Bobbito Garcia - Sneaker Connoisseur/DJ/Entrepreneur

 

Bobbito Garcia was kind enough to sit down and have a talk with us about his latest endevours, his work ethic and possible future plans. Check out what the sneaker connoisseur has to say about the Pro-Keds Royal Flash re-release, the importance of being unique, and much more...

Hey, whatsup man?

Hey whatsup man, how you doin?

I'm good, how are you?

Ah, I’m chillin

So i'll start off by asking how you managed to brand yourself to become so successful?

Well, I don’t know that from the onset I had this idea to brand myself, I think it just kinda happened naturally over the years. Between doing collabs with sneaker brands, appearing in commercials,  and writing a book (where’d you get those, new York city  street culture, 1960-1987, Testify) as well , and I also did the ESPN show, It’s the Shoes . So all in all there's been a tremendous amount of effort put forth where ive sort of been reached out too as a sort of, sneaker connoisseur if you will, and then there's things that I’ve done on my own to make it all happen. Cut back to 20/25 years ago I was customizing sneakers when it was unheard of basically to do that, and now you have websites dedicated to that, so i've put in my work, ive definitely put in my work.

What advice can you give to young designers (sneakers, products, etc...)?

Well I would say, as far as design goes, even me as a sneaker consumer who purchases and looks and purveys, I’m always looking for something that’s unique and original. So I think in terms of design and what I’ve done and my collaborations with Pro-Keds ,Nike , Adidas , K1X , is to really just see whats out there, and see whats missing and then fill the gap, fill the void. That’s my business model, 100%.

How did you get invloved with Pro-Keds and the re-release of the Royal Flash's?

In my book “where’d you get Those” I wrote about the Pro-Ked Royal Flash, I was very fond of them as a child, in terms of, playing ball in them, and seeing them on really cool cats in Harlem. Pro-Keds as a result approached me about being involved in the anniversary re-issue, it’s the first time it’s ever been put out to the public since 1979, so I’m really proud to be a part of it and we’re doing a release party tomorrow, October 21^st  so be on the look out for it, it’s gunna be a good time!

What are you working on right now, and what can we look for from you in the future?

If the Pro-Keds hi-cut does as well as we expect and anticipate, I potentially have a Low-cutcoming out with the brand in 2010. I’m also the chief creator of project 2050 (www.P2050.com), it’s an agency, with advertising and marketing, insights etc..I’m also editor at large at Bounce Magazine, (ww.bouncemag.com with also a print publication) and well, I DJ all around the world! You can check out my myspace myspace and facebook pages to get the latest info of where i'm at and what i'm up to.

Alright man, well thanks for taking the time to interview with Monkee, and good luck the re-release of the Pro-Keds Royal Flash!

Oh, no problem man, thanks for giving me some shine.

So again, thanks to Kool Bob Love for taking the time to drop some knowledge on us. For a more in-depth look at Bobbito's re-issue of the Pro-Keds Royal Flash, check out the Kix and the City interview.

For all your Bobbito needs;

VIDEO BIO: http://www.youtube.com/user/bobbitogarcia
DJ INFO: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bobbito-Garcia-aka-Kool-Bob-Love/66072911092
SNEAKER DESIGNER: http://www.bouncemag.com/2009/07/02/exclusive-pro-keds-royal-flash-x-bobbito/
RECORD MAKER: http://www.r2records.co.uk/theconnection/
GENERAL INFO: http://www.facebook.com/bobbito.garcia OR http://www.somosarte.com/bobbito/
BOUNCE MAGAZINE EDITOR AT LARGE/COLUMNIST: http://www.bouncemag.com

Comments

[Sylvia Jaumann]

So, today I've learned to not pay too much attention on what have I done so far. Instead, focus on the things you love and when you do, you'll end up being as successful as this entrepreneur and you can barely remember how you started or how things worked out for the best of your career. Cool post. Thanks.

Sylvia Jaumann
http://www.dp-db.com/your-own-bookkeeping-business