Stan Smith Mylo: Made Using Mushrooms

When did you start the YouTube stuff?

YouTube I started in 2007. Before, I guess the word YouTuber was even a thing, or influencer was a thing. Funny enough, I uploaded my first video on MySpace.

Okay, wow.

Do you even know what MySpace is?

[Laughs] I had a MySpace! You could have your song, you could choose your emoji, how you’re feeling.

Top eight. You could choose your top eight. So yeah, my first video was on MySpace, and then they introduced YouTube, and then I started uploading on YouTube because it started to become the place for videos. It didn't take off at all. I was getting views here and there, but mostly it was just from people I knew. And then throughout the years, it started to slowly grow. I always tried to figure out what was my thing on social media, and I always loved sneakers, but I didn't incorporate it into my content until 2014.

What were you doing before?

I was trying everything. I was doing daily vlogs, just showing my life. I had two channels. One of them was vlogs, and then the other one was skits and pranks. I was in the prank era.

I didn't fake any though, not like some of those guys. But then I was like, let me test out sneakers. Not because I was trying to capitalize on sneakers, but it was something that I loved. And I had seen other creators that I was watching get some really dope opportunities with sneakers. So I was like, let me try it out. And once I did it, it changed everything. I think my channel went from a hundred K to a million in a year and a half doing sneakers.

It's crazy that you were a YouTuber before that term even existed. Do you feel like you’re trying to separate in a way now that everyone’s doing it? 

Yeah, a hundred percent. That's kind of where I am now. As I'm older, and I've been doing this for, what, 18 years now. I want to be more of a creator, not just a content creator. I want to be a creator. And that kind of ties in with being able to create the shoe, because I want to do bigger projects like this, and I've been blessed to do some great projects with some great brands over the years, but nothing on the scale of Adidas. So yeah, I wouldn't say I want to be looked at as a sneaker designer, but I want the brands to look at me as more than just an influencer.

Take you a little more seriously in the design space.

Exactly, exactly. Because I know I could sell a product. I know I can do dope activations like this,

and it's cool that Adidas is willing to give someone like me a chance to do this. I know there's a lot of brands out there that, again, they see us as somebody who can promote a product, but they don't see us as somebody who can make the product.

And really give, I guess, useful input into what goes into it.

Exactly. Because at the end of the day, I'm part of the community. So you're giving somebody in the community a chance to make a product for the community rather than some guy that nobody knows behind the scenes who designs. There's a lot of products not to knock other brands and stuff, but there's a lot of products where it just doesn't connect with the community. You know what I mean? So to be able to make a shoe that connects with the community, the sneaker culture, and even people who aren't even into sneakers. I've seen people who are from a different place, but they moved to LA to work. It connects to my story where I moved to LA to do social media. So they want the shoe because of that, and they're not even sneaker heads. So it's cool to be able to make a product that connects with people.

Was there a moment for you where you're like, ‘I want to establish myself as a designer’? 

It definitely happened over time. Like I said, I've been able to do projects with other brands. I've done a few sneakers, but nothing as big as adidas. But I've done other projects, like with Lids. I did a hat collection. I did a sock collection with Stance. So I've gotten those opportunities to do these types of products. But I would say over the last five years is where I really was like, ‘Hey, I really want to do stuff on a bigger scale. I still want to do my content creation and do social media, but I also want to create.’ So it is something that kind of happened over time.

But you're having those conversations with Stance and Lids, and then you kind of realize there's so much more that you do.

Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. And it's fun. It's fun at the end of the day to be able to see what goes into a release. I'm somebody who loves hype. I love when companies do collaborations. I love when new products are coming out.

And all the marketing around it.

Exactly, the activations. So I still like to be in the community. I'm not the guy that says, ‘Oh, who can I contact to cut the line?’ I'd rather go and experience the line. So yeah, it's kind of just cool to be a part of it and seeing all the behind the scenes, it's fun for me.

What sneakers were you into as a kid?

I was actually pretty blessed that my dad doesn't know anything about shoes, but he did get me some really cool shoes. I actually have a photo of me in white and black Superstars in elementary school. So that was one of my go-to shoes as a kid. I also had a couple of Jordans and I had some random stuff that's really cool, like Uptempo Nikes. But I would say I really got into sneakers when I was in high school just because that was the era of looking cool and the baggy throwback jerseys with fitted hats and stuff like that. But I was all over the place. I had every brand. I had Adidas, I had Phat Farm shoes, I had everything. So whatever was the cool shoe, I wanted it. Call me a hypebest, but that's how it was. 

Hype was different then too because you'd get your hype from a source, like a music video, and it wasn't like someone telling you, “this is what's cool.” It was just hype because the cool people were wearing it organically. 

And it's crazy. I'm from California, and one of my inspirations for how to dress and stuff was 50 Cent and G-Unit. Sick. I love the way that they would dress.

Dude, 50 cent had white dudes in Manhattan wearing bulletproof vests. So crazy the influence they had. How'd the conversation with Adidas come about?

The opportunity with them kind of came about through Private Sneakers, which is one of the retailers that carried the shoe. I'm good friends with the owner, and they had done a project with adidas before, but they had come to him again to make a second shoe, which is this one right here. And he said that he wanted to give me the opportunity, so he told adidas, “Hey, why don't we have Qias come on board to help with the design of the shoe and kind of be the face of the shoe.” And Adidas was all for it. For me, it was shocking to hear that I never thought I would be able to do a project with adidas that's been on my bucket list for years now. And that's kind of how it came about. And adidas didn't give me any, “you can't do this, you can't do that.” It was more so like, “All right, what's your idea? Give us a mockup and then we'll start talking materials” So within one month we finalized the design.

Did the initial plan for the shoe change throughout that process at all? Or was it kind of like what you envisioned just came to life?

I would say for the most part, what I envisioned came to life. When I came with the first mockup, it was just the colorway, and then the second conversation was materials. And then they kind of came up with the idea to do cracked leather. So I was like, Oh, yeah, that's perfect. It goes with the vintage aesthetic. The first sample of the shoe was really dope, and then there was something that happened where we couldn't put that version in production. And then the second version, perfect, and we put it into production. So it took a year, which is the typical timeframe for a sneaker. But as far as nailing the design, we got it in a month.

Tell me more about inspiration. You mentioned vintage, we’re here at the flea market. What are the details that speak to the inspiration?

Yeah. My goal was to think of LA right? I feel like LA sneakers that I've personally seen in the past kind of all look similar. They're either Laker colors, Dodger colors, California flag colors, or they have the LA graffiti aesthetic or Mr. Cartoon style, which is really cool. But I wanted to do something where it represents LA, but it's also wearable every day of the week. Anybody can wear it even if they're not from LA. So my idea was to kind of pay homage to the streetwear and vintage culture out here, which is huge. If you go to Melrose, there's so many streetwear and vintage stores there, and I feel like I wanted to represent LA through a vintage t-shirt.

So for the upper, we went with the washed black to kind of like a vintage tee look, cracked leather again on the stripes, the shirt tag on the tongue. We put that on there, and it's pretty cool that we were able to put it upside down because that gets some approvals from the higher ups to put the adidas logo upside down. And then obviously having that off white coloring with the midsole being cream and the shell toe being cream, and then the tongue. I just wanted it to look like a vintage shoe and a vintage t-shirt, and I think we did a good job of bringing that story to life.

Yeah. I love that it came with so many insoles and lace options. I love that too. You can tell it was really thought through all the way.

Yeah as a sneakerhead, I appreciate the little stuff. I appreciate the little details. So I'm thinking, how can I make it super wearable, but also include a lot in the box so you’re able to make it pop in your own way. So you could put those palm tree pins on the shoe, you could put the star laces, you could put the hang tag on, you could take it off. You could basically customize it with what's in the box. Even the extra insoles, and I don't know if you noticed, but the palm tree pins, it's two adidas logos. 

I didn’t even notice the pins, I got ready in a rush this morning.

Yeah, look at it. It's a palm tree, but the palm tree leaves are two adidas logos, and we took that from the adidas archives. It was an old pin from the eighties and they found that one. I'm like, yes, we got to include that. But little things like that, if you're able to make the shoe pop, but also at the same time, it's so wearable.

I really appreciate how much you've thought about it. I feel like so many, you see people do collaborations and they just change the colors a little and don't really think about it.

And that goes back to having someone who's part of the community actually designing a shoe versus someone who's not really in touch with it. I know what I appreciate when I unbox a pair of shoes. It's not just about the shoe, it's the experience. You open it up, you see the tissue paper, you open it up and you find a little bag with some pins in it. It's stuff that makes you appreciate the sneaker even more, it's just not just about the shoe.

Do you see this more as a milestone for you or a new chapter?

Both. This is something that's always been on my bucket list. It's one of those things I always dreamt about. I knew it was going to happen. I just didn't know when, and it's all about who you know and who you get connected with. But I also feel like this could open the doors and start the next chapter of my career. I've been doing this for so long, you know what I mean? There's so many people who do social media and then they're gone in a few years. I know I'm not at my peak. There was a time when I was getting millions of views. Every video. I know I'm not there, but I take pride in the longevity.