The Godfather of Dad Shoes: interview with Steven Smith The sneaker guru talks about coronavirus, Kanye and his best work

Talking about Steven Smith means talking about one of the most important figures in the sneaker world of the last thirty years. His is the pencil that conceived the Reebok InstaPump Fury and the Nike Air Zoom Spiridon Caged 2 Retro, his mind behind the Yeezy Boost 700 Wave Runners and the Yeezy 500 as well as many other classics. A graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, his career took him from one side of the United States to the other, eventually enriching the catalogues of the most diverse brands: from his beginnings in New Balance to working with adidas, to the designs for Nike and his work at Kanye West. Smith's resume is a rundown of iconic models and risky choices. Like when he convinced New Balance to abandon their famous grey in favour of the red and orange of his Super Comps.

Over the course of your career, you have worked with many different brands, among which Yeezy undoubtedly stands out. What was it like and how is it to work with Kanye West?

It is a magical time in my career and a true blessing to work with a creative like Kanye. He has been a great liberator of creativity. 

If I asked you to choose three sneakers among all those you’ve worked on, which ones would you choose?

Ohhh the Reebok Fury is one of the top ones. The Waverunner with Kanye and then the Nike Crib Mary Jane would be my top 3 I think. 

Given the long period of quarantine, would you tell us some reading on sneakers and fashion to keep us busy? But also music, films and documentaries that you are watching in this period.

The Sneaker book that Sneaker Freaker put out is pretty amazing. Elizabeth Sammelhack just dropped a really nice one about collabs. Music at the moment is just about anything. I've been diving into Eric B and Rakim classics and the MC5. I watch The Curse of Oak Island pretty regularly lately. I love archaeological digs and history so this show is pretty intriguing it's just a little slow lately though.