So, how do you make Air Jordan 1s from a couch? Every week on Saturday at Kickxotic in the new Cloud 11, Nicholas Benoit, the owner and CEO of Kickxotic, does this.
Kickxotic is a self-styled tailor shop for sneakerheads.
At this venue you choose from fabrics (or bring your own), and Nick works his magic. From shoes inspired by Japanese Kintsugi to ornate Chinatown-style kicks, this shoe shop makes popular custom sneakers as art, starting out at about USD1,000 a pair online – each with a lifetime guarantee. Nick builds each pair around the person who will wear them down to the tiniest details.
Previously, Nick’s kicks have mainly been sold to Americans. With this new store, it’s Bangkok’s turn.
Starting out in real estate, Nick, a Thai-American who has been making sneakers for six years, never saw himself in fashion, let alone creating customized sneakers. Nick sits down at the new Cloud 11 Kickxotic to explain more about how he became the man behind the sneakers.
Why did Kickxotic choose Cloud 11?
We didn't really choose Cloud 11. Cloud 11 chose us.
How so?
I made sneakers for the CEO of Cloud 11 and he liked the sneakers so much that he invited us to be a part of his vision here at Cloud 11 since it's like a creative space. And I thought that was really in line with what I do. I tell people my shoes are like art. Not to make it overly hard to get or anything like that. But I treat it like it's my artwork. So it's a very personal thing to me when I make a shoe for someone.
What made you want to make custom sneakers?
Growing up, I loved sneakers. I loved shoes. For my birthdays, I would always want new sneakers. Jordans were my favorite. But when it came to a career, I started out in real estate. After a while I wanted to do something that I had passion for. And like the feeling I got of getting a new pair of shoes, that feeling never got old.
What do you think makes your sneakers different?
Basically, most sneakers you'd find are mass-produced shoes. There are very few shoes that really take craftsmanship, like how you would find in a dress shop where there's a lot of heritage in the craft. I wanted to bring that to sneakers.
How would you describe Kickxotic to someone on the street?
When I first started, I always told people, Kickxotic is like a tailor shop, but for footwear. So you get to collaborate with me or design your own pair of sneakers. So when you go to a tailor shop, you get to choose the fabric from the shop. We do that too, but with us, you can also bring in your own fabric.
People can bring their own fabric?
Yes. So we really encourage people to upcycle, whether it's old bags, old jackets, old clothing, old scarves. All of those things can be made into your footwear. Anything that I feel like has sentimental value to someone is the most rewarding project.
Is upcycling a big thing for your brand?
It is a big thing, but it didn't start out that way. It's sort of something that we discovered as our brand went on. Because people would be like, I have this or that, and it has a lot of meaning to me. For example, one of our clients brought in an armchair. It was too old to keep in the house. His wife was like, you need to get rid of this hideous piece of furniture. But the guy was like, it's been with me for so long, and it has a sentimental value. So he gave it to me, and we made the sneaker out of the fabric of the armchair.
Do you have other clients that have had you make sneakers out of weird objects?
We had this US military veteran, and he was stationed all over the world. And one of his hobbies was to collect military jackets from wherever he's stationed. So at the end of his career, he gave me all of those jackets that he collected, and we made it into one shoe.
What happens to the rest of the material?
We would return to them if they wanted it. But some people, they just want the one or two pairs of shoes from the material for themselves, and then the rest they kind of donate to me, which I make a sample of to show here.
Do you also have your own material in-house?
Yes, we also have our own material in-house. We want to make the experience as seamless as possible…So we would source the shoes, the fabric, or anything that you would want in telling the story on your pair. Most of the leather we use is imported from Italy. The exotic skins like the crocodile and the python, those are sourced locally.
Do you have a factory setting where you make shoes regularly?
I started making shoes in my bedroom. From there I hired my first employee, and then I hired my second employee, and now we're a team of three that produces every shoe that you see in our store. I purposely want to keep it small, because I feel like the minute it becomes too big, it loses that personal touch, and I want to make sure that I'm involved in every shoe I make.I don't want to just outsource it to some factory that could potentially make it for cheaper, as I say, it's my art, so I want to keep it my art.
What is Kickxotic’s plan for the rest of the year?
So this whole store, my whole business for the past six years has been mostly exported to the States. So all of my customers, I would say 80%, have been from the States. I would make the shoe here in Thailand and then ship it to them. With this store, I hope to gain more Thai customers and really show Thailand and people here what I can do. And I hope that they understand what we do because a lot of people see the custom Nike shoes in our store and it's a disconnect of how I am the one making the “Nike shoes”.
Being Nike?
Yeah, without being Nike. They may be thinking, “Are they fake? Like, what's going on here?”
How did you learn about making custom shoes?
When I was in San Francisco, there was a custom sneaker culture there that really inspired me, and when I came back, I wanted a pair. I thought I would be able to find one here, but I couldn't, so I ended up making my own. And that's how it kind of started. It started with the first pair I made for myself. Then someone ordered a pair with me once they saw me make mine, and then from there, it was almost like an obsession that took over.
So Kickxotic is sustainable?
Yes, sustainable. Because a lot of the shoes now, it's like you wear them, they get old, you discard them, and you move on to your next pair. But I wanted my shoes to be the pair that you reach for and you keep reaching for for years to come.
Shoes that last?
Yes. Every pair of shoes, it's really its own individual story. So we want to highlight, If you make a pair with me, I want to know what you love and I want that to be reflected in the shoe. Whether it's a passion, a hobby, or anything that can help me make you love my shoes more, that is what I want to put into the shoes. Every pair you see here started as someone's idea and we slowly refined them to be what you see today.
And if there was one thing you want people to know about Kickxotic, what would it be?
That I always wanted my brand to be approachable. Whether you can afford my shoes or whether this is your thing, I wanted everyone to be able to come. For example, every pair here in the store you can touch. It's not like a display. A lot of art places feel really stiff. I want Kickxotic to be warm and welcoming and for everyone to feel like they could potentially have a place here.
