Like a rollercoaster that only fashion can ride, L.A. Gear
have seen themselves through more ups and downs than a Britney Spears
custody battle. Enter the soon to be notorious crew of ladies from The
Netherlands known as Club Zonder Filter. Relaunching the ‘80s brand
into a new age with their eye for fame on the streets, Kristel and
Josine from CZF have turned L.A. Gear into the ‘must have’ sneaker drop
of the year. And sorry fellas, this one’s strictly for the girls!
We
caught up with the ladies on the brink of creating sneaker her-story,
with our exclusive interview and first look at the one shoe that you
fruity gents may just have to bind your feet for.
Hey Ladies, who is Club Zonder Filter? Club
Zonder Filter is a young production company from Amsterdam, which
initiates a lot of creative, young projects, and works for different
organisations, ranging from brand, cultural and advertising agencies.
About two and a half years ago we (Kristel, 25 and Josine, 26) decided
to join forces and chase our professional dreams together. Our creative
background lies in both advertising as well as entertainment delivery
for events, festivals, nightlife and theatre. We are interested in
anything exciting and creatively challenging that comes along our path.
Just recently, we have both been chosen to serve as the ‘Mayors of
Amsterdam’s Nightlife’ and to represent young creative entrepreneurs
who are active in the scene. Wonderful ideas and projects keep popping
up every week. You can see more of our adventures and activities on
www.zonderfilter.blogspot.com.Are you prepared for the worldwide recognition you are about to receive with the impending revival of L.A. Gear?We
guess not, well, maybe a little, but worldwide? Actually, at the moment
we are extremely busy getting things done in time, so we don’t really
have time to think about those kinds of things. Of course, we are
extremely proud knowing that the introduction of these shoes will make
a lot of girls and women extremely happy.
Obviously,
L.A. Gear has a lot of confidence in Club Zonder Filter, especially for
a crew of ladies not too well known outside of The Netherlands. What
did you do or say to convince the defunct brand to open up their
archives and bring back some of that ‘90s heat?Well
we begged and begged and pleaded. Actually we wrote a really passionate
and sincere love letter about the shoes our parents wouldn’t let us
have when we were young, that they had to come back and that the time
was so right for it. I think the fact (us missing out on L.A. Gears
when we were young) was still bothering us personally. We did a lot of
research and made a flashy presentation, which we added to our love
letter. This all sounds really easy, but it took them over a year to
finally make the decision and get in touch with us.
Just what is it about L.A. Gear?For
us I think it’s the sense of nostalgia and the special memories
attached to it. In our opinion, this shoe defines femininity in a very
characteristic way. They were the first brand who released sneakers for
girls with a fashionable twist and they did it in a bit of a tacky, yet
‘oh so’ great way. That created something almost legendary and mythical
about the brand which, in our minds, made them into real cult items.
For example, putting rhinestones and LED lights on sneakers, blending
laces with actual lace or satin ribbons – no other sneaker brand could
get away with that!
Why do you think the brand fell off so dramatically in the late ‘90s? The
nineties was basically crunch time for a lot of brands. There was so
much competition, and while L.A. Gear started off great, they seemed to
lack the momentum to keep that good thing going. Their style was spot
on when they started coming up, but they failed to move along with the
times.
How do you intend to turn around the public perception of L.A. Gear? People
don’t think about how the story ended, it’s all about the iconic value
that it once had and that’s what stays in everybody’s mind. Besides
that, a lot of people were very young when these shoes came out, way
too young to realize why the shoe disappeared from the streets.
As you’ve said, L.A. Gear was known
for its lacy laces, studly studs and girly bows and colourways... How
do you see the contradiction between that ultra-femme aesthetic and the
push from ladies who have been demanding the same level of quality and
choice in footwear as the men?
We see L.A. Gear as
something that doesn’t have an immediate link to the ‘sneaker scene’.
You have to remember that while kids in the US were going crazy over
Jordans in the nineties, European kids were begging their parents for a
pair of L.A. Gears, so it’s basically a cult item. You have no idea how
many guys want the Fireball, even though it’s studded with rhinestones!
And besides, we made a ‘ruff’ shoe! It certainly is girly due to
certain aspects (studs and ribbons) but still exudes attitude out the
ass! In no way is this a preppy girly shoe, we hate preppy girly
styles! We think most ladies will consider L.A. Gear as something made
especially for them.We think they are, as we are, longing for it
because it’s been away for so long. Now it’s our turn. We think every
lady who owns a pair will wear it with pride and consider it as a real
gem in their cherished sneaker collection.
The
sneakers are only available in ladie’s sizes, which I’m sure will leave
some dudes, and even some big-footed women, crying into their Cheerios.
Well the actual decision to launch it just for
women was made by the people at L.A. Gear. In their vision, L.A. Gear
started out as a women’s shoe and they still have the intention to
position it that way. But they also recognise that the other models
(which were also for men) have the potential to be a real hit if they
retro them as well.
Tell us about working with L.A. Gear
and the nostalgic effect it had on you ladies, finally working with a
brand that you loved so much back in the day.
We
both already owned a few pairs of vintage L.A. Gears. Every time we
would wear them it would provoke a lot of reaction. People were staring
and making remarks about them and sometimes they would even want to
take pictures of them. We were already promoting them for a long time,
so when the decision was finally made and we got the assignment, we had
all these different wild ideas of how it should be. We decided to dig
around in the past to come up with the best designs and concepts.
Initially, we were only responsible for the marketing aspect of
retro-ing the Stardust, but due to our commitment and strong ideas
about how the shoe should look, we ended up designing the colourways
and materials too. The assignment was only for the shoes, however if it
were up to us, we would have loved to create a whole apparel and
merchandise line, from top to toe.
Can
you give us some insight into the process of making the first Limited
Edition ‘Fireball’ model and how you chose all the elements that make
up this firecracker!When we started the project we
already had in mind that this shoe had to be imaginative and stylish at
the same time. The basic concepts for both the Limited Edition and
shoes in the General Release (GR) line were designed with a few
stereotypical girls in mind. We got our inspiration from American
staples such as varsity colours, cheerleaders, cotton candy and
cupcakes, so we started to design colourways based on those staples.
One version just literally exploded off our computer screen, and we
knew this one could never be a GR release, it was way too special! It
was a shoe that would snap necks on the street and when we showed it to
the Patta crew they were like, ‘Wow, now that rocks!’ We knew then that
a star was born, a Fireball to be exact.
How did your relationship with Patta come about and what will they be contributing to the release?
First
off, everyone in Amsterdam (and dare we say it, even Holland) knows
Patta, it’s THE place to cop your shoes. We already knew Guillaume from
Patta personally because he often drops into parties that we throw in
Amsterdam. As soon as we came up with the idea to release a Limited
Edition L.A. Gear, he was the first person we called to help make the
collaboration come about!
I know
you ladies have thought of everything and left no (rhine) stone
unturned with this release. What are some of the extras that will come
along with the shoes?
We thought that if ladies go
and stand in line for this shoe, we have to give them something special
in return. So it’s not only the shoe that gives you a luxurious feeling
with the soft infrared nubuck and the sweet magenta satin lining, it’s
the whole package. The shoes come with an L.A. Gear x Patta tee and
different colour laces, so you can knock yourself out rocking those old
school checkerboard and weave lace-ups. And don’t forget the special
infrared shoebox that nobody is going to want to throw away!
Are there still plans to drop separate colours of the Stardust or will you wait to see the outcome of the Fireball?
Besides
the Fireball model you see here, we also designed eight other
colourways. After the introduction of the Stardust model there will be
a general line released...
When will the launch take place and where can we cop them?
The
release of the Fireball is slated for September 13. Of course we will
be making a big deal out of it, the whole nine yards! The Fireball will
be released at Patta and the other shoes will be scattered around some
high-end sneaker stores in Europe. So far we have Solebox (Berlin),
Sneakersnstuff (Stockholm), Colette (Paris) and 24 Kilates (Barcelona).
There will also be a release party with Patta in Amsterdam, held a
couple of days before the actual release.
There are rumours that you will not be stopping at the Stardust model. Can you give us a sneak peek into the future?
We
cannot specifically tell what the future is going to bring. We don’t
have any agreements with L.A. Gear set in stone as yet. We think that
as soon as the Fireball proves itself to be the success we know it will
be, L.A. Gear will be itching to collaborate with us again! We have
tasted the fine flavours of fashion design and we’re hungry!
For more info check www.myspace.com/ilovelagear for pics and previews.