Sewing Seams for Custom Dreams: Richie Range Interview

Would-be cobblers are sole swapping, repurposing and remaking high-quality custom footwear creations all across the globe. However, not many of these mad scientists get tapped on the shoulder by Budweiser or an team when those organisations need an exclusive size run of extraordinary customs. The man who lives that dream is Richie Range of Garrixon Studios (formerly known as Relevant Customs). Just moments after sending off a thousand pairs of his custom sneakers, Richie gave us an insight into what it’s like to be one of the biggest players in the custom game.

What do you think is important to include when you design something from the ground up?
I would look at it two ways. Sometimes you do things for love, and sometimes you do things for money. With shoes, you do things for hype, or you do things for ease of construction. If you’re about to design 10,000 pairs for a large corporation, you’re going to design that very differently to something you just want to hype up for Instagram. Understanding the longevity of any project is definitely a key.

Would you ever sell a sneaker at a pop-up for $0.99?
I think that was an oversight on the brand side. It was a little too risky to invite the New York City population of sneakerheads to come collect shoes for 99 cents when we’ve been drinking AriZona Iced Tea our entire lives.