn myself…so they asked me what i really wanted. I wanted a simple shoe so we choose to keep the mid sole white and the sole orange.
We’ve heard this wasn’t the first time you’ve worked on a sneaker with Nike SB.
Actually the shoe that was named the “Huxtable” Dunk was supposed to be a Ben G shoe. We pitched the shoe as a “Coogi” dunk referring to the sweater Biggie was wearing in that covershot of the Source where he is counting his money. We tried to make the print exactly like that sweater but when the first sample came back it didn’t look like the sweater print at all. And the shoe was dope but it wasn’t something i would wear personally so we decided to not make this a Ben G shoe and do something else which was this shoe. The Nike people still wanted to bring out the shoe which was fine by me!
Back to the Blazer. When and where will it be coming out? How many units?
Nike generally doesn’t want me to talk about numbers but to give you a sense we just did a couple of hundred for Europe and I know some selected stores in the US will get the shoe as well.
We will be the first to sell it on Saturday 30th and the rest of the globe will follow the 15th. Also we’re having a release/ Ben G 5 year party on the 29th the day before the release.
By the way, how is the skate scene in Amsterdam these days?
Although the scene is a bit splintered there are a lot of new young kids that started skating so i have great hopes!
Related posts:
»
Nike SB Blazer & Blazer Low CS March 2011»
Nike Blazer Hi Spike Lee»
Nike Blazer AC High LE Dark Cinder»
Nike ACG Blazer Mid»
Nike Blazer SP “New Green”
[...] select Nike SB retailers November 15th. Be sure to check the interview after the jump thanks to Highsnobiety! HS: Hi Benny, hope all is good. So, you have worked again with Nike SB on a nice project. How did [...]
[...] is aanstaande zaterdag, 30 oktober en een wereldwijde release zal volgen op 15 november. Bij High Snobiety hebben ze een Q&A gehouden met de Amsterdamse retailer wat je hieronder kan teruglezen. Hi [...]
[...] Nike collaborates with Dutch retailer, Ben G to release this slick lookin’ Nike SB Blazer. The sneaker features a bright orange sole, white midsole complete with a bold black swoosh. High Snobiety chats to Ben G himself, jump over here to read full interview. [...]
[...] Interview with High Snobiety: [...]
[...] A 5th Anniversary is a pretty big deal. In fitting fashion for Ben G’s big five they linked with Nike to craft this special version of the Nike SB Blazer Hi Premium. The Amsterdam boutique chose to use a Kinder Surprise Egg theme and its most readily seen in the display case however if you take a look at the insoles its evident there also. The shoes are composed of white pebbled leather with a black canvas swoosh and an embroidered Ben G on the heel tab. The sneakers are set to release on October 30th in Amsterdam and then experience a wider release on November 15th to select retailers worldwide. Via HighSnobiety [...]
[...] An initial release will start on Saturday, October 30th with a global launch on November 15th. High Snobiety conducted a short interview with a selection of answers seen below. From the looks of things the [...]
[...] verder hier Posted in [...]