I have come across many vulcanized sneaker brands, and as a sneakerhead, I must say OBRA is by far one of my favorite sneakers to wear. Comfort is everything for me when it comes to sneakers; unlike the new age sneakerheads, I love to wear my shoes! The sneakers' details are also remarkable from the outsoles, the rubber, and the footbed made with performance polyamide footbed lining: Cool in the summer, warm in the Winter. I wouldn't have expected anything better from a shoe designed by these two extraordinary and well knowledgeable men in the footwear business Arnaud Delecolle and Dave Cory.

Arnaud came from a lineage of footwear manufacturers started with his grandfather, after world war 2 in France, manufacturing shoes in Portugal, Spain. His dad then took over and went on his own to Brazil, where Obra shoes are manufactured.  Arnaud explained to me that "It was my duty as a young boy to bag my father's samples. I never wanted to be in the footwear business, but I did get into the fashion business. As i was growing up and trying to sort of find an identity." He started with journalism and marketing first at UNC, then I went to FIT, and at FIT, he was in journalism and marketing. " I was singled out as a good writer, received an internship with a magazine. Based on the thesis that I had made for my marketing class on the future of E-commerce in 1993. "  Delecolle stated, "Back then i was 23, where it was like retail is dead, e-com will take over. I put that into a trade magazine meant for brick and mortar retailers; the publication was called Sportswear International.  I learned about the American fashion market, I wrote for 7 years until I realized there is no money in writing or any type of money; for me, that would be significant.  My wife at the time felt the same way, and we decided we'd open the store. I was also moonlighting at a creative agency with two co-workers from the magazine and talked them into getting on board the retail idea that would become ALIFE."

Dave is quite a different story; he comes from a snowboarding background; he worked various jobs at Burton Snowboards for 12 yrs mostly riding with shops and giving tech clinics. At the time, snowboarding was on the outskirts of popular culture, but he understood a consumer, the youth minded male. "Snowboarding was great, but it was in the mountains, away from the metropolitan areas, and we only got paid when it snowed." With that being said, he made a solution to have a year-round business to create footwear; being that Burton was already in boot factories, it seemed like the logical next step for the brand. Dave and his team ended up creating Gravis footwear.  With Burton's global distribution already established, it took off immediately, especially in Japan. After moving on from Burton/Gravis, he teamed up with Udi Avshalom to handle his growing manufacturing business of designing, developing, and commercializing footwear for various customers. " It was very eclectic. On any given day, I would go from bringing samples to Mickey Drextlers' office at J-Crew then right to Jay-Z's office on the same afternoon. Running with Udi was terrific. We were hustling. Unquestionably a fun time in NY."  Dave then ended up taking a job with Converse running Converse Cons, which is their skate program. Russ Pope was the lead for the marketing business, and Dave was the lead for the product. "The first thing we did was take the Converse One Star out of big box stores and shelve it for a year. During that time, I worked with our skate team to rebuild it." After re-introducing the shoe through the sharp point of skateboarding, they developed the lifestyle version and did collaborations with people like Tyler The Creator and Hiroshi Fujiwara. 

Both Dave and Arnaud spent their years understanding the sneaker culture and knowing exactly what a consumer will want in a shoe, which led them in 2017 to team up and create OBRA. In our interview, we touch on the e-commerce business, what it took for them to start a sneaker brand, and the importance of ethics and value in creating a brand.

 What did it take to start a sneaker brand? 

ARNAUD: For OBRA the most important considerations were knowledge of the market and the values for which the brand would stand: will the brand be chasing trends or attempt to influence fashion trends or will the brand focus on quality, wearability, value and ethics, for example. OBRA chose to embrace the latter and be a contender in the vulcanized sneaker market, a time-proven category. This choice of product category stems from personal choice—I grew up wearing vulcs in the ‘80s—and experience: I had already produced and sold vulcanized sneakers through my former brand Alife. I already knew a thing or two about the category and had ideas on how it could be improved. In the end, OBRA was to make a timeless product that would incorporate classic aesthetics with improved comfort and improved sustainability. If you’ve ever worn vulcanized sneakers from major brands, you know they are not all that comfortable. Your knees and heels take a beating as you walk and your back tires if you stand for long periods of time. Then there is the issue of sustainability. Vulcanized footwear is made out of a variety of possible rubber compounds. Most of these are not very sustainable or environmentally friendly types of mass-production methods. While more costly, OBRA adopted and continues to develop more sustainable processes and raw materials. Finally, it was self-evident to us that to produce the right product, the factory setting must also reflect the brand’s ethos. Our Brazilian production partners have been in business for over 70 years. It’s a family-run operation that values their employees’ well-being and offers world-class workers benefits. Quality and enduring design, comfort, sustainability and ethics, all these make up the OBRA DNA. 

The name Obra, how did that come about?

ARNAUD:  Our sneakers are made in Brazil and the word OBRA means two things in Portuguese: It can mean construction work or work of art. In essence the OBRA brand stands for these two meanings: utility and artistry. We are a utilitarian brand not only built by artisans in their own right, but with roots in New York City’s downtown art community. We sell utility and comfort and aspire to support urban culture, art and creativity.

When it comes to selling sneakers via e-commerce rather than brick and mortar, do you guys face any challenges or see any significant differences? 

DAVE:  A key benefit for an e-commerce business is the reduction of material and inventory waste. By selling directly to the consumer, we are not pressured to widen the assortment too fast but provide what the consumer first wants from our brand. When a business is primarily brick and mortar, the general business model needs a wide range of inventory through various styles, materials, and colors. Brick and mortar retailers are looking to keep their shoe walls vibrant with new, new, new. They want to attract people to their store as often as possible, and by doing this, they need to bring new and fresh products regularly. When you have a direct-to-consumer business, it eliminates this pressure for too much 'new' and eliminates many tons of waste. 

E-com businesses can also build a better product at a competitive price-point since you're saving on margin by going direct-to-consumer. You don't have to share your profits with a 'middle-man.' 

Brick and mortar businesses are still crucial for your business to create context around your brand. Those retailers who make an experience in their store will reign supreme.

ARNAUD: Shopify was always the only choice for OBRA. When we built this business model, it was always around Shopify, the flexibility and security the platform offers. I remember in the mid 00’s, when e-commerce was just beginning to be a necessary option for retailers, many people were building custom stores and trying to develop their own CRM, building their own shopping carts. I started getting familiar with Shopify around that time. I was looking for convenience and security. Over the years I shopped other platforms but when it came to OBRA Shopify was the way to go. Shopify is focused on commerce. It is secure, which’s the most important thing to some extent, and easily integrates with our third party logistics. As for design, customization and functionality, there are so many third-party vendors and apps available that it feels limitless—even with little knowledge of HTML, CSS or Liquid. But the fact one can inject code and custom CSS almost anywhere into templates is great. 

Top to bottom, OBRA’s entire operation is run mostly by Dave and myself. We count on advisors who guide us and work with a team that helps us with customer acquisition, but Dave and I are essentially it. With Shopify we can maintain and present a product and give our customers a shopping experience comparable to other brands with much deeper pockets. Finally, Shopify’s customer service is one of the best I’ve ever experienced. That goes a long way.

ARNAUD:  The biggest challenge is “How does a brand break through on the internet with so many competing brands and stores?” Both Dave and I come from the antiquated way of doing things: brick-and-mortar—where it's about being in the right neighborhood and giving that customer personal experience. How does one translate that to e-commerce? It’s challenging but we are gradually learning and putting things in play to achieve this.

What was the transition for you guys going from brick and mortar to E-com?

ARNAUD: I am a firm believer in brick-and-mortar. I believe it is essential to have good specialty retailers for a community to thrive. These retailers usually serve as social center points that bring people together, where they exchange ideas, discover new merchandise through the informed eye of the store's owner or staff, or just hang out in front of the store. Our e-commerce strategy is never without taking such brick-and-mortar partners into account. E-commerce is the way to go for us, but it is very important to support local visionary retailers. It’s good for everyone.

DAVE: It was a relief because it's not necessarily that we had to rely on a retailer who owns a store to broadcast our brand in front of their customer. With e-commerce, Shopify sure has made it easy as there is more control in connecting to our consumers. It is more intimate. Customers can give you immediate feedback, and we can provide them prompt customer service. It's a win/win.

What advice would you give other entrepreneurs in the same field while working with a smaller staff

DAVE:  Take time to set up the organization properly. Product is king. Focus on its quality and its point of difference. Develop to fill a need with purpose, integrity, and ethics. People make the difference. Your team can make or break you. Choose wisely with longevity in mind. The process is essential. Develop basic habitual techniques that are easily duplicatable. You want the staff to take on these responsibilities over time, i.e., calendars, plans, and agendas. 

ARNAUD: One of the first things I was taught in marketing was that products need unique selling propositions. This can be translated into a number of things to make your product unique. Beyond design, for OBRA it is all-day everyday utilitarian comfort in vulcanized sneakers. Anyone starting a brand or selling a product needs a unique selling proposition. A solid business plan is also important, as is an understanding of the market and its potential. OBRA was first built on a product idea but it would not be here without a thought-out go-to-market strategy and a thorough business plan that spells out the business’ financial needs and challenges as it grows.

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