We're very honoured and excited to be hosting an exclusive Paragn pop up in the Basement, featuring a curated selection of rare and hard to find sneakers. We sat down with the Paragn boys, Eddy and Luke, to get acquainted with the arcane world of the trainer collector. The Basement Project runs for the next few weeks in store.
Luke Hackett and Eddy Thrower
We found an original pair of Nike x OFF WHITE Air Force 1’s for a stupidly cheap price because the person had worn them once, we paid £300 and a brand new pair goes for around £1200+
Wearability is probably the biggest factor, if you can wear something with shorts, trousers, jeans, tracksuits and it still looks good then it’s a great shoe. If it can do this then it will stand the test of time and that’s what makes a shoe a classic.
A mixture really, some of our stock is from retailers themselves, which we pay RRP for. We also predict where the market is going with a shoe and if we feel like it’s going to increase over time we can pay a low price to someone who is selling the shoe on the aftermarket. Places like Instagram, Depop and eBay are also a great source for us to find good condition worn shoes at a good price, but it takes a lot of work on any of these platforms.
Eddy: 25 that I wear.
Luke: Well over 100 in my collection, and more locked away that I think will go up in value over time.
For both of us selling trainers/sought after clothing is not a full time thing. We both run other businesses alongside it: Eddy is a professional Drummer, and Luke runs a video production company and clothing brand.
We have been really lucky, both of us pretty much have got all the shoes we have wanted over the past few years. There are definitely some standouts though, DJ Khaled’s collection is insane, there’s videos on YouTube about it which you should check out.
Nike X Off White Blazer
Nike X Off White Dunk
Travis Scott Jordan 6
Depends where you’re from, even now sneaker is not really a widely used term in the U.K. and vice versa for the word trainer in the US.
Eddy: I grew up skating so I think my first pair of shoes I really saved up and bought was either a pair of Osiris or Etnies. In terms of hyped sneakers my first was the Reebok x Palace Skateboards collaboration.
Luke: My first pair of shoes I bought when I was young was a pair of Air Max 95’s from JJB Sports (RIP). In terms of “hype” sneakers, I’ve been collecting and selling for a long time, I think my first pair I really kept was a Nike Air Safari.
It has to be any basketball film that has a load of Jordans in. Space Jam, Mighty Ducks and Like Mike are probably the top 3 for us.
Space Jam
Like Mike
Mighty Ducks
Eddy: Reebok Workout, I love the shape, everything about it to me is such a classic and iconic shoe, and there’s loads you can do with it.
Luke: Has to be an Air Force 1 for me, it’s such a simple silhouette that’s always been easily customisable. I remember drawing on them when I was younger and customising them myself, so I’d love to give it a proper go.
Jordan 1 for both of us, it’s probably the most iconic sneaker silhouette in the whole world, there’s so much history there and there is an infinite amount of colours in existence, they go with everything and everyone loves them. They’re like, the Rolex of sneakers.
Things you don’t see often in this area, from the biggest Yeezy releases down to super limited and hard to get releases that only released across the world from here. Also older shoes which we have found in great condition that would be hard to find.
Aesthetic is really important to us, from the minute you walk into The Hambledon you can tell that every single tiny thing has been thought out and carefully selected. From the homeware, to the womenswear down to the basement the selection of products is perfect and you can tell how much care has gone into it. We couldn’t have asked for a more suited and credible store to be a part of and we're super excited.
For us we both live in our Gramicci pants, so would have to be them. To be honest it’s impossible to say for the top half, every single piece of menswear in the basement is amazing, it’s such a carefully picked selection from some amazing brands, too hard to choose.
The Paragn x The Hambledon Project Collection will be available instore only from 14th February 2020
for a limited time.
