Every other Thursday, Stephanie Osei asks employees and employers at our favorite shops around the world what their most cherished in-store item is for our column Staff Affections. This week, she caught up with New York City's brand new store Vane about the The Field Exo Boot from their collaboration with Sebago. She spoke with co-founder Eric Poon:
What's special about The Field Exo Boot? It’s our signature style that we developed with Sebago, who are best known for their boat shoe. The Field Exo Boot is a double quarter boot that you can wear as a three quarter if you fold down the sides. It’s a unique and cool style we continue to develop and do different variations of every season.
Why did you guys decide to collaborate with Sebago? We've been working with them for four years now. It was pre-boat shoe craze, and some of our guys were wearing them growing up. We saw the style coming back and decided to contact them and see if they would be open to do a project like this. They had never done anything like this before and were excited to have young energy and ideas. It’s been a great collaboration and continues to grow and evolve.
How does the design process happen between you and Sebago? It’s fun because you have two parties that don’t do the same things and have different strengths. You take a classic shoe manufacturer like Sebago and then you have our design team and downtown aesthetic and you get really interesting things out of that.
How long did building the store take—from conception to the finished project? The project took maybe eight months.
What do you hope to be for the neighborhood? We’re not a big shop, and we’re not in a traditional shopping district so it’s pretty personal. It’s really community based. That was the whole point of the space—to have that connection with the downtown creative scene, and it’s been really great. The customers that come in are pretty dedicated clientele, and we’re in the neighborhood and we like that. It’s cool to have face to face interaction.
