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Vendor Highlight: Diversitile The Leader in Custom Kicks!

Diversitile is one of the industry leaders in custom kicks.  Hands down their products are genius!  While all of their shoes are reconstructed and are diligently perfected, I'm totally feeling the Cease & Desist Dunks.  Anything that glows in the dark and lights up with a push of a bottom (especially a dunk!), while looking fly, gets an A+ in my book.   Though the Joker Dunks are pretty tough to beat.  Make sure to check out Diversitile on Soletron!

Background

Company Name: Diversitile Custom Clothing

Date Founded: Started Painting Shoes together in 2006 officially started business in 2007

Located out of: Orlando, FL

Number of Employees: 3 (Owners: Chris Campbell, Richard Gordon, John Terramoccia)

Specialty Product(s): Hand Painted Custom Sneakers

Interviewee: Richard Gordon (Rich)

Position with the Company: Co-Owner/Multi-Media and  Marketing Director

Interview Questions

So tell us a little on the company's background?  How did it get started?

"The company was the idea and brainchild of Chris. He started customizing shoes in his home town of Cocoa, FL and decided he wanted to get a group of artists together to try and actually make a business out of it. Initially, there were about six of us painting, but over time people left for various reasons and now its the three of us."

"We all met at the University of Central Florida. We owe a lot to the college experience…we would not have met if it wasn't for UCF. What's interesting is that John and I never really heard of painting on your kicks until we met Chris. Now it is our lives."

What about the name?  What is the significance or story behind it?

"Essentially, the name speaks for itself. It is a mash up of the terms diverse and versatile. We believe it represents us as individuals as well as a whole, in the sense that we come from different walks of life, and have many different talents that we bring to the table in order to create something original and ultimately open ended."

In what region do you do most of your business?

Our primary market is online. It makes us able to really expand beyond any one region in particular. Being based out of Orlando, Florida we often find ourselves serving customers across the seas, and shipping anywhere from Canada to Great Britain to India to Australia.

That is pretty sick how you have sold internationally. How many stores are you currently in?

"Two brick and mortar stores, but to reiterate, we do most of our business online and our products tend to be one of a kind, so physical stores aren't always the best fit."

What advice do you have for someone just starting their own line?  Any tricks of the trade?

"While there's no one guideline to follow to be successful, there are certain principles you can follow in order to push towards success. I would say the number one thing to keep in mind is that nothing happens over night. Even the companies that seem to pop up over night had a long road to get to where they're at. Patience is a virtue,  and hard work is the foundation for any successful endeavor."

Do you manufacture local or internationally?

"The majority of our products are hand made in house, however, any outsourced material is made locally."

How does your line fit into the sneakerhead movement?

"Diversitile Custom Clothing is the sneakerhead movement. HaHaHa. Really though, we don't always appeal to the average sneakerhead, who collects and trades rare sneakers, due to the fact that we create custom sneakers."

"Honestly, it makes our kicks more rare than any pair you'll find at your local sneaker exchange, but some people prefer the "Nike Factory" kicks to the one of ones. No hard feelings, to those that say "I only buy authentic"…by the the way we never paint on fakes. I guess you could say we are in a ways trying to start a ‘Custom Sneaker Head' movement."

What do you think the sneakerhead movement is missing from a retail perspective?

"I really don't have an answer to that, considering, the closest thing to an answer would be more retail locations, but the more saturated the market, the easier it is the collect, and as a result the less exclusive it becomes."

How many designs do you normally come out with per season?

"Currently we aren't basing our production on the concept of seasons, however, we are constantly designing and creating new product. In regards to t-shirts, we drop a couple new designs every couple months or so, but as far as sneakers, we are constantly taking custom orders, and continue to drop new runs every now and then."

What retail stores would you love to get into but haven't been able to so far?

"Any boutique or skate shop the appreciates what we do and wants to present our stuff is a friend of ours. Really we are coming up and need the support from the grass roots level, the large more know boutiques and shops will fall into place eventually."

What's next on the horizon?

"We are currently branching out in regards to different customized products, such as, headphones, and sunglasses. We also anticipate releasing a few new collections under the Diversitile name, that will give us a slightly different look and feel, while remaining the same, creative and optimistic company we've always been."

Appreciate you taking the time with Soletron.com

 

 

About the Author

Soletron is a social marketplace for premium and customized street-inspired products for the sneakerhead community.

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