Published: October 8, 2008
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EmailThis is first in the solereview 'Sole Addict' series, and what better way to kick it off than interviewing a true blue sneakerhead who knows his kicks inside out. Kunal Srivastava is from Mumbai - India's style capital and he bares all about the love in his life - sneakers...
Sneakerologist: Hey Kunal could you fill us in on your background a bit?
Kunal: Well Mr. Sneakerologist I am from Mumbai. Was born in Bombay on 29 December, 1979; so that makes me 28. I did my schooling from a boarding school in Shimla, Bishop Cotton School, where I joined in the 4th grade and continued till my 12th grade. After 9 years in Shimla, I came down to Mumbai and graduated from Sydenham. Since I used to play the guitar in school I thought I would become a musician. So me and a few friends formed a band call the “The Lemnisk8”. I used to/and still play the guitar (Les Paul Vintage Sunburst). We did a couple of gigs and were released in a compilation album. But soon life caught on, and I realised maybe it should be a serious hobby and not my job, hence got into the next thing on my list - advertising and became a copy writer. Currently I am a senior copywriter in an advertising agency called Touchè.
Sneakerologist: You obviously seem to have a thing or two for kicks, sneakers, shoes, call 'em whatever you will. You have an envious (and fairly large) collection; but everything big starts small. What inspired you to get into collecting sneakers?
Kunal: Oh, this could take long… As far as I can remember I always did have a thing for shoes but, if I have to point out something I would say it was an amalgamation of a couple of things. My father used to get me some nice Adidas and Filas when I was small so always wore cool sneakers, never slippers or sandals (He was in the navy) but this awesome greed or the addiction actually began with skating and and started with a movie called 'Back to the Future'. In school we used to skate and with it came this crazy range of skate shoes (the internet had just started). During my boarding days, some friends had Vans and they just looked so inciting with blue suede uppers and a white sole. I was sold. And the following year I came back home and got my first vans from Heera Panna Mumbai - it was 1996 or 97.
My preferred style of shoes is pretty definitive. I will only wear sneakers with flat soles. No Air Max, no leather shoes (except for caterpillars or Doc Martins) just skate shoes preferably with suede top..
But my first shoe for the collection was a must have for shoe fanatics. The 1994 edition 3 black stripes on white upper and a Shelltoe, Superstar II. From then I haven’t stopped. Read magazines, looked up the net for shoes, only to realize I might never find it here in India.
Then in December 1999, I went to the US and picked up some Dickies, Vans, Airwalks, Pony, Superstars, Sketchers… and yes I was grossly over charged for the extra luggage b'coz I always bring the shoes back in their boxes. As time passed my brothers moved to the United States, and a few family members were strategically placed across the globe. By 2002 I started buying shoes with my money - it pinched like hell but then the addiction was just too grave ;)
My next trip was to Malaysia and Singapore where I picked up my Bape's and others. Luckily my ex-girlfriend worked for puma so I got a good deal of immortal lows, Clydes and Suedes.
And I have been asking all my friends and family to get shoes for me ever since.
Sneakerologist: So how many pairs of sneakers do you have in your collection as of today? And I assume you certainly have more than 10 pair, so would you be able to rank them from 1 to 10 when it comes to personal favorites? I know it's a tough question, but would sure like to see you try...
Kunal: In total I own 61 pairs. This includes my shoes and Oxford formal shoes and not just sneakers.
Rating them is a toughie but here goes:
1. Vans suede uppers with flat white sole (pic - the second shoe in my vans collection)
2. Adidas Superstar II 1994 edition with 3D logo black on white basic Adidas.
3. Air Jordan 1 retro old love, new love.
4. Bape DC edition Superman.
5. Puma Suede black suede upper
6. Adidas ZX 700 Animal
7. Adidas Adicolor Y-8
8. Nike Dunk High Pro SB (Kentucky)
9. Evisu year of the dog
10. Adidas anniversary city series (Boston)
Maybe it’s a biased call for the top spot, but it was a fight between my Vans and 1994 edition superstars. I choose Vans… simply because it was one of my first shoes. It has been with me for over a decade now. Ran a marathon in them. Been in the disastrous Bombay flood on the fateful 26 July. Have washed them cleaned them more than any other shoe. Though it may be in tatters now, I still have a connection with that particular pair. I bough it for approximately. Rs. 4000, and it’s turned out to be worth much more. It dose not look funky or sparkly but used and abused. So it’s sure that my favorite pair are my Vans.
Sneakerologist: Woah! 61 pairs is a neat deal. I never made it past 50...
You mentioned that your style is pretty definitive (flat/skate type soles), but it can still get very difficult to buy a new pair because the choices are simply overwhelming. Under such circumstances, what influences or helps you to zero down to the shoe you want to buy?
Kunal: I never go for shoe shopping much, but when I pass through any Adidas, Nike, Reebok or sny other shoe shop in Bombay, I ritually go in to browse and pickup shoes if I like them. Also, I ask if some new Superstars, Dunks etc. are expected any time soon. Here in India, it’s very rare to find shoes which I like. When I do go abroad, I go with a list and if I get the ones i want, I pick'em up, if not, then I look around for something that will catch my eye.
I normally get to know about shoes through a few sites which I regularly visit, like www.kicksaholic.com, or www.sneakerplay.com of which I am a member, and here I get to know about the new releases. I visit www.pickyourshoes.com and www.zappos.com to buy shoes. Just a few sites I visit. I personally go for Limited Edition and prefer shoes that have some history behind it. Or something that just look awesome. I prefer shoes that are re-released and not brand new release. Shoes from the 60’s to the 80’s like Adidas Superstar II, campus, ZX, comptown. - Puma Clyde, Suede etc. are my first preference and then I go for skate shoes. That said, BAPE, Ice creams and Greedy Genius are the only sneakers that I have felt like getting after listening to music and watching adverts. Not b'coz they are endorsed, but I like the whole limited production idea about it. Guess I am a sucker for LE’s. I am a shoe collector for sure, but I am trying to skew my collection to must haves and Limited Editions.
That said, I also make sure that I only purchase original shoes, sometimes it’s not about how big your collection is. For most people my fanaticism for my shoes seems like waste of money and a far fetched hobby (read: friends and family) but to me, it’s more emotional. It’s just the feeling you get when you step out in you crispy white AF1’s or colourful Bape’s, and to the lows when I get my shoe stamped on the streets. People might just say sorry and walk off but you know sorry never cuts it. It might sound funny, but for me shoes are far more than a sculpted material that is used for walking.
Sneakerologist: I can sure relate to the pain of people stamping on your sneakers - happens to me all the time...
So far, have you met any other people(in India) who are collectors? I think of Mumbai as the style capital of India so I was thinking that you might have bumped into people with shared interests..
Kunal: Mumbai certainly is a style capital but then I might be partial to my city. Due to my work schedule, I haven’t met anyone who has the same passion for shoes. Till now I have just known you Mr. Sneakerologist I have a friend who loves shoes, but he is more into the Italian leather shoes and not sneakers. Apart from him there is ‘karanh’, a member of solereview, the only person I know who is into shoes and lives in Mumbai. Haven’t met him but he stays very close to my place. Though in Mumbai, at places like Carter Road in Bandra, Colaba and Breach Candy in South Mumbai, I have seen good amount of DC, ADIO, Osiris, Dunks, Superstars, Etnies, Vans, etc. I notice 'coz I am a strap hanger. If you can tap into those areas of Mumbai you will probably get a huge number of collectors. The only people I have bumped into, in India, are on solereview. Thank you for that Mr. Sneakerologist.
Sneakerologist: You're welcome...I'll keep on trying to get more and more people hooked up on sneakers through solereview!
Obviously, India is far behind US, Europe or Japan when it comes to this whole culture around athletic footwear and sneakers. So here's my question: Let's say that you were given charge of all major sneaker brands (officially in India or not) for 6 months, what do you think would you do to drastically change the sneaker and streetwear landscape in India?
Kunal: This might be a little detailed for an interview but anyway, here goes…
As an advertiser I have a solution that obviously involes an advertising angle.
The Gospel truth remains that Bollywood and Cricket are the two iconic Indian vehicles of motivating a large target audience. In the case of streetwear and sneaker brands I would extensively use these vehicles to promote, cool-hip for rural and unique and exclusivity in urban areas. We all know the Indian TA is young and very impressionable, and to an extent, unwilling to admit, but a wannabe (like every other country’s young population). As an advertising professional that’s a goldmine waiting to be excavated.
The difference here is about the brand perception in the minds of the urban and rural population. Where the rural will easily lap up the Bollywood and cricket fodder. The urban populous will be harder to convince. Simply put, ‘Horses for courses'
Here are a few things I might do on a Macro level:
Urban areas - I would flood the media with cheeky and arrogant Print and TVC’s. Have exclusive parties on the launch of a ‘shoe’ not the brand (make the shoe bigger than the brand) -for example, reintroducing a Superstar or Campus or AF1 or dunks. Not Nike or Adidas. Followed by print and ambient advertising. Skim the top with high prices and then make it affordable. Remember - you always want what you can’t have. People would be brand loyal to what they think is right... Adidas Puma or Nike should create sub divisions for consumers who are fanatics of a particular shoe or brand. Target colleges mostly.
Since I am biased towards Adidas Orignals I'll chose Adidas as my brand.
I would reintroduce Superstar, Gazelle, Campus, Samba, ZX, with international brand ambassadors and Indian cricket and Bollywood stars. Have concerts, and events promotions. The packaging would be unique and the show area would be innovative, weird, the clichéd out-of-the-box. Introduce special edition shoes and keep the consumers wanting for more. Build up huge expectations for the new shoe releasing next.
Rural + Small Towns
In-movie promotions and cricket star endorsements etc. would go a long way. Again have a Bollywood or cricket star introduce shoes. As things stand, I'll pick out super hunky boxer Vijendra Kumar with super heavy dubbing for his voice, 'coz god knows what will happen if he speaks.
An observation
Slowly we are seeing sneakers slipping into Bollywood. Few things that caught my eye in the move 'Bachna Ai Haseeno' - Ranbir Kapoor is sporting yellow/brown Creative Recreation shoes. In 'Kismet Konnection' Shahid Kapur is sporting Superstar II and in 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' Imran khan is sporting either Nike Dunks or Jordans. It’s a start but the in-movie promotions can go a long way when it comes to building the sneaker image.
Sneakerologist: Lol - well, let me tell you this : if anyone from the sneaker industry is reading this interview on solereview, be prepared to take a lot of phone calls with job offers...
Are you also fond of reading sneaker mags like the Sole Collector, Sneaker Freaker, Laces or Kicks(by Slam)?
Kunal:I have read Sneaker Freakers, it’s more like a digest but still a great read and informative. And Laces I have read at my friends house. I had got one of the old editions from the footpath market in Churchgate, but sadly, it looked old and my mom gave it away for a few bucks. Alas, such is life.
Sneakerologist:Hey man, appreciate spending your time with us for this interview! A parting question - have you decided what's your next pair of new kicks going to be?
Kunal:Yes I do - it’s a long list, and not in any particular order:
MUST HAVES – still to add to have a respectable/basic shoe collection
3 pairs - Dunlop Green Flash 1555 (green, blue, red) with thick laces.
Adidas campus ST Suede (black/white)
Adidas Originals Superstar 2 (black on white) and (white on black)
Bonnie and Clyde from PUMA Clyde Suede (black and white)
ADD TO COLLECTION - depends on availability and if I have that much dough.
Adidas Superstar 35th Anniversary laser etched, Run DMC, RHCP and Top Secret.
Adidas Skate base series Black/White
Jordan - Air Jordan 1 (Vintage) black/red - (costs -750 Sterling Pounds!)
Greedy Genius x Barneys NY Croc Stars
3 pairs - Puma Basket x Vaughn Bode ( Black, Red & White)
My list would go on and on but I guess these are on the top of my mind. Most are very basic must haves. Like the green flash and ST suede campus. But my top choice would be 1994 release Jordan 1 and Adidas Top Secret. Both very rare and very expensive.
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A very interesting & 'inspiring' interview Kunal...
why-thank you Mr. karan ;)