Sole Friends: Nate Frost.

What was it about sneakers that got you in the game?

Where I’m from, having new sneakers was a status symbol. Having the whitest AF1’s and something new in every flavor let you know who was making money in the community. When I started making my own, I wanted that flex as well. From there I just kind of fell in love with having something new on my feet. It was so simple then and it was really the only thing that mattered for a fit. We were all in plain, tall tees and jeans. The statement piece was the shoe.

What was your first sneaker?

The first pair I remember as a kid was having Bred 13’s in 1998. The first sneaker I bought with my own money was a crispy white AF1 Low.

Your favorite pair?

I’ll do a top 3. The Air Jordan 7 Premio Bin23, Doernbecher 9, and Air Jordan 6 DMP

Your favorite sneaker memory.

Just the campout in general. It was its own little community of people every morning to hold you down and kick it with in a lot of less than ideal conditions. They made waking up at 5AM and pulling all-nighters fun.

Especially back then when sneakers were more niche than mainstream, it was nice just having folks around that understood the common goal of copping sneakers. Non-sneakerheads would look at us crazy but at the campout, it was all love.

Do you consider yourself a collector of sneakers? & Do you wear your sneakers?

I definitely collect, but I downsize the collection every few months. I wear all of my sneakers. I’ve never bought a shoe to just look at it sit in a box somewhere with one exception because it’s kind of a double up.

Whats your favorite brand of sneaker and why?

Jordan Brand.

Besides the nostalgia of watching the greatest player to ever play the game and the historical significance of his signature line, the designs are timeless and have held up as relevant with every style change in fashion.

What are a pair of grails to you?

So I feel like there’s two tiers to this question.

I think a grail is any sneaker meaningful enough to the person to consider it a non-negotiable must have in their collection. New, old, rare, GR, doesn’t matter.

For me, an example that I own is the DMP 6 (both OG and Retro).

There’s a separate tier of Make-a-Wish shoes that are likely impossible to obtain without copious amounts of money and great connections such as samples or raffled items.

In this case, the What the Doernbecher Air Jordan 1 would be that “If I could have any shoe in the world” type of tier.

Your favorite sneaker campaign?

The Kobe System campaign. Kobe is my favorite player of all time and I think it was one of our first glimpses into seeing Kobe as a funny guy playing off his seriousness as a player.

Kobe:“Are you the same animal and a different beast?”

Kanye: “What the f**k does that mean Kobe Bryant?”

Absolute classic. I miss the Black Mamba dearly.

A must have for your closet?

A light washed, blue denim jacket for sure.

What is a shoe that you REFUSE to buy, why?

Anything New Balance.

The brand represented a population that was nothing like myself for the entirety of my life. And despite new basketball lines and creatives working with them, I don’t see beyond that and am not fond of their models or logo placement.

If you got the chance to sit in a meeting w/ a sneaker brand, what would you ask/recommend/ask/say?

I’d hope it would be Jordan Brand.

I would recommend that they introduce a CMFT series to the Air Jordan 3 and 4 like they did with the 1’s. It’s been a long standing issue with comfort particularly in the toe box with both models.

Some bit of redesign surrounding that mixed with luxury feels would do wonders for people who really love those models and want to wear them all the time without sacrificing comfort for fashion while maintaining the overall design of the uppers that so many people love.

Most you’ve ever spent on sneakers?

I spent $580 on the Air Jordan 7 Premio Bin23. Very expensive at the time but looks like a steal these days for a rare, numbered sneaker with impeccable quality.

Where can we follow you?

Twitter and IG: @n8frost