JOHN BROTHERHOOD

FOOTPATROL

“ASICS Tiger VOICE” features people who continue to express themselves with the ASICS Tiger™ brand, discussing the past, present and future of the brand from their unique perspectives.

In this sixth issue, we have Mr. John Brotherhood, the brand manager of "FOOTPATROL", one of the top sneaker stores in the world, who talks about his unique philosophy on sneakers, with a focus on his collaboration with the ASICS Tiger™ brand. 

It all started with a collaboration on the "GELSAGA"

—Could you tell us how you came to discover the ASICS Tiger™ brand?

I first encountered the ASICS Tiger™ brand through collaborations with Ronnie Feig - but the first real encounter was working on our first collaboration on the "GELSAGA".

I see the ASICS brand as a company with great passion for their trade - a brand with a strong history, intrinsically engrained in culture and heritage. Being at the forefront of the sneaker industry for many years, I have huge respect for the brand who have never been afraid to make their mark, always challenging their competition with great design aesthetics and edgy advertising campaigns.

The most talked about collaboration we've ever produced

—What was the reaction to your collaboration with the ASICS Tiger™ brand?

To this day I think the "FOOTPATROL×GELSAGA" is probably one of the most mentioned, reposted and shared collaborations we’ve produced - I see it more than any other collaboration we have ever done - and it is still one of my personal favorite ASICS Tiger collaborations.

Our passion goes into materials and process, not to mention design

—When you collaborated with the ASICS Tiger™ brand, what were you conscious of?

When we work with any brand, we’re conscious of the fact that we don’t want to produce something ordinary! We like to push them to try new things, challenging them to create or try to use materials or processes they’ve not worked with before. On our first GEL-KAYANO TRAINER, for example, the ASICS stripe, which is traditionally made from plastic, was too bulky for us, so we wanted to create a new interpretation; we challenged the ASICS brand to experiment with new materials. It took a few attempts, and we wasted a couple of samples getting it right, but the end result created a slimmer, more refined finish.

We are excited about the prospect of new materials

—What kind of brand do you want ASICS Tiger™ to become?

It would be great to see the ASICS Tiger™ brand embrace some new materials - many brands have moved away from the traditional uppers associated with footwear and in particular sneakers. That said, I have seen the beginnings of some exciting forthcoming developments! I think 2017 will be a defining year for the brand.