ONE SMALL SEED MAGAZINE Issue #29 Digital 04 THE BEST OF | Page 12

WHEN DID YOU MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM
COLLECTING TO DESIGNING?
I was never a collector. As I mentioned, I wear my sneakers. A
collector will put a coveted pair in the closet and show off pictures of
them online, much like an art dealer would with a painting. Nothing
wrong with that if you can afford to do so. I come from an era where
no Internet existed. The only way you could show people what you
were about was by wearing your shoes outside. And we didn’t resell
sneakers, which has warped the value, or attraction, of what people
purchase. Ugly shoes will have lines outside shops waiting to buy them,
but then people don’t even rock them. The draw is the potential
to make money by doubling the price. That’s not my approach at
all. Anyhow, I’ve been designing shoes since 1980 for fun. I dig the
diversity of brands and am grateful for the opportunity to give my
spin.

WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH PUMA?
My relationship with PUMA goes back to the ‘70s, I remember the
PUMA Clyde. I’m a ballplayer first and foremost and the Clyde was
a transitional shoe, a shoe that changed the game. Despite