For long time skater, Streetwear manufacturer and sneaker buff Angel Cabada, the founder of Supra, the journey has been a long and eventful one with plenty of twists and turns rather than a quick, direct blast to the top of the sneaker game.
Angel started his first company, known as TSA, with some fellow skaters who were mainly into making clothes that they could wear when skating. That was 1991 and it lasted for around ten years until Angel decided to leave so he could do his own thing. The company he founded in 2002 was KR3W, his current apparel brand that he manages along with Supra under the distribution umbrella for the two projects known quite simply and aptly as One Distribution; initially built to cut out the middleman in the European distribution process.
So what did Angel take with him from his TSA experience, well just that...'Experience'. He has described his first project as his 'Education' in the business and I've heard other entrepreneurs/founders in street and sneaker culture say similar things; such as the lead designer and co-founder of Creative Recreation, the other hot brand in the up market sneaker niche, who commented in a recent video interview that his training ground in the sneaker industry was as a snowboard boot design technician and later sneaker designer for Vans.
After all of his years of learning on the job at Team Santa Ana (TSA) he openly admits he made a million mistakes as a young, creative businessperson attempting to build his first brand. And in fact one thing he insisted he would do when KR3W opened its doors was take all of that experience and apply it effectively so he wouldn't make the same mistakes all over again.
Since 2002 Angel has been gradually building KR3W based on a solid formula of making simple, effective clothing for skaters, made by skaters; similar to the Team Santa Ana philosophy yet with a more effective company infrastructure and an efficient, productive team of specialists running their particular areas of expertise. KR3W has gradually built a loyal following within the skate community due in part to its durable, stylish designs while the other part of its recipe for success is the development of a team of respected, charismatic, fashion forward and culture and marketing savvy professional skateboarders who are admired by this generation of young skater consumers. The up and coming crop of new boarders admire the pro riders they look up to and learn their skills from yet they themselves are actually the ones who wear the hoodies, jeans and skate shoes every day to really get a feel for their authenticity and how they stand up to daily wear and tear.
After presenting most of the Supra Holiday 2010 Footwear Collection, we take a further look today at one of the most popular styles of the brand – the Vaider. The high top sneaker comes next to mostly solid minimalist colors in a bright green/yellow version.
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