For this month’s Collectors Edition, we have the presence of Ben Brooks, aka Peruvianboxfight.
Ben is also a passionate collector, he is the creator of ERAone Footwear, Australian company, which marks the return to design of the 90s / 2000 in skate shoes.
Soon on the site we will inform you more about this new company.
Without further detours, I leave you with this incredible interview with Ben.
Enjoy it.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Ben Brooks, I live in Melbourne, Australia and I am a skate shoe collector and the founder of ERAone footwear.
2. Favorite skate shoes brand? Model?
éS footwear is my favourite brand by a mile. Favourite model is the Koston 1.
3. When did you start collecting skate shoes? Why?
I started collecting around 3 years ago. I had been collecting skateboards and happened to stumble across “chomp on kicks” on facebook. From there I joined Instagram and discovered #sk8shoewars and the rest is history. Up until that point I had no idea some these shoes still existed, I never really thought about it, but I guess I just assumed they were all trashed and ridden into the ground. I don’t know why I started collecting, I have always collected all sorts of things but I just really love this era of skate shoes and what they represent.
4. How many sneakers do you have in your collection?
Right now I have around 50 pairs, from all different companies.
5. Top 5 of the favorite shoes in your collection?
It’s hard to pick a top 5, this could change next week, but right now I’ll go with.
1. éS Koston 1 – Navy/Gum
2. Emerica MJ – Copper
3. éS McCrank 2 – White/Gum
4. Lakai Puig – Black/Gum
5. Lakai Vantage – Grey/White/Gum
6. A characteristic that a shoe should have for you to choose
It needs to obviously have a lot of padding around the collar and tongue area, and have a short toebox. Probably my biggest gripe with current shoes is the length of the toe box. And it needs to have some sort of style, another thing lacking in new shoes.
7. What is your favorite era of skate shoes?
For me things peaked from 96-04. There were some cool models either side of those years, but in that window is when all the best stuff was released.
8. Were there any skate shoes you loved and never could have?
I missed out on heaps of models as did most of us. You couldn’t buy them all but the model I wish I had but never did was the éS Muska. I’ve still never owned a pair and they are super rare to get your hands on these days, The guys who own them don’t want to let them go. A pair came up on ebay a while ago and sold for some obscene amount of money.
9. Top 5 of current skate shoes
This is a hard question for me as there’s not really anything around that I am into. I’ll pick 5, not because I would wear them but I like something about them.
1. éS Accel OG (not the slim)
2. éS SLB 97 (because it represent the OG)
3. DC Kalis lite (Slim but has style)
4. Emerica The Herman G6 (Long toe box but has a stylish side panel)
5. Osiris Protocol (The rubber cupsole not the vulc ones)
10. Top 5 skate shoes old skool, the ones you used when you were a kid.
1. Emerica MJ – Black/white.
2. éS SLB 97 – Olive/white.
3. Etnies Screw – Powder blue.
4. éS SAL 23 – Black/white.
5. Emerica Tilt – Black.
11. Anything you want to say?
Thanks to you mate for doing this and publishing on your site. I wish I could read the content on their, haha. And thanks to everyone who is supporting ERAone. I hope we can do everyone proud and produce some cool shoes.