De Zaler 04.14

"In the design department, I work with two of the very best shoe designers. I plunged into the family business 25 years ago and then started working in this field. They both made a conscious decision to become shoe designers from an early age. They were very determined and committed to make a career as shoe designers. The man I design the men's collection with is the biggest shoe nerd I know. He is a kind of shoe robot and knows every single shoe model ever made and where they come from. This shoe sole, for example, is his take on an old indoor sports sole. He knows the entire history of this type of shoe, gives it a twist and designs the coolest original sneaker for it. I couldn't do that. My strengths are rather errrr.... low-key. I'm more about trying things out without thinking too much about it, going purely on instinct. The funny thing is that both approaches come together in this shoe. My colleague had worked out this style and added a curved trimline to the side as a signature feature. The shape on the side comes from our own archive. I came up with it by chance 15 years ago when I was playing around with a sneaker we were developing. I didn't like it, so I cut off a piece and stuck it back on slightly twisted with a glue stick. We’ve used this shape on our best sneakers for years. And now it's back... The vintage Floris van Bommel!"