I always love watching the progression of someone who has a goal in mind and is trying to achieve that goal. Most probably like how many of you have watched me go from shoe shine boy to shoe company owner and blogger. And Christian Kimber is one of those people that I have enjoyed watching progress, not only for turning into a footwear designer but also for his role as a major player in the world of menswear, influencing many and beyond. Funny thing is that a few years back, in London, when I was shining shoes and he was working for Lodger, Christian and I used to talk about starting our lines back when they were just figments of our dreams. And here we are today, across the planet from each other, but both doing what we set out to do. Well done Christian!
Christian’s path is quite different than my own. At heart, I think that we are both trying to do something unique in comparison to what is out there by putting our stamp of style onto our products, but Christian is very much more of a “designer” than I am. I say that in the sense that Christian is actually out there creating trainers that have new lines/designs that no one else has done before. Sure I would like to get into the sneaker game one day, but I would simply make a very plain, Common Projects type of shoe whereby Christian is out there reinventing design! I won’t lie and say that they are necessarily to my personal taste (I like sneakers with one…two colors max), but I love that the fact that he is out there doing it nonetheless and doing a great job at that! The trainers industry is tough!!
But I do like his dress shoes, particularly his loafers with the trim on them. Those are right up my alley!
What’s even more impressive is that not too long after we met, Christian moved to Melbourne and started all of this way down under. Some people may think, why is that hard?? Well, let me tell you. It’s not easy being 10,000 miles away from 2 of your factories and Christian uses 2, and in different countries. I know as I can’t get anything really done unless I am AT MY FACTORY. Doing stuff over the phone or in email in different languages is not easy and often causes mistakes and frustration. So my hat is off to Christian for making it all happen, from a million miles away and one step at a time! Success stories always start with a dream. They succeed because one believes in himself/herself. With a dream and self belief there is no limit to what we can achieve so please if you have a dream, go start making things happen!
Loving these sneaker designs!