MEN’S PRODUCT DEVELOPER
WHEN DID YOU FIRST BECOME
PASSIONATE ABOUT SHOES?
By working at an Aldo store!
When I started I had the ugliest style
ever! I wasn’t interested in fashion, but
I realized something very quickly — the
more I knew about fashion, the more
I could give advice to our customers.
So I forced myself to go shopping and
walk around downtown. I’d go into
stores, see new collections, the new
colours, the new materials and I just got
into it. It became natural. After a few
years I asked myself what I wanted to do
at the company and I decided I wanted
to work in product because I like how
fashion affects life every single day.
WHAT DO YOU DO AT CALL IT SPRING?
I’m a product developer. My goal is to
make a shoe that customers look at,
take in their hand and think, “Wow, this
shoe is amazing it must be $80.” But,
then they turn it over and say, “$50?
Sold!” I want the product to sell itself.
THERE’S A LOT OF TRAVEL INVOLVED WITH
YOUR JOB. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT IT?
Everyone says “You’re so lucky!” But I
can tell you it’s a heck of a job! It’s a
big investment to send me abroad so it’s
non-stop work. In China, I’ll go to factories daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., working
face-to-face with our suppliers telling
them exactly what we want to do — the
pattern, the style, the colours. We do
the colour combo on the spot and go
through 1.5 million swatches of material.
IF YOU’RE DEALING WITH SUPPLIERS,
YOU MUST HAVE AN ENCYCLOPAEDIC
KNOWLEDGE OF SHOES, RIGHT?
When you communicate with suppliers, you need to be credible.
They’re technicians and really smart
Every day brings new challenges,
and when you overcome those
challenges and turn them into
a success, it’s the most gratifying
feeling ever!
technicians — much better than I am.
But, as a product developer, it’s important that I know how a shoe is made,
the different types of construction, the
difference between a goodyear welt or
cemented or vulcanized, and that I know
the actual things involved in making a
pattern. This ensures I don’t look like a
fool and ask for ridiculous things!
TELL US ABOUT THE NEW MENS COLLECTION
AND THE TRENDS THAT INSPIRED THEM
Textiles for men are pretty big and
there’s a lot of more colour but it’s
faded or monochrome. Coloured soles are
something important, but they’re not as
bright as in past seasons — darker coloured soles are trendy. There’s also the
type of shoe that looks dress, a textile
upper with a derby look. You can wear
it with a nice lightweight suit, or pair it
with jeans and a polo and still look cool.
But, if you have to have dress shoes, opt
for colour. Don’t be scared to ditch black
or dark brown! A deep forest green is
great, or a deep, oily bordeaux.
CALL IT ZINE
INTERVIEW WI TH
B E N J A M I N R U E S T,
P RODUC T DE V EL OP ER
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING
ABOUT YOUR JOB?
It’s never the same! It never stops! Every
day brings new challenges. People ask me,
“What’s your regular day like?” The truth
is it’s always changing. It requires a lot
of organization — mostly because you’re
constantly dealing with new things and
you need to be really focused but flexible,
and accept new tasks. That’s what I love
about that job. Every day is different,
every day brings new challenges, and
when you overcome those challenges and
turn them it to a success, it’s the most
gratifying feeling ever!
I ’M S OMEONE WHO
RE SE ARCHE S FA SHION,
AND F INDS T HE NE W
T HING, T HE NE W DE TA IL ,
T HE NE W S IL HOUE T T E, T HE
NE W COLOUR, T HE NE W
MAT ER I AL , AND MAKE THEM
APPE AL ING TO CONSUMER S.
I S S U E T WO
Want to know more about what Benjamin does?
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