Sure we've shown you a fair stack of dope vintage finds in the last couple of months but wait until you see the madness that is 'In Vintage We Trust'. Jump started by Canadian sports junkie Josh and his fashion fiend girlfriend, the duo combined their business know-how to create one of the world's biggest and best vintage stores around. While you'll find the requisite Nike, adidas and ‘Bok heat here, it's the underdog brands such as Champion, Brooks, Ewings and Etonics that win Josh's heart and make our jaws hit the floor full throttle. We get inside the mind of this insane vintage hoarder and find out just why he's the expert on all things old school.
Hey Josh, tell us a little about yourself and how you got into the vintage game...
I started getting into sneakers in or around 1997. I remember thrifting and searching for vintage clothing and shoes before this, but stuff kind of exploded for me in '97. For the next decade or so my collection grew and I became fairly well known in Toronto for being the vintage guy and I parlayed that into a business venture in 2006, which is what I continue to do today.
Apparently we've crossed paths before when you were working on the Nike AF1 book in NYC. How did that all come about? Tell us more!
I worked as an editor for a national magazine called Peace, based here in Toronto. Nike approached us in 2007 about putting out a soft cover book on the relevance in pop culture of the Air Force One. I was in New York interviewing for the book, talking to people like Clark Kent, Bobbito, Bobby Jones, and Stash. I believe I met you guys at Sneaker Pimps NYC that year, I was doing some guest hosting for MTV Canada at the time.
How did 'In Vintage We Trust' come about?
My girlfriend and I both have a fashion background. She studied design and I studied the business end of fashion. We decided to partner up and started a new online vintage business, called In Vintage We Trust. We pride ourselves on having a wider scope of men's collectible vintage clothing. Everything from denim, to military, to sneakers, to concert tees, and everything else in between.
You have a super stack of some of sport's wildest gems. How do you manage to find all these goods and what you're looking for when scouring?
We really try to stay ahead of the curb. I think research, reading about the past, watching what's happening on the streets, and listening to your customers are the keys to success. I think once you've been searching for certain items long enough it becomes second nature. I can tell originals from retros just by the silhouette or the residue on the leather. It's a full time job and a passion, so there's really no quitting time. If I find a lead, be it on the Internet or word of mouth, I'm on it.
What is it about vintage sports wear that gets you going?
I'm a sports nerd, straight up. Every school paper I wrote from grades one through six was about stat comparisons on baseball player's career sheets. I remember breaking down jersey styles from the age of 10 and saving up all year to buy that one authentic jersey. As the Internet blew up in the late ‘90s it made it easier for me to research and get deeper in the game. We pride ourselves on not only having a great selection of retail sports apparel from the 1980s and 1990s, but also game used memorabilia that spans from the last century. We feel there's no better way to capture a feeling or moment than owning a garment that was worn by a certain player or team.
You've got a wide range of brands. Can you tell us about some of the more obscure labels you stock - Brooks, Etonics, Pony. What happened to those brands and why won't we ever see anything like this again?
Growing up, I always rooted for the underdog while watching sports. When Denver took Seattle to the brink and won in '93 I rejoiced, and when Frank Reich took Buffalo back from the darkness against Houston I knew I had seen god. I always felt that the second tier or dark horses in sports had so much more of a story to tell, the same goes with sneakers. When Slam put out Kicks in '98 and put out the blueprint for different pro model shoes worn by ball players from the 1980s it opened my eyes up to brands like Brooks, Saucony, Spotbilt, Pony, Champion, Ewing etc. I can say that we've had and sold most of the more known pro model shoes from the 1985 to 1995 era. Most companies that buy and sell vintage sneakers really stay in and around the big three brands being Nike, Converse, and Adidas. We try to stock a fuller range of what athletic footwear offered during that era. When the basketball shoe boom died in the mid 1990s, most of the smaller shoe brands were eaten up because they couldn't compete with the margins that the "Big Three" had. Most of the smaller shoe brands that are still around dropped their basketball programs because they were always a secondary market anyways, where as Nike and Converse had beat the farm on the sport and went all in. I personally would die to see A 'Dream Etonic' get retro'ed.
Woah, what's with the Champion Ewing joints?
Well, we all know that Patrick Ewing was signed to Phoenix/Next Sports from '89-'93. When the Ewing Center Hi blew up though, it retailed for $140.00 in most shops, and I couldn't drop that on sneakers, knowing that my foot was growing a full size every school year. So like many kids I had off brand kicks. Champion was one brand that I rocked. The suede joints they produced in the early ‘90s were nuts. That was a Toronto piece for sure. Anyone from that era remembers that shoe. It had crazy colour combos and dope silhouettes. Although Ewing was never officially signed to Champion, they gained that moniker because they looked very similar to the famous athlete endorsed brand. A few years ago I had the opportunity to do a fairly large buy on the better Champion styles, and went knee deep.
This fascination with vintage draws a line with sneaker heads, because, sure they look mad and have heritage but rarely can you rock them. What's your thoughts on collecting vintage without being able to wear any of it? Does it frustrate you?
Collecting is cool and all, but the only way that people really see what you have is by wearing it out. A lot of sneakers made from 1988-1994 use a foam insert mid sole which makes wearing the shoes very tricky. I can remember one party in particular where I wore a vintage pair of Jordan Vis that basically crumbled throughout the night. I knew it was going to happen, but I wore them anyways - checked it off my bucket list. Clothing is easier, because less wear and tear happens to a tee compared to a pair of shoes over time. I think it's more frustrating to see someone own a bunch of great stuff and never wear it out.
How do you feel about this retroing craze that has been going strong for the last couple of years? Do you feel it's killing the vintage game and taking away that ‘digging' mentality of copping kicks?
Retroing product works both ways. In one way, you're right, it hurts the value of original sneakers, because the market gets flooded with newer copies and 95 percent of the sneaker buying population doesn't really care about it being a retro or an original, they just want to own the model. In another way though, retro'ing product really shines a light on an era of clothing and shoes that the average customer was not aware of. I think it's great to see young heads start to broaden their horizons and get into some vintage product because of the ongoing media coverage and shelf life of retro merchandise. I think everyone loses though when a retro comes out and it lacks ALL the original aspects of the original. I know it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I see a newer version of a sneaker that looks different from the original. I can tell you that there's still untapped stock out there of deadstock product. If anything, the retro product makes the vintage stuff less appealing to the average sneaker head, because they know a crisp unworn non-yellowed version is available at their local shop, opposed to new old stock stuff which almost always has minor defects because of its age.
If there's one sneaker you could bring back, what would it be and why?
I would love to see Dominique Wilkins get his dues with a full launch of the original Brooks product line from 1984-1988. Not only were the shoes iconic for that era style wise but as a player on the court Nique put up monster years wearing Brooks. He fought Bird in an epic Game 7 in '88 where they both scored over 50, he outdunked Jordan in probably the most famous dunk competition ever, and the Hawks had three straight 50 win seasons, all done wearing Brooks on his feet. I've written several letters to Brooks over the years pleading for a retro line, but have never really gotten a straight answer as to why the company never jumped on the retro bandwagon when it was really booming. I mean if New Balance can retro the Worthy every few years then why can't Brooks give Nique fans some shine?
Where can peeps cop from you and how regularly do you update the eBay store -because really it's only a small portion of what you house right?
Our online store can be found at http://stores.ebay.com/invintagewetrustco We update the store 3-4 times weekly. The updates are always themed. One day might be military, and another day might be vintage skate, etc. Because of our boutique styled updates we do have quite a bit of product on hand at all times - just the way we like it.
