Asphaltgold Germany
Recently Darmstadt, Germany-based sneaker store celebrated five solid years of business, and to help celebrate adidas joined the party with a golden collaborative release. Our homies from Sneaker Freaker Germany were in attendance at the launch and caught up with store owner Daniel for a one-on-one.
Sneaker Freaker Germany: Happy Birthday Daniel. Five years in the business, how does it feel?
Daniel: Thank you. Starting as a one-man-show, it’s super cool to work with a whole team now. We’ve actually become quite a family.
How did everything start for you?
First there was the passion for sneakers and also the lack of a decent sneaker store in my hometown. Just after I finished my sports degree a friend of mine had a nice retail space for rent. I jumped in, I guess you can call that the point of no return.
What made you want to open your own store?
It has always been important to me to find some kind of satisfaction in my work. Now I'm working with product that I have been passionate about for so long. It's the perfect job for me.
Asphaltgold is a really nice name for a store, and the name works in German and English. How did you come up with it?
The name was a result from brainstorming with friends. Trainers have an urban background, so 'asphalt' suited. I was looking for an urban animal to use as a mascot so I decided on 'katzengold' (German for alley cat). That's pretty much how we got the name and the cat logo.
Your store is in the city of Darmstadt, is it known for anything famous?
Darmstadt is known for Art Nouveau, but also for Grohe Beer and not to forget Woog, our inner city lake.
You seem to have a soft spot for vintage runners.
Yeah, In the early 90s I was stoked with runners, from 180s to Huaraches and the first Puma Disc runners. After looking for vintage editions of those I also got into 80s stuff.
You have an awesome too. Is the scene growing in Germany for vintage sneakers?
Indeed sneaker hype is growing crazily, maybe the vintage thing is actually the only way for the core trainerheads to feel like they still have their own thing. In the last few years, our vintage stock has grown into a nice collection - so we decided to share the love and to sell a few pairs?
Is it hard to find Vintage Runners in Germany these days?
Definitely not, but finding good vintage stuff for the right price is the new challenge between all us vintage hunters.
You are celebrating your store's fifth anniversary with a commemorative adidas CNTR release, what's your favourite adidas shoe of all time?
The most iconic adidas sneaker for me is the Superstar, I love its unique look and cool history with the RUN DMC background. But there is a only one problem with Superstars, in size 11.5, which is my size, they don't really look that fresh. Maybe the Boston Super is my personal favourite adidas shoe, actually. In the early 90s my father had the OGs for running. I loved the grey-red outsole, which looked spacey like a computer panel from Star Wars or something.
Why did you choose the CNTR?
Right from the beginning we focused on a running theme, so we were looking for a cool clean running silhouette that equally works for women and men. The seamless version of the Centaur suits perfectly and the sunny golden colorway matches our shops name.
https://vimeo.com/73763535
Who had the idea for the video? It's really nice and the girls in it are amazing!
The concept came from my friend and film maker Gerard, and myself. We agreed on focusing on good vibes and an easy flow, so embedding the girls was the first step.
And finally, please answer the following short questions:
Where will you be in 5 years? Currently there is no reason to change anything.
What is your dream shop? Ours. Just keeping our good vibes!
What shoe do you wish would come back? Maybe the Airliners and Devlins.
What is the most over hyped trend at the moment? Moustaches
Runners or Basketball? Runners
Vintage or Retro? Vintage
Thanks Dani!
Where: Friedensplatz 4
D-64283 Darmstadt, Germany