Gone Native

MANILA, Philippines - Vancouver-based Native Shoes stays true to its design DNA of creating “Future Classics” through a combination of super-light materials, classic footwear design and future tech. For spring/summer 2015, Native Shoes continues to “keep it lite” with the introduction of the Apollo Chukka and Apollo Moc styles.

With a cult following on Hypebeast and collaboration with Marc Jacobs for fall/winter 2011, Native Shoes maintains legit hipster cred with a pantheon of street-ready “Future Classics” such as the Fitzsimmons hiking boot and the Jimmy mixed-media boot.

Native Shoes modernized the classic moccasin and desert boot for spring/summer 2015 by incorporating sleek micro-fiber blend uppers into their Apollo Moc and Apollo Chukka. Both styles boast shock absorbent EVA outsoles with rubber inserts, no-sew construction, perforation for maximum airflow and eco-standard practices that keep Native Shoes 100-percent beast-free.

The Apollo Moc stands out from the collection with an impressively slick silhouette (owing to its no-sew fabrication) that slips easily on to the foot, as clean, simple and sleek as its intended design. 

The motifs for the spring/summer 2015 line is inspired by bold pops of color, throwback hues and playful prints. Mark Gainor, Native Shoes’ creative director, pulled references from the pop colors of the ‘80s and retro planetary prints, creating a colorful compilation for the summer season. Prints like wavy grid, bold color blocking, and out-of-this-world florals refresh the classic ‘80s vibe.

Wanderlust: When choosing the path from point A to B, Native Shoes caters to those wanderers who would go for the scenic route.

YStyle sits down with Native Shoes’ Mark Gainor and VP of Global Brand Shawna Olsten to discuss what goes into their typical design process, the production of the Apollo Moc and the notion behind the Brand DNA of “Future Classics.”

YSTYLE: Can you tell us about the origins of Native Shoes? What was the idea that got it off the ground?

SHAWNA OLSTEN: Native Shoes was really born out of the idea of taking classic shoes and rethinking them in new materials. That was the simplicity of our whole operation, and we originally started with EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) as our base. At the time, people weren’t really exploring the design possibilities with EVA and we saw an opportunity for good design.

Within our second season, we were already experimenting with different fabrics like neoprene for our Fitzsimmons boot — which actually is still one of my favorite shoes that we’ve ever done. Innovation is what Native was born out of, and I think it’s what we’re looking to stay true to. Reinventing classic silhouettes and implementing available technology for better design.

Can you walk us briefly through the design process for Native Shoes?

Future Classics: Native Shoes hits a homerun with sleek, futuristic silhouettes paired with out of this world prints and color blocking for a fresh take on an ‘80s retro-space vibe.

MARK GAINOR: Let’s talk about the Apollo because with every collection we tend to do things a little differently. With the Apollo Moc, I really wanted to work on the silhouette of the shoe, to maintain a shoe with a really sleek silhouette. I knew the design lines and the last of the shoe, specifically, were going to be really important.

So I reached out to a guy named Raoul in Los Angeles. He is a third-generation footwear maker and I spent a lot of time working on a prototype with him. We started with a hand-made, hand-turned wooden last. We turned the last on a machine that he bought from the East coast, built in the 1800s. It literally turns a raw log into a hand-made wooden last. It was extraordinary for me to see — the experience of working on such a hands-on, timeless, proven way of making custom bespoke footwear.

We spent a couple of months working on the prototype in Los Angeles. We were able to leave there with a working shoe — but we had yet to develop our signature futuristic materials. We had yet to figure out the micro fibers and to establish the no-sew construction.

Can you tell us about your production process, how you translate a prototype into the retail line?

Learning about the process of making one shoe is wholly different from the process of making 10,000 shoes. Making a prototype is great and it presents its own problems, but making 10,000 shoes is a whole other party.

We went to China with the prototype and spent around nine months developing the right supplier for production. In retrospect, prototyping seemed easy compared to the commercialization aspect of producing an entire shoe line.

How does the concept of “Future Classic” factor in for the Apollo?

It was interesting because there in that process, I had the best example of our “Future Classic” construction. We dealt with the most classic, proven way to make footwear in developing the Apollo — then we took it over and merged it with the most futuristic, cutting-edge technologies that we could find.

The whole experience was great. Fun times.

Speaking of “keep it lite” and the Native Shoes design DNA of shock-absorbent EVA outsoles, no-sew construction, perforation and keeping it 100-percent beast-free, do you see Native going into other shoe product categories? Higher performance or a dressier sort of EVA shoe?

In terms of high performance shoes, it’s safe to say we’ll never make a high performance athletic shoe. We feel like there’s so much product that focuses on competition and athleticism in design, and those are great things we admire but for us, there’s a huge part of the population that, basically, needs a straight-out well-designed shoe.

We call them the “Wanderers.” I jokingly say the quickest path from A to B is highly overrated. Take your time and wander around wherever you may be. That’s really our people, our customer: the wanderers of the world. And I think at the end of the day there are a lot more wanderers then there are high performance athletes, so I think we have a big enough market to grow into.

Lastly, for the future of “Future Classics,” do you see Native Shoes as a brand growing into a full-fledged lifestyle line?

I personally feel like there’s so much to explore in footwear as it is that I’m happy to do my thing with shoes for the foreseeable future.

Shawna: As for me, when I look at product philosophy and we talk about “Future Classics” it could definitely be so much more than footwear someday. It’s a long way down the road but right now, we still have a lot of opportunity in footwear that we have yet to scratch the surface on. Expect to see a lot more shoes from Native in the future.

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Native Shoes is located in the Philippines at Glorietta 4, TriNoma, Robinsons Ermita, SM City Fairview, SM City Batangas and SM City Davao.