Dan Richard, More Than Just a Shoe Designer:
Dan doesn’t like it when you say shoe designer because that is limiting. He is a designer, he can design anything, that is part of his craft. When you see greatness it is easy to identify, hard to articulate. When looking at Dan’s work this phrase speaks to that. His work is incredibly great and it is hard to articulate all the reasons why. But, when you put on a Snyder CALIGA, RUDIS One, or Sly Fox, the quality of greatness is present.
The Only Guy for the Job:
“I started in sports not only in wrestling, but also in Football and baseball. My dad was a coach and was always working 2 or 3 jobs, so the way that I would spend time with him was to join him at practice. I enrolled at Michigan and walked on, so I ended up wrestling a couple years before failing my physical.” Dan talks about the process of developing a line of shoes that specifically speak to and feel like wrestling. Intensity and Passion are two of the reasons Dan was the only man for the job. He lives his work. In everything he does he searches for creativity and inspiration. Dan’s job was to design a shoe that spoke to wrestling with a level of durability and flexibility built into the product.
Understanding an Athlete’s Foot:
It is not just about the aesthetic of the shoe. A wrestler should want to wear are should and move around as soon as they put it on their foot. A last was created specific to Kyle Snyder’s foot to understand the motion and impact. Understanding an athletes foot in motion specifically a wrestlers foot was extremely important. All three shoes were built to be the best, but specifically the Snyder CALIGA. Everything about this shoe was created and manufactured to be the best. The instep, lace lock, out sole, fit and knit all were designed with the best wrestler in mind.
Follow the journey of an idea becoming reality with an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to create an athlete-centered premium product.
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