Alright kids. The official event for Melbourne will at Provider on Thursday the 15th of March @ 6:30pm. For those who don't know, here is the address...
Provider
114 Greville St.
Prahran
+61 3 9529 2629
www.provider.com.au
There will be some free drinks for those that get to the store early enough.
There will also be a Door Prize to the best pair of NB’s rocked on the night. First prize is a pair of the Hungry Dragons in any color they choose. So make sure you bring out your heat!
All three colors will available on the night, Green, Black, Purple. For $220 per pair.
There are under ten pairs for each color that came to Australia and they are exclusive to Provider.
In addition tehre will be samples of New Balance’s upcoming ranges on display.
Following the lauch party in Hong Kong, I was lucky enough to ask NB designer Andrew Nyssen a few questions about the shoe and how it came about.
Tell us what your job title is and what you do at New Balance...
Footwear Designer II for Classics and NBZip
How did you end up where you are?
From early on as 3rd grade I was drawing shoes. My parents were “economical” on their shoe purchases for my brother and I so when my request for a pair of OmniLite Pumps was declined, my only option was to draw them and fantasize. (I finally bought a pair last year) I guess I knew I was on to something when I designed a shoe Pump design with a CO2 cartridge for my 5th grade invention. Only a few months later Reebok came out with the CO2 Insta Pump Fury. It blew my mind. From then on my goal was to be a shoe designer. The only problem was that I had no idea how to make that happen. When you’re a kid growing up in the 80’s, your options for occupation are the usual: fireman, teacher, etc… How the heck do you become a shoe designer? So by the time I was enrolled for college I was all signed up for graphic design. One day though, I was on the net and landed on a random college website with a shoe drawing on the student’s work page. I immediately left my enrolled college and moved 700 miles away to begin an industrial design program at KCAD in Michigan. A month after college I landed an internship at New Balance. I began full time in the Custom Product category for a year and then I moved to where I’m at now.
Have you always been into sneakers?
Yeah
What else are you into?
Teaching my kid how to skateboard.
Tell us a little bit about the ST33 project.
NB has always had a good reputation for performance and Domestic manufacturing. Unfortunately, not many people really know about it, or understand how “special” it is now. ST33 has been a way for us to do utilize and celebrate some of our most valued resources. Wow. That sounded way to corporate… Basically, ST33 is a designer’s dream come true. We’re allowed complete creativity and we can really get our hands dirty in the development process.
You obviously found Nemo. Why tropical fish?
I originally was designing the fish concepts for the Japanese market. The bright colors, and the prominence of fish in their culture made sense. Once the plan for ST33 became solidified, the fish concept was rolled out Globally. I picked the Neon and Clown fish first because I had some as pets growing up. I never had the Butterfly but it’s a cool looking fish and he makes for a good colorway.
Why the ‘Hungry Dragon’? We’ve have read the press releases but its all written for the media. We wanna know why you like dragons…
The press releases are pretty much right on. I was designing the shoe for the Asian Market right around Chinese New Year last year so the dragon just made sense. It’s a cool mythological creature used in the Lion and Dragon Dances for the New Year Celebrations and it carries a lot of symbolism. I don’t really have a personal fondness for them though…sorry.
When we saw you in Hong Kong, you were swamped by the media - like you were the lead actor of a Hollywood blockbuster! Do you get that sort of treatment back home?
No, definitely not. Designers feel a close connection to their ideas and products especially around the point of conception. But by the time a shoe hits the shelves, a lot of hands have been involved and it’s really become a Team project. A lot of behind the scenes involvement took place to make these shoes (thanks Jenn, Dave) so it’s been a little weird having the media single me out as the Brad Pitt of New Balance. Its nice to be recognized though.
So what’s on the cards for 2007? Anything NB heads should know about?
2007 will be the first year NB USA has really stepped up with a real complete line up of product from high end Tier 0 down to mass market Tier 3. We’re also communicating well with our NB UK and NB Japan partners so look out for a lot more of their product making it stateside. You’ll see some nice variety in the ST33 line. Japan’s ST33 is sick. UK’s design is coming this fall and NB Asia’s is due this winter.
Do you think King Kong can take on a Dragon and win?
Kong would rule.
Cheers!
SF
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