Pete from Très Bien had a sit down with Common Projects’ Peter at The News showroom, NY, discussing the brand’s journey so far, collaborations and future.
Peter Poopat from Common Projects never intended to become a shoe designer, but maybe he should’ve. While he was working as Art Director at V Magazine, Peter and friend Flavio Girolami decided to work together on some ideas they’d been kicking around–some projects they had in common. The first concept was a sneaker. “We originally made them to meet our own needs. There weren’t a lot of options for well-made sneakers at the time,” Peter tells me, sipping a very large coffee at the News showroom in Soho. In 2004 the market was dominated by flashier styles–only Martin Margiela and a handful of other designers were offering simple, well-made kicks. Peter preferred classic athletic shapes in quiet colors, but a lot of major brands had altered their shapes and materials, and all of a sudden his old favorites no longer had much to recommend them. “Sometimes when I’m in a small town I’ll go looking in old shops for [deadstock], but I’ve never found it. We wanted to make the last right.”
At first, “We just wanted to make shoes for ourselves and our girls.” Peter smiles. The first samples came in during men’s market week in New York. Peter and Flavio showed them to some friends and all of a sudden orders were coming in. “Steven Alan, Opening Ceremony, Nom de Guerre, and it took off from there.”
That original model was the Achilles, a strikingly minimalist shoe that remains in the Common Projects lineup today, with subtle refinements. The Achilles model is adaptable and basic, built in Italy of good, soft leather and a durable rubber sole. It’s “unbranded”–the only signifier of its make is a stamp on the heel marking the model and size. Yet the shoes are distinctive enough to float in the fashion world. Next fall you’ll see an upgraded Premium Achilles (which features leather faux-foxing all around, among other changes) but the classic won’t go away. Peter describes the Premium Achilles and laughs, “It’s like the new iPhone. It gets better reception; it will never drop a call.” And you don’t have to wear it any one particular way to get it to work.
Peter points out that the first shoe was called the “Achilles by Common Projects,” and the first bags “Atlas by Common Projects,” because Peter and Flavio always meant to work on other creative enterprises under the Common Projects name. Although they’re not letting details out yet, a number of endeavors are currently in the works–in the future you might see Common Projects “unbranded” stuff stocked in shops next to Saarinen chairs and the like.
Peter eventually left the magazine game to focus on design. I ask him whether he misses the deadline-driven world of publishing. “I miss laying out books. I miss telling a story. I try to work that into Common Projects. That’s what we wanted the early Common Projects shoots to do. Show the shoes when the guy who’s wearing them takes them off.”
The initial Common Projects product images were just that: Peter’s shoes after he took them off. “The first pictures of Common Projects were taken in my living room with my crappy camera. They were my shoes.” But something about those photos resonated with people. Later, in Paris, a man approached Peter and told him he’d had that very image blown up to hang as art in his apartment.
It’s no secret which shoe is Peter’s favorite. “Achilles,” he says without hesitation. “I still wear my Achilles season after season. They get better season after season. People love the quality and the simplicity and wear them for years. There’s an integrity to that.” Of course everyone wears theirs a little differently. “Some guys try to keep them in a box in the closet,” which is cool by Peter, “but I’ve been wearing the same pair of gray Achilles since the second season.”
“Most products, they get a little wear and tear, they have a half-life; one stitch goes,” and it unravels from there. ”I’m not saying Common Projects last forever–they’re sneakers, they don’t last forever–but the quality is there for the price. They’ll outlast most sneakers.” Peter refers back to publishing. “With media, nothing lasts,” he says, “with me, I don’t want to make a throwaway. I want pieces people can depend on.”
Since the initial launch, every season has been about throwing out new ideas, then culling them according to Peter and Flavio’s rules. “It’s a whittling process,” says Peter, “almost like sculpture.” For spring 2011, Common Projects is sprinkling in some new stuff as well as the classics. “More dress shoes… I feel a certain responsibility to the sneakerheads making the transition.” Next fall look for chelsea boots on a sleek last but on a low-profile rubber sole for wearability on city streets and in nasty weather.
Common Projects is also putting two new sunglass designs out there. After the success of the Type One glasses, done together with opticians and framemakers Moscot, Common Projects will introduce their own made-in-Italy designs, Type Two and Type Three. Peter and Flavio continue working fruitfully with other designers, like Maria Cornejo and Robert Geller. “We’re doing monkstraps with a rubber sole [for Geller]. Collaborations give us the license to break our own rules.”
Fall 2011 will mark the return of a shoe that shops are constantly getting requests for–the Bball Hi. Like the rest of the line, it’s been slightly refined over time. Also look for Common Projects’ all-leather take on a duck boot; gum soles; blue suede; chukkas derived from post-office-issue boots; more styles for women; and a satisfying lineup of their classic sneakers.