December 14, 2022 • 37 mins
This week C.J. and Alex talk to artist Timothy Goodman about designing the new "Timothy Goodman KD15" sneakers with Kevin Durant and Nike. Timothy talks about the design process, his inspiration for the shoe, why basketball itself is an art form, and his favorite players to watch today.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
All right, everyone, welcome back to running the Break. Alex
Longa is always I'm joined by co host c J Tolodono.
C J, how are you doing this week? Man? I'm
doing good? Man. I Here here's the question that's been
burning inside me because for regular listeners, they know, um,
last episode you said you're gonna go to your very
first well your very first vintage in flea market sale,
(00:30):
but as a seller. So I've been dying here an updates?
So what went down? How you feeling? Yeah, So this
was set up by you know, one of my friends here,
Trevor in Toronto, who who owns a restaurant space called
super Fresh, and he actually turned he actually you know,
connected with a bunch of local vintage sellers and turned
his space into a vintage market. And you know what
(00:51):
I did was like curated a collection of sneakers from
my you know, from from my storage and also just
a lot of old NBA jerseys. And you know, it
was it was both. It was both a very enlightening
and a humbling experience. First of all, from a humbling standpoint,
you know, much respects to people who do this for
(01:13):
a living. Selling vintage stuff is hard because I feel
like sometimes when you go into these spaces, you feel like, man,
like all this stuff that I have, I can't believe
I'm letting it go because these are such treasured items
in my collection. Sometimes people see it the same way.
Sometimes people are like, I don't want these NBA jerseys.
I was able to move. I was able to move
(01:35):
some sneakers, some jerseys, so I was really happy. But
I think I was going in being like I'm gonna
go home with like not having to bring anything back,
you know what I mean, like everything that I'm bringing.
So I sat my expectations too high. And actually the
funniest story was so Ronnie Chang, who has a couple
of Netflix specials and you know, like like a very
(01:55):
noted comedian, he's been in crazy rici ations. He happened
to be in town in Toronto on the Sunday handing
out a Just for Last award. So you know, me
and him like, you know, not not to flex, but
you know I always tell people were very close friends.
So he DMed me He's like I'm in Toronto. Because
for people that know Ronnie, like this is just how
Ronnie operates, Like he doesn't give you any context, um
(02:18):
doesn't tell you how long he's been in the city,
and he basically said, I'm in Toronto and I'm like, okay,
for how long? He's like six hours. He's like, I
flew in and I'm flying out tonight. He's like, where
are you? And this place super fresh. He's been here before.
This is where we hung out last time as well,
so it's hard to explain to him in a d
M that I'm working at this like vintage market and stuff. Anyways,
(02:38):
he dropped by, long story short, hung out, super cool,
bought a Derrick Coleman Nets champion jersey off night, so
hopefully we'll see it there. So that's my full update
for you. Okay, well, if you're very close friends with Ronnie,
we gotta have Ronnie on Okay, here's here's the problem.
Ronnie will require a lot of editing because he has
(02:58):
absolutely no filter. But we can definitely ask Ronnie because
I think one of Ronnie's dreams has been to play
in the NBA Celeb Game at allso the weekend. So
so if we can make that happen for we should
start a campaign. Yes, tell him, we will campaign and
like we have a direct line to the NBA and
if Ronnie comes on and if he rocks that Derek
(03:19):
Coleman champion jersey and warm ups, man, this would be perfect.
Would run it, We'll get it, We'll get re screen printing.
Screenprinting on the back says Running the Break, Thank you,
Running the Break. Everyone's benefiting from this. No, I think
I think it'd be amazing. I need to see him
in that Derek Coleman jersey in some kind of like
NBA capacity, you know, whether he's showing up to the
(03:41):
tunnel before a celeb game or even if he goes
to a NETS game. You know, if you go to
a NETS game and you sit courtside, like, I just
want to see that jersey in the wild. So but yes, overall,
I feel like everything all the tips that you gave
me about in terms of it's such a communal experience
getting to know other people there. That was super cool.
Like like, I think something that we do on this
show too is like getting to know people's stories, and
(04:03):
I feel like that's that's what it is too. When
you're at these vintage places, it's like you could see
just pick up one piece that you see that a
seller has on the rack. And then it just becomes
kind of a gateway into learning their personal story, right yeah,
and and so, And it doesn't mean they're gonna buy it.
I mean, like you said, you know, I want to
also highlight and maybe I didn't say that's enough, but
it is literal blood, sweat and tears, because you gotta
(04:26):
get a wardrobe rack. You gotta. Like the first time
I ever did it, I was just hauling stuff in
my in my mid sized suv. It didn't all fit.
There was two trips or whatever, and it was like,
I mean, I already have a back problem as a
mid thirties now Dad, like my back is going um,
you know, by the minute. And yeah, when you want
to get rid of stuff, but one not everyone's gonna
(04:48):
buy all your stuff into your buying stuff. So again,
I just wanted to highlight in spotlights you and as
you know, the physicality that goes into being a vintage seller.
So all these vintage you know people we've had on
shout out to you guys. We've tried to do your job,
you know, and it's tough, it really is. No, no,
it's definitely tough. Man. But whoever you know, to the
(05:09):
to the kid who bought my Actually, I know we
bought my day Last Soul Dunks. Please enjoy them. Um,
you know I brought us some heat for you guys.
But no, we were very excited today. You know, we
we have a very special guest that we were able
to to sit down and talk to recently New York
based artists Timothy Goodman, who designed the Timothy Goodman Katie
fifteen sneaker. About the time you hear this, it will
(05:31):
be in stores. You know, Tim's worked with so many
of uh you know these A list brands including Nike, Apple, Google, MoMA,
you know my favorite brand, Unique Low. You know he's
he's an award winning artist, graphic designer, author and public speaker,
and we were super excited to chat with him about
(05:51):
the process behind the Katie fifteen. So we're gonna take
a break and then when we come back, you'll hear
our interview with Timothy Goodman. Yeah, a special guest with us.
We're joined by New York based artist Timothy Goodman, who
(06:13):
designed a new k D fifteen sneaker that is, by
the time you hear this, that is in stores now.
Tim has a very established resume, award winning artist, graphic designer, author,
public speaker. You've seen as art and words that populate
the walls, buildings, packages, shoes, clothing, books, magazine covers, and
galleries all over the world. He's worked with Nike, Apple, Google,
(06:35):
MoMA in so many different places, and he regularly partners
with not for profit organizations and schools to create art
for communities in New York. Timothy, how are you? I'm
doing good man, I'm pumped to be here and talk
to you. How you guys doing doing great? Timothy One,
It's exciting like to talk to other creatives that come
on the show. And because you know, me and Alex
(06:57):
were we work in basketball, but we're creatives for person um.
So just like you know you, you will get into
what you do and what like how you came up
and how you got involved in basketball. But I think
that's what I want to talk about first, is your
love for basketball and sports. So can you kind of
you know, detail for us, um, how that came to be.
(07:17):
You know, I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Um, we
played That's all we did as kids, as a little
as boys. You know, I played basketball in the courts,
played football in the streets. Um, you know, we baseball
the whole nine. So obviously it's indebted in a bit
of who I am, um, but more specifically the n
(07:39):
B A you know, I've grown up as a Cavs fan,
just growing up watching the NBC games with the Nicks,
the Bulls, the nineties, like that's just forever kind of
indented on my heart. So like NBA first and foremost
above everything. Um has always been that way. And I've
been in New York City for eighteen years. I converted
(08:01):
as a Knicks fan immediately way back, just you know,
back when like the it was like the date Robinson
days so um, which is also then with the Brooklyn Nets,
you know, just my love for New York and the
communities here and always supporting. So you know it's been
since you know, the infrareds, you know, having those as
(08:24):
a kid. Um, that's been kind of my love. So
this has been a dream to kind of be a
part of all this. Yeah, Timothy, you were talking about
sneakers and and one of the things that we asked
our guests is just you know what we're your favorite
sneakers or sneakers that you coveted growing up, or sneakers
that you have a personal connection to what you know,
what what's on that list for you? Yeah, I mean
(08:45):
first and foremost is the Chuck Taylor. Chuck's like my uncle.
He was like six six, played basketball in the seventies
high school basketball team, and uh, you know, he always
wore those. He was a cool uncle, so I always
looked up to him. He had Chuck, So I was
like my first pair sneakers UM. From there, the other
ones were the Jordan sixes, the infrareds um. You know.
(09:09):
That's just like when I was a teenager, like you know,
or no I was. I don't know how old I
was at that point. I was like ten or nine,
but yeah, those things are forever, like you know, I
mean still I don't even have a pair right now.
I need to get a pair because I'm missing out
so much. But that's my whole thing. Like I was
like I missed that, you know, I miss I miss
(09:33):
NBA basketball shoes being like like just super unique and
fresh something that you want to wear that like work
on the court, but you also want to wear in
the streets. And that was my whole That was one
of my main objectives was just like how do I
make a piece of art that someone can wear out
in real life, you know, and that was, you know,
(09:55):
something that was really important for me. How do I
carry apart of Brooklyn with everybody, no matter or they're
at you know, I kind of have that. So that's
what's up. That's awesome, Well, that that connects us and
gets us to exactly while you're on the show. So
you you know of the many people in places and
in brands that you've collabed with. You're you're now collabing
with Nike and with k D specifically for the k
(10:18):
D fifteen sneaker, where I mean, everyone's got to check out.
This isn't a visual um you know, medium, but everyone
go check out the k D fifteen Timothy Goodman collab.
That's dropping. Uh. I think it's already out, but Timothy,
you got to lend your art and and you know,
just you know, your take on the k D fifteen, like,
(10:38):
can you describe like I think two people listening, you're
you're and correct me if I'm wrong. Your style is
it's hand drawn kind of Collagey actually worked at Bleacher Reports,
so our whole third floor you did, so I always
admire that. I didn't know I was gonna be talking
to the artist at some point, but to describe for
the audience. You know your style and you know your
approach and how this collad came to well, I have
(11:02):
a couple of different styles. My style, yeah, it's it's
very much whimsical, kind of hand drawn line drawings of
big of text and imagery. A lot of times it's
black and white. Sometimes I do color. Uh, it's allah
like ninety eighties Key Herring, kind of that old like
he's big. I'm a descendative him. He was an artist
(11:24):
in the eighties who did this kind of like line drawings.
But my stuff is more uh, story oriented with texts
and words and lettering. I went to school for graphics.
I here in New York City. Um, and so yeah,
like you know, a lot of my stuff is editorial,
and the shoes editorial. It's a values driven shoe. It
looks fresh, but it's also the words I wrote all
(11:45):
over it. The stuff is is a homage to Brooklyn,
to New York and you know, kind of capturing the
essence of the people here, the dedication of determination and
aligning with KDS values and who he is as a
person and a basketball player. And the community aspect of
all of that, uh is really important. So um yeah,
(12:06):
you know, like this this project started with that Bleacher
report uh mural I did that. That permanent installation I
did in the office is back in two thousand nineteen.
I think because I did that, I did this long
mural which was my greatest NBA teams of all time.
And doing that then led to conversations with the Kevin
(12:26):
Durant Charity Foundation in um which we eventually then did
the basketball court for the students at PS five in Brooklyn,
New York. We did this basketball court so for those kids,
and then that led to the conversations with with Katie
and Nike about doing the Katie fifteen. So it's been
(12:48):
a it's been a you know, three or four year journey,
um kind of one thing leading to the next has
been a beautiful little kind of you know moment. So yeah,
that's super cool, And you know, I think I think
listeners would love to to hear more too about just
that process, right, like like when you're on your tasks
to come up with with with a design for for
(13:09):
a shoe for someone like ky D, like like for
someone with your you know, creative mind, and creative background,
like you know, take take us, take us, give us
a little behind the scenes glimpse of what that process
was like in terms of thinking and kind of conceptualizing
you know what what you ended up coming up with, ya,
I mean honestly, you know, it was really beautiful and
the easy in so many ways. Sometimes these things can
(13:32):
can becombersome. You know, they can kind of get difficult,
but this was, uh, from the from the get like
everybody was on board with the idea and you know,
and really was. You know, when I did that basketball
court in Brooklyn for those for those students and for
those kids, we we did all these workshops together. I
did workshops with them, with the kids, uh some of
them are elementary school and middle school and so so much.
(13:55):
What that workshop was about, what what do you want
me to draw on your court? Because it is their court,
like it's my art. But then the court becomes a
sense of ownership for these students in this community. Fat
you know, they can say, yo, I got the freshest
court you've ever seen. You know, they don't, and they's
getting the artists did when Kevin there as charity foundation,
and you know, it's it's like it becomes theirs and
(14:16):
you know, so, so when it came time to do
the shoe, it was like an easy like let's how
do we take the values and the things I drew
on the court, how does that convert to the shoe?
You know? Um it that it was just the challenge
of like how do you how do I get the
most and I got the shoe right here? How do
I get the how do I get the most art?
(14:37):
How do I tell the biggest story in such a small,
you know way on a shoe? And at first, you know,
so much of it, Like at first they came to
me and they didn't even know we were gonna They
didn't even have ideas for doing art on the soul.
They just kind of wanted it more more here, like
you know, on the on the kind of main part
of the shoe. And I kept pushing to try to
(14:59):
get my art everything, like the tongue, the whole deal,
and they kept trying to go back and see like, oh,
can we do this, you know, talking because a lot
of this stuff is about like talking to to the
people who produced the shoe. What's possible can it print
on certain kinds of fabrics? You know, blah blah blah.
So um, there's a lot of kind of like different
(15:20):
ways that. So I just kept trying to comp up
different like how do I just get as much art
on this as possible on such a small shoe. So
but but as far, we had already come up with
a list beforehand of the values we want to capture
on the shoe, and so much of my art is
like that. We come up with it. It's very simple,
like a list of maybe words values, things we want
(15:42):
to capture, New York City things, these kind of words.
I want to write this and this and so once
kind of everyone's on board with that, and they prove it. Freestyle.
I start free style, not on the shoe, not you know,
sometimes I do on products or whatever, but this is
a you know, very specific thing that had to be printed,
you know. I start free styling like almost like a
(16:03):
jazz player would do improv or someone was freestyle rap,
or Katie would play back, would would practice and play basketball.
It's the same thing for me. I have all these
values in my mind, all these things I might want
to draw, and then I started to kind of like
puzzle piece them together in various ways, and then we
kind of keep refining and refining from there, So a
little bit of the process and then and then the
(16:25):
color way, the color way I did. We did a
hundred and fifty variations of colors, um, and I really
wanted to capture, you know, these kind of like ninety
eighties like Spike Lee, Nike Brooklyn colors. It's kind of
neon green, the kind of like peach orange, the purple.
(16:45):
I wanted to kind of So that's kind of where
we met it out. But Nike was amazing about it.
Katie was amazing about it, Like you know, I kind
of have full rain about like trying my way and
all these colors, and we went down the full spectral.
It came down in this color way and there was
like a more jet black kind of version, and then
there was a kind of homage so that the old
Washington Bullets color is like the red and blue and
(17:08):
white because Katie, you know, I grew up in d C.
So um, it kind of came down of those. So
but yeah, you kind of got to exhaust a lot
of a lot of variations of what like in what's
going to look like before you before you realize like
this is the one you know. So yeah that I
was actually gonna give you a compliment and you you
mentioned it because what I love is that you know,
(17:29):
your art is it's you know, very graffiti like and
like you said, like weren't sure about putting stuff from
the midstole, but you know, with graffiti, it's it's everywhere.
It can be on any sort of material. Like that's
like the fun thing about it. You want through like
a New York you can see it on on buildings,
places where people didn't think it should be or where
it's not allowed to be, And like you doing something
(17:49):
on the midshile is like, yes, why wouldn't you, like,
why wouldn't you put this in spots where um, most
people don't think there's gonna be that you know, very
specific design. And also to like NBA players through the
years have been taken Sharpie's themselves and writing literally whatever
they want messages shout outs on their midst So it's
(18:10):
like it's cool that there's like this retail version of it,
you know, yeah, exactly exactly. I love that it's exactly right,
you know. And also like you know, because all arts
should be accessible. That's the way I look at us
where I come from, you know, um, and I think
that like we have the power to kind of makes
because there's no reason that everyone should own, you know,
(18:32):
like a unique version of something like this, and so
that's what I'm always trying to do with the collaboration.
So yeah, no, it's super cool because I think the
sneaker really reflects, you know, your artistry. Um, you know,
when when you're working on a project like this, like
how much you know, how much how much research did
you put into just you know, Katie obviously you know,
(18:52):
had a long running sneaker line, Um, like how much
do you do you kind of look at that and
obviously I think, I know you mentioned a little bit too.
You want the shoe obviously to reflect some of his
values and you know, his personality traits and stuff like that,
Like like you know, what was that process in terms
of making sure that Katie is also reflected in this shoe? Right,
that's that's his his Yeah, yeah, of course, yeah, I
(19:14):
know that's exactly right, Like it was. It was a
combination and all that. And I think the best artists,
the best designers, the best kind of curators are able
to try to capture that. And I think I try.
I think I accomplished that, you know, like trust, trying
to get checked, get all those intersections, you know, like, yes,
it's Katie shoe, obviously it needs but it needs to
(19:36):
reflect him, his values, his his sensibilities. But then it's
also obviously I'm a very specific person who's doing it,
so it has to be filtered through my voice, and
then it also has to obviously line up with Nike
and all of that. But you know, so, but it's
also funny because I don't. I don't. I'm not a
sneaker head per se. You know. I have, Um, I
(20:00):
have some I have different kinds of sneakers that like
I don't wear on on the rag that I like,
you know, there are special to me. Um, you know.
But I'm not someone who's like really in that world. Uh.
And I think because of that, I had an edge actually,
you know, it's like sometimes the best you know. Obviously
I did my research and I know enough, you know,
(20:21):
going into this as an NBA fan, as a person
who cares about fashion, I know enough going into it.
You know about the history of certain kind of obviously
even Kevin Durance shoes and all of that. But I'm not.
You know, I'm not I don't fancy myself to be
in that world per se. I'm not waiting in line necessarily,
(20:41):
you know, for the for whatever drop and all that.
And I think because I'm not in that world, like
all the way, I was able to kind of come
at it from a different perspective because you know, sometimes
you gotta be on the outside to kind of like
see a new way to think about something, you know,
because you're so ingrained in it. So I think that
kind of I had an edge because of that. Um
And I think a lot of times, you know, if
(21:05):
we go to certain kinds of artists, you know, outside
of whatever industry and and get their take on and
sometimes you get a real fresh perspective on things. So
that's around. And we talked about, you know, the client list.
It's very extensive, you know, West elm, Airbnb, Starbucks, McDonald's,
but Nike in basketball, Like what what were some more
(21:25):
of the things that you were excited about when you
were approached about a sneaker and what were some of
like given the challenges and hurdles and differences from working
with prior brands when when working with Nike and Katie, Yeah,
you know, I mean it's funny, Like, what was special
about this collaboration is, uh, you know, so a big
(21:46):
problem in my industry a lot is that you have
independent artists such as myself. We create a lot of
things that go into the zecheies you know, of of
culture of the world, um, and then my side, billion
dollar conglomerates and brands see that stuff that in department
pendent artists create specifically black, brown, and queer, you know,
(22:08):
artists who are creating stuff that's very unique. These brands
they see something that's working and then they pull they
co opt these visual languages, and they co opt these
kind of uh new ways, these fresh like and then
they do it internally for themselves, you know what I'm saying.
And to their credit, to Katie's credit, to Nike's credit,
(22:28):
the fact that I did that basketball court and they
all loved it and they thought that this would be
dope on their new on the New Katie fifteen's the
fact that they just said, Okay, now, let's approach the
artists to do this work and not you know, like
just do it internally and do something you know, poor
version of something I would do is is like a
(22:50):
real testament, so that I think you know Katie's character
and Nike and everybody, you know, it's kind of really like,
come straight to me to do this work because it
doesn't happen a lot, you know what I mean, or
it doesn't happen and um, and so it was a dream,
you know, to be able to kind of do that.
So yeah, I feel like, uh, just in the past
(23:11):
few years, like you mentioned it to the the co
op from brands are like seeing you know, creators out
there and being like, well, we're a whole big company.
We can just do that on our own. Like I
love when you have players like k D especially we
know his personality, we know he's on engaging with fans.
Um and the fact that they're like, we gotta go
to the artist because you're gonna get in and I
(23:33):
this is kind of a p s A. I'm gonna
put out there, you know as a creative myself too,
it's like, go to the artist because we're and you clearly,
with the way the shoe turned out, are going to
be excited about that. And um. You know some people
can be like, oh, you're selling outur corporate, but it's like,
you know, you're a basketball fan and and you've made
the shoe come come to life, and now you're gonna
see it on people's feet. So I guess to like,
(23:54):
um as a fan is sorry. I was just gonna say,
is no such thing as is selling out? I don't
like when I'm not a punk band, you know, I mean,
you're only as an artist, as a creative person. You're
only selling out if you're like making work for brands
that go against your values and your ethics, you know
(24:16):
what you mean. Or you're making work for brands that
you know very openly support or encourage racism, sex as
of homophobia or whatever. Like, I think that's selling out too.
But otherwise, like get your bag like every artist you know,
or get and get your exposure and like build those
relationships and work for all, especially if you're going to
(24:37):
have a certain level of creative license to do your thing. Um,
So just a little you know note for any creative
out there. Let's go to Break and lask more about
the Katie fifteen Timothy Goodman edition when we come back.
(25:01):
All right, we're back on running the Break. We're here
with Timothy Goodman Artists and has a new collab with
Nike with the Katie fifteen Timothy Goodman addition, So Timothy,
the shoe has come out? When when when people are
starting to hear this this episode December nine? Uh, what
is gonna be your reaction when you see this just
(25:21):
on you know kids feet out in New York and
and on the court and even on Katie, Like have
you seen them on Katie yet? What? What's what's gonna be? Uh,
your reaction? I haven't seen him on Katie yet. Obviously,
we'll recording this. They're they're about, you know, uh, sixteen
hours from dropping. Um, but I will be getting tomorrow night,
(25:41):
and I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my prayers up
that he will be wearing them tomorrow night. Um know,
obviously just don't know, you know, maybe he's not, maybe
he's feeling it for another day or something, but um
it's I'll be at the game, and uh it will
be if he is wearing them, it will be obviously
just completely surreal, you know what I mean. I was
(26:02):
at I actually saw I was at a Nike Swooch
event for for the for the high school students the
other night day on Tuesday, and that was they all
they all the the high school students they got there
the Katie fifteens, so the whole team and the coaches
(26:23):
were wearing them. Um, And it was yeah, it was cool, man.
It was like just just being at the high school
game and seeing all these all these kids playing and
the and then choose was special. So I'm sure I
can't even imagine what it's gonna be like seeing Katie
or any other NBA player wearing them. It's gonna be
it's gonna be special. Yeah, that's super cool. And you know,
(26:44):
you've talked so much about the creative process so far,
and you know, you talked about not being you know,
maybe like kind of you know, a sneaker head like
like some of the other people kind of in that space.
But I love to get your thoughts, you know, when
you're seeing how basketball sneaker design has been going, because
you're familiar with the shoes from like the past decades
and from when you were growing up, Like, what are
(27:05):
the things you would like to see more of, um,
you know, in the basketball sneaker design space. Um. You know,
I think it's a good question. I don't know if
I have an answer to it. You know, like I
think that I want to. It's like the reason I
made this is like, how do you find that balance
of something that stands out on the court but also
(27:28):
is something that you want to wear with a fit,
you know what I mean, and you want to wear
out in the in the because it just doesn't convert
a lot. And maybe maybe the answer is that it's
not supposed to, you know what I mean, Like maybe
it's only it is a basketball shoe that is for
playing basketball. That's why it was designed the way it was,
(27:50):
like the actual architecture of the shoe, and you know,
but if we can find you know, I think so
maybe it's not the answer for all, but if for
some of them, Um, I just think it's about like, man,
there's just so many they are ugly, if you know,
it's just it's just being real, Like it's just that
I also think the color ways about them, but it's
(28:13):
but they're great on the court, you know. So it's like,
I don't know, you're not supposed to drive a spaceship either,
you know, like you gotta so I don't know, I
don't know. I don't know what there's an answer for.
Maybe not everything is meant to fit and fit into
two different boxes. You're not, No, I think I think
you actually bring up a really interesting point that I
(28:34):
think it's like worth discussing. Is that I feel like
basketball sneakers in general has kind of trended more towards
maybe more for performance, like you mentioned right looking performance,
but when you when when Nike works with people like
yourself and and other creative artists, and then you know,
we talk a lot about like collaboration culture here like
(28:54):
on the show and stuff, I think that's a really
good way to really get the sneaker into a different audience, right,
because like the sneaker that you're talking about that you've
collabed with Katie on, like, that's a sneaker that you
can wear, like you mentioned, you know, if you're trying
to just get get a fit off, like on like outside,
like off the court. And I think I look at
(29:15):
the new Lebrons to like, I feel like the way
they designed the new Lebrons to like, that's the first
pair of Lebrons I would say in a while where
I've looked at it and I was like, this is
a shoe that I actually would wear and kind of
style for myself. So I do think there's like a
huge benefit there of of you know, of brands collaborating
with people like yourself. I agree, you know, I think
(29:35):
the tricky thing is that, you know, when you learn
about these brands like Nike, like so much of like
there's such a small percentage of what they make that
is actually they literally do not really care. None of
it transfers over to anything beyond athletics and sport performance,
you know what I mean, Like it's such a small
(29:57):
percentage and and it doesn't matter. The people are still
eating it up, you know, in all the ways, but
they really just make it about that thing, and it's
you know it would would it behoove them to do it?
I probably, but you know, who's who's to say? You know,
I think the hardened the hardened sixes were kind of
dope or they did some special ones with those. I
(30:17):
think those are kind of us. But a lot of
basketball shoes there's such like they're so unique, even the
cool one, even you know, these you can't wear them
or anything. You got to have a specific kind of fit.
It's like, you know, to make it work. And I
think that that's good, Like there's there there are a
specialty item, you know, you pull them out, you know,
(30:37):
two or three times a year maybe or something if
you're gonna like you want to make a statement. Um,
you know, I don't know. I also think with my shoes,
for anyone, who's who's who's who's looking at them? Um.
I think if you if the purple laces, the reason
we chose excess is great for the court and it
really stands out and it does convert. But if you
(30:58):
want into the streets, but if you want to put
black laces in, I think if it tones it down
a little bit, just makes it more unique about the arts,
not as loud, it's not as kind of you know,
um audacious in a way. So I think, you know,
that's a that's a good tip, you know for anyone.
Let's put black laces in the cartoons down, maybe it'll
go go more fits. I mean I always tell people
(31:21):
in terms of fits, it's like if you like it
and you and you're confident about all this stuff, like, no,
nothing is bad, you know what I mean. Like I'm
like I hate people's fits who are like, hey, I
saw this on a mannequ can and I just bought
the whole thing. Yeah, come on, So the question I
wanted to ask you, I mean, like you're in the
art world I come from and in the whole point
(31:42):
of this podcast too, is like in my background is
I'm a comedian, and I think at some point a
few years ago, people found out a lot of comedians
have such a um a big passion and interest for
for sports and specifically basketball, Like people are really intrigued
to find out how much we love basketball and like
talk about basketball many ways. Is there that in the
(32:04):
art world, because I feel like in you know, the
stereotypes are pretentious or like quiet, but like you're you're
talking to you for a few minutes here you you
love basketball? Are there more artists like do you have
a crew or shoes like getting people into it? I mean, no,
there's definitely a lot of artists who love basketball. You know.
I also come from like I'm more of like come
(32:25):
from a I'm more of a commercial artists in a
lot of ways, um, not necessarily like a fine artist.
Uh So, you know, I think that in a lot
of ways, there's many more kind of commercial artists who
are you know, into sport and basketball, um than you're
kind of like you know, but there's plenty of all
kinds of creative artists out there, visual artists that love basketball.
(32:47):
For sure, I gotta crew you would be surprised. I
think of it as an artist. Like the reason I
love basketball so much is just it's like it is
visual poetry to me in a lot of ways, Like
is just you know, it's astounding to kind of watch
players and the athletes, uh do the things that they do.
It is art to me in so many ways. And
(33:09):
on the same way I appreciate music, same way I
appreciate stand up comedy. Basketball, Um, you know, in visual arts,
I think there's so many crossovers. Yeah, who who are
some of your favorite players to want to watch right now?
Luca without a doubt, to me at this moment, is
probably like if I had, if I had to, like,
(33:29):
who is like a player you want to pay you
want to pay your money to see going this? Her
style was like it's Stephane Luca to me, and Kevin
Kevin's up there like top three, Lebron Kevin Luca. I mean,
you know, the usual suspects, but um, but Luca and
stuff is just so exciting because they're like I'm like there,
I'm six three that that's like the height of the episodes,
(33:50):
kind of like you might have been meant to be
a basketball player. You just dropped in your Yeah, maybe
maybe my jompers are right. I'm rusty at this point. Uh,
you'd be. I mean, we can get into it, but
you'd be surprised how much we all talk about our
basketball playing ability on this podcast. Also, not not to
make Timothy mad, but everybody says they're jumpers. All right?
(34:14):
Are you calling me out? Man? Shout shouts to Jaileen Brunson,
r J Barrett. Uh, you know Julius Randolph, my next
my next career. No, I mean yeah, Like, do you
worked with Katie, You've worked at Bleach Report, you worked
with all his brands? Do you like just from like uh,
I guess like a dream list? Do you have you know,
(34:34):
players or teams that that you'd love to work with
and even have some ideas in the bank? Who is
a good question? You know, I don't know. I think
I'm living the dream right now. Man. You know, um,
I've been able to you know, I've had a global
Uniculo collection. Um, you know, I've had solo art gallery shows.
(34:58):
I've worked with Hasta me as you know for Netflix show.
You know these people like all like these kind of
brands and you know, now it's a Nike, They're so ubiquitous,
and you know, being able to just collaborate in all
these ways and get my expressed myself, it's just the dream.
So um, you know, I don't know, like are the
(35:20):
you know, do out It would be dope to do
more work for I think, um for luxury fashion brands
as well. I do have some some something dropping in
um spring that I'm very excited about. Um. But yeah,
just you know, continuing just you know, I'm very like,
just play it as it comes, like, you know, just
(35:41):
continue to put myself my work out there, continue express
myself and you know, and collaborate with the people that
make most sense as it comes, you know. So yeah, no,
that's super cool man. No, listen, everybody should check out
the Timothy good good Man, Katie fifteens and tim Let's
let's let the people know before we wrap up, like
(36:02):
where they can find you on socials so as to
kind of continue following your journey. Yeah yeah, yeah, I'm
on Instagram at Timothy good at Timothy Goodman. I'm on
Twitter Timothy O. Goodman I'm on all the other platforms
with those are the two main ones you can find me.
Timothy Goodman is pretty easy to search. Um and uh,
I have a graphic memoir coming out for Simon and
(36:24):
Schuster January thirty one, will be as stores, uh you know,
all across the country. Um, it's about this time I
went to Paris. I do a lot of poetry. I
do a lot of stuff with words, and um, I
wrote this graphic memoir about how I went to Paris
and and kind of um uh learned French and and
fell in love a couple of years ago. And it's
this whole story about the whole year, and it's filled
(36:46):
with my art and poetry awards. And that would be
our next next month and the next month. Dope. Everyone
check that out and then hey, Timothy, will we'll give
you uh me and Alex will give your address. Of course,
I know you have some and family pairs, so um
you can send those over totally kidding. Um, thanks for
joining us, everyone, Thank you, Okay, I appreciate it. Thanks
(37:09):
for everyone checking out running the break. Shout out to
our producers Peter, Kurt Grace, uh and we'll be back
next week
All right, everyone, welcome back to running the Break. Alex
Longa is always I'm joined by co host c J Tolodono.
C J, how are you doing this week? Man? I'm
doing good? Man. I Here here's the question that's been
burning inside me because for regular listeners, they know, um,
last episode you said you're gonna go to your very
first well your very first vintage in flea market sale,
(00:30):
but as a seller. So I've been dying here an updates?
So what went down? How you feeling? Yeah, So this
was set up by you know, one of my friends here,
Trevor in Toronto, who who owns a restaurant space called
super Fresh, and he actually turned he actually you know,
connected with a bunch of local vintage sellers and turned
his space into a vintage market. And you know what
(00:51):
I did was like curated a collection of sneakers from
my you know, from from my storage and also just
a lot of old NBA jerseys. And you know, it
was it was both. It was both a very enlightening
and a humbling experience. First of all, from a humbling standpoint,
you know, much respects to people who do this for
(01:13):
a living. Selling vintage stuff is hard because I feel
like sometimes when you go into these spaces, you feel like, man,
like all this stuff that I have, I can't believe
I'm letting it go because these are such treasured items
in my collection. Sometimes people see it the same way.
Sometimes people are like, I don't want these NBA jerseys.
I was able to move. I was able to move
(01:35):
some sneakers, some jerseys, so I was really happy. But
I think I was going in being like I'm gonna
go home with like not having to bring anything back,
you know what I mean, like everything that I'm bringing.
So I sat my expectations too high. And actually the
funniest story was so Ronnie Chang, who has a couple
of Netflix specials and you know, like like a very
(01:55):
noted comedian, he's been in crazy rici ations. He happened
to be in town in Toronto on the Sunday handing
out a Just for Last award. So you know, me
and him like, you know, not not to flex, but
you know I always tell people were very close friends.
So he DMed me He's like I'm in Toronto. Because
for people that know Ronnie, like this is just how
Ronnie operates, Like he doesn't give you any context, um
(02:18):
doesn't tell you how long he's been in the city,
and he basically said, I'm in Toronto and I'm like, okay,
for how long? He's like six hours. He's like, I
flew in and I'm flying out tonight. He's like, where
are you? And this place super fresh. He's been here before.
This is where we hung out last time as well,
so it's hard to explain to him in a d
M that I'm working at this like vintage market and stuff. Anyways,
(02:38):
he dropped by, long story short, hung out, super cool,
bought a Derrick Coleman Nets champion jersey off night, so
hopefully we'll see it there. So that's my full update
for you. Okay, well, if you're very close friends with Ronnie,
we gotta have Ronnie on Okay, here's here's the problem.
Ronnie will require a lot of editing because he has
(02:58):
absolutely no filter. But we can definitely ask Ronnie because
I think one of Ronnie's dreams has been to play
in the NBA Celeb Game at allso the weekend. So
so if we can make that happen for we should
start a campaign. Yes, tell him, we will campaign and
like we have a direct line to the NBA and
if Ronnie comes on and if he rocks that Derek
(03:19):
Coleman champion jersey and warm ups, man, this would be perfect.
Would run it, We'll get it, We'll get re screen printing.
Screenprinting on the back says Running the Break, Thank you,
Running the Break. Everyone's benefiting from this. No, I think
I think it'd be amazing. I need to see him
in that Derek Coleman jersey in some kind of like
NBA capacity, you know, whether he's showing up to the
(03:41):
tunnel before a celeb game or even if he goes
to a NETS game. You know, if you go to
a NETS game and you sit courtside, like, I just
want to see that jersey in the wild. So but yes, overall,
I feel like everything all the tips that you gave
me about in terms of it's such a communal experience
getting to know other people there. That was super cool.
Like like, I think something that we do on this
show too is like getting to know people's stories, and
(04:03):
I feel like that's that's what it is too. When
you're at these vintage places, it's like you could see
just pick up one piece that you see that a
seller has on the rack. And then it just becomes
kind of a gateway into learning their personal story, right yeah,
and and so, And it doesn't mean they're gonna buy it.
I mean, like you said, you know, I want to
also highlight and maybe I didn't say that's enough, but
it is literal blood, sweat and tears, because you gotta
(04:26):
get a wardrobe rack. You gotta. Like the first time
I ever did it, I was just hauling stuff in
my in my mid sized suv. It didn't all fit.
There was two trips or whatever, and it was like,
I mean, I already have a back problem as a
mid thirties now Dad, like my back is going um,
you know, by the minute. And yeah, when you want
to get rid of stuff, but one not everyone's gonna
(04:48):
buy all your stuff into your buying stuff. So again,
I just wanted to highlight in spotlights you and as
you know, the physicality that goes into being a vintage seller.
So all these vintage you know people we've had on
shout out to you guys. We've tried to do your job,
you know, and it's tough, it really is. No, no,
it's definitely tough. Man. But whoever you know, to the
(05:09):
to the kid who bought my Actually, I know we
bought my day Last Soul Dunks. Please enjoy them. Um,
you know I brought us some heat for you guys.
But no, we were very excited today. You know, we
we have a very special guest that we were able
to to sit down and talk to recently New York
based artists Timothy Goodman, who designed the Timothy Goodman Katie
fifteen sneaker. About the time you hear this, it will
(05:31):
be in stores. You know, Tim's worked with so many
of uh you know these A list brands including Nike, Apple, Google, MoMA,
you know my favorite brand, Unique Low. You know he's
he's an award winning artist, graphic designer, author and public speaker,
and we were super excited to chat with him about
(05:51):
the process behind the Katie fifteen. So we're gonna take
a break and then when we come back, you'll hear
our interview with Timothy Goodman. Yeah, a special guest with us.
We're joined by New York based artist Timothy Goodman, who
(06:13):
designed a new k D fifteen sneaker that is, by
the time you hear this, that is in stores now.
Tim has a very established resume, award winning artist, graphic designer, author,
public speaker. You've seen as art and words that populate
the walls, buildings, packages, shoes, clothing, books, magazine covers, and
galleries all over the world. He's worked with Nike, Apple, Google,
(06:35):
MoMA in so many different places, and he regularly partners
with not for profit organizations and schools to create art
for communities in New York. Timothy, how are you? I'm
doing good man, I'm pumped to be here and talk
to you. How you guys doing doing great? Timothy One,
It's exciting like to talk to other creatives that come
on the show. And because you know, me and Alex
(06:57):
were we work in basketball, but we're creatives for person um.
So just like you know you, you will get into
what you do and what like how you came up
and how you got involved in basketball. But I think
that's what I want to talk about first, is your
love for basketball and sports. So can you kind of
you know, detail for us, um, how that came to be.
(07:17):
You know, I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Um, we
played That's all we did as kids, as a little
as boys. You know, I played basketball in the courts,
played football in the streets. Um, you know, we baseball
the whole nine. So obviously it's indebted in a bit
of who I am, um, but more specifically the n
(07:39):
B A you know, I've grown up as a Cavs fan,
just growing up watching the NBC games with the Nicks,
the Bulls, the nineties, like that's just forever kind of
indented on my heart. So like NBA first and foremost
above everything. Um has always been that way. And I've
been in New York City for eighteen years. I converted
(08:01):
as a Knicks fan immediately way back, just you know,
back when like the it was like the date Robinson
days so um, which is also then with the Brooklyn Nets,
you know, just my love for New York and the
communities here and always supporting. So you know it's been
since you know, the infrareds, you know, having those as
(08:24):
a kid. Um, that's been kind of my love. So
this has been a dream to kind of be a
part of all this. Yeah, Timothy, you were talking about
sneakers and and one of the things that we asked
our guests is just you know what we're your favorite
sneakers or sneakers that you coveted growing up, or sneakers
that you have a personal connection to what you know,
what what's on that list for you? Yeah, I mean
(08:45):
first and foremost is the Chuck Taylor. Chuck's like my uncle.
He was like six six, played basketball in the seventies
high school basketball team, and uh, you know, he always
wore those. He was a cool uncle, so I always
looked up to him. He had Chuck, So I was
like my first pair sneakers UM. From there, the other
ones were the Jordan sixes, the infrareds um. You know.
(09:09):
That's just like when I was a teenager, like you know,
or no I was. I don't know how old I
was at that point. I was like ten or nine,
but yeah, those things are forever, like you know, I
mean still I don't even have a pair right now.
I need to get a pair because I'm missing out
so much. But that's my whole thing. Like I was
like I missed that, you know, I miss I miss
(09:33):
NBA basketball shoes being like like just super unique and
fresh something that you want to wear that like work
on the court, but you also want to wear in
the streets. And that was my whole That was one
of my main objectives was just like how do I
make a piece of art that someone can wear out
in real life, you know, and that was, you know,
(09:55):
something that was really important for me. How do I
carry apart of Brooklyn with everybody, no matter or they're
at you know, I kind of have that. So that's
what's up. That's awesome, Well, that that connects us and
gets us to exactly while you're on the show. So
you you know of the many people in places and
in brands that you've collabed with. You're you're now collabing
with Nike and with k D specifically for the k
(10:18):
D fifteen sneaker, where I mean, everyone's got to check out.
This isn't a visual um you know, medium, but everyone
go check out the k D fifteen Timothy Goodman collab.
That's dropping. Uh. I think it's already out, but Timothy,
you got to lend your art and and you know,
just you know, your take on the k D fifteen, like,
(10:38):
can you describe like I think two people listening, you're
you're and correct me if I'm wrong. Your style is
it's hand drawn kind of Collagey actually worked at Bleacher Reports,
so our whole third floor you did, so I always
admire that. I didn't know I was gonna be talking
to the artist at some point, but to describe for
the audience. You know your style and you know your
approach and how this collad came to well, I have
(11:02):
a couple of different styles. My style, yeah, it's it's
very much whimsical, kind of hand drawn line drawings of
big of text and imagery. A lot of times it's
black and white. Sometimes I do color. Uh, it's allah
like ninety eighties Key Herring, kind of that old like
he's big. I'm a descendative him. He was an artist
(11:24):
in the eighties who did this kind of like line drawings.
But my stuff is more uh, story oriented with texts
and words and lettering. I went to school for graphics.
I here in New York City. Um, and so yeah,
like you know, a lot of my stuff is editorial,
and the shoes editorial. It's a values driven shoe. It
looks fresh, but it's also the words I wrote all
(11:45):
over it. The stuff is is a homage to Brooklyn,
to New York and you know, kind of capturing the
essence of the people here, the dedication of determination and
aligning with KDS values and who he is as a
person and a basketball player. And the community aspect of
all of that, uh is really important. So um yeah,
(12:06):
you know, like this this project started with that Bleacher
report uh mural I did that. That permanent installation I
did in the office is back in two thousand nineteen.
I think because I did that, I did this long
mural which was my greatest NBA teams of all time.
And doing that then led to conversations with the Kevin
(12:26):
Durant Charity Foundation in um which we eventually then did
the basketball court for the students at PS five in Brooklyn,
New York. We did this basketball court so for those kids,
and then that led to the conversations with with Katie
and Nike about doing the Katie fifteen. So it's been
(12:48):
a it's been a you know, three or four year journey,
um kind of one thing leading to the next has
been a beautiful little kind of you know moment. So yeah,
that's super cool, And you know, I think I think
listeners would love to to hear more too about just
that process, right, like like when you're on your tasks
to come up with with with a design for for
(13:09):
a shoe for someone like ky D, like like for
someone with your you know, creative mind, and creative background,
like you know, take take us, take us, give us
a little behind the scenes glimpse of what that process
was like in terms of thinking and kind of conceptualizing
you know what what you ended up coming up with, ya,
I mean honestly, you know, it was really beautiful and
the easy in so many ways. Sometimes these things can
(13:32):
can becombersome. You know, they can kind of get difficult,
but this was, uh, from the from the get like
everybody was on board with the idea and you know,
and really was. You know, when I did that basketball
court in Brooklyn for those for those students and for
those kids, we we did all these workshops together. I
did workshops with them, with the kids, uh some of
them are elementary school and middle school and so so much.
(13:55):
What that workshop was about, what what do you want
me to draw on your court? Because it is their court,
like it's my art. But then the court becomes a
sense of ownership for these students in this community. Fat
you know, they can say, yo, I got the freshest
court you've ever seen. You know, they don't, and they's
getting the artists did when Kevin there as charity foundation,
and you know, it's it's like it becomes theirs and
(14:16):
you know, so, so when it came time to do
the shoe, it was like an easy like let's how
do we take the values and the things I drew
on the court, how does that convert to the shoe?
You know? Um it that it was just the challenge
of like how do you how do I get the
most and I got the shoe right here? How do
I get the how do I get the most art?
(14:37):
How do I tell the biggest story in such a small,
you know way on a shoe? And at first, you know,
so much of it, Like at first they came to
me and they didn't even know we were gonna They
didn't even have ideas for doing art on the soul.
They just kind of wanted it more more here, like
you know, on the on the kind of main part
of the shoe. And I kept pushing to try to
(14:59):
get my art everything, like the tongue, the whole deal,
and they kept trying to go back and see like, oh,
can we do this, you know, talking because a lot
of this stuff is about like talking to to the
people who produced the shoe. What's possible can it print
on certain kinds of fabrics? You know, blah blah blah.
So um, there's a lot of kind of like different
(15:20):
ways that. So I just kept trying to comp up
different like how do I just get as much art
on this as possible on such a small shoe. So
but but as far, we had already come up with
a list beforehand of the values we want to capture
on the shoe, and so much of my art is
like that. We come up with it. It's very simple,
like a list of maybe words values, things we want
(15:42):
to capture, New York City things, these kind of words.
I want to write this and this and so once
kind of everyone's on board with that, and they prove it. Freestyle.
I start free style, not on the shoe, not you know,
sometimes I do on products or whatever, but this is
a you know, very specific thing that had to be printed,
you know. I start free styling like almost like a
(16:03):
jazz player would do improv or someone was freestyle rap,
or Katie would play back, would would practice and play basketball.
It's the same thing for me. I have all these
values in my mind, all these things I might want
to draw, and then I started to kind of like
puzzle piece them together in various ways, and then we
kind of keep refining and refining from there, So a
little bit of the process and then and then the
(16:25):
color way, the color way I did. We did a
hundred and fifty variations of colors, um, and I really
wanted to capture, you know, these kind of like ninety
eighties like Spike Lee, Nike Brooklyn colors. It's kind of
neon green, the kind of like peach orange, the purple.
(16:45):
I wanted to kind of So that's kind of where
we met it out. But Nike was amazing about it.
Katie was amazing about it, Like you know, I kind
of have full rain about like trying my way and
all these colors, and we went down the full spectral.
It came down in this color way and there was
like a more jet black kind of version, and then
there was a kind of homage so that the old
Washington Bullets color is like the red and blue and
(17:08):
white because Katie, you know, I grew up in d C.
So um, it kind of came down of those. So
but yeah, you kind of got to exhaust a lot
of a lot of variations of what like in what's
going to look like before you before you realize like
this is the one you know. So yeah that I
was actually gonna give you a compliment and you you
mentioned it because what I love is that you know,
(17:29):
your art is it's you know, very graffiti like and
like you said, like weren't sure about putting stuff from
the midstole, but you know, with graffiti, it's it's everywhere.
It can be on any sort of material. Like that's
like the fun thing about it. You want through like
a New York you can see it on on buildings,
places where people didn't think it should be or where
it's not allowed to be, And like you doing something
(17:49):
on the midshile is like, yes, why wouldn't you, like,
why wouldn't you put this in spots where um, most
people don't think there's gonna be that you know, very
specific design. And also to like NBA players through the
years have been taken Sharpie's themselves and writing literally whatever
they want messages shout outs on their midst So it's
(18:10):
like it's cool that there's like this retail version of it,
you know, yeah, exactly exactly. I love that it's exactly right,
you know. And also like you know, because all arts
should be accessible. That's the way I look at us
where I come from, you know, um, and I think
that like we have the power to kind of makes
because there's no reason that everyone should own, you know,
(18:32):
like a unique version of something like this, and so
that's what I'm always trying to do with the collaboration.
So yeah, no, it's super cool because I think the
sneaker really reflects, you know, your artistry. Um, you know,
when when you're working on a project like this, like
how much you know, how much how much research did
you put into just you know, Katie obviously you know,
(18:52):
had a long running sneaker line, Um, like how much
do you do you kind of look at that and
obviously I think, I know you mentioned a little bit too.
You want the shoe obviously to reflect some of his
values and you know, his personality traits and stuff like that,
Like like you know, what was that process in terms
of making sure that Katie is also reflected in this shoe? Right,
that's that's his his Yeah, yeah, of course, yeah, I
(19:14):
know that's exactly right, Like it was. It was a
combination and all that. And I think the best artists,
the best designers, the best kind of curators are able
to try to capture that. And I think I try.
I think I accomplished that, you know, like trust, trying
to get checked, get all those intersections, you know, like, yes,
it's Katie shoe, obviously it needs but it needs to
(19:36):
reflect him, his values, his his sensibilities. But then it's
also obviously I'm a very specific person who's doing it,
so it has to be filtered through my voice, and
then it also has to obviously line up with Nike
and all of that. But you know, so, but it's
also funny because I don't. I don't. I'm not a
sneaker head per se. You know. I have, Um, I
(20:00):
have some I have different kinds of sneakers that like
I don't wear on on the rag that I like,
you know, there are special to me. Um, you know.
But I'm not someone who's like really in that world. Uh.
And I think because of that, I had an edge actually,
you know, it's like sometimes the best you know. Obviously
I did my research and I know enough, you know,
(20:21):
going into this as an NBA fan, as a person
who cares about fashion, I know enough going into it.
You know about the history of certain kind of obviously
even Kevin Durance shoes and all of that. But I'm not.
You know, I'm not I don't fancy myself to be
in that world per se. I'm not waiting in line necessarily,
(20:41):
you know, for the for whatever drop and all that.
And I think because I'm not in that world, like
all the way, I was able to kind of come
at it from a different perspective because you know, sometimes
you gotta be on the outside to kind of like
see a new way to think about something, you know,
because you're so ingrained in it. So I think that
kind of I had an edge because of that. Um
And I think a lot of times, you know, if
(21:05):
we go to certain kinds of artists, you know, outside
of whatever industry and and get their take on and
sometimes you get a real fresh perspective on things. So
that's around. And we talked about, you know, the client list.
It's very extensive, you know, West elm, Airbnb, Starbucks, McDonald's,
but Nike in basketball, Like what what were some more
(21:25):
of the things that you were excited about when you
were approached about a sneaker and what were some of
like given the challenges and hurdles and differences from working
with prior brands when when working with Nike and Katie, Yeah,
you know, I mean it's funny, Like, what was special
about this collaboration is, uh, you know, so a big
(21:46):
problem in my industry a lot is that you have
independent artists such as myself. We create a lot of
things that go into the zecheies you know, of of
culture of the world, um, and then my side, billion
dollar conglomerates and brands see that stuff that in department
pendent artists create specifically black, brown, and queer, you know,
(22:08):
artists who are creating stuff that's very unique. These brands
they see something that's working and then they pull they
co opt these visual languages, and they co opt these
kind of uh new ways, these fresh like and then
they do it internally for themselves, you know what I'm saying.
And to their credit, to Katie's credit, to Nike's credit,
(22:28):
the fact that I did that basketball court and they
all loved it and they thought that this would be
dope on their new on the New Katie fifteen's the
fact that they just said, Okay, now, let's approach the
artists to do this work and not you know, like
just do it internally and do something you know, poor
version of something I would do is is like a
(22:50):
real testament, so that I think you know Katie's character
and Nike and everybody, you know, it's kind of really like,
come straight to me to do this work because it
doesn't happen a lot, you know what I mean, or
it doesn't happen and um, and so it was a dream,
you know, to be able to kind of do that.
So yeah, I feel like, uh, just in the past
(23:11):
few years, like you mentioned it to the the co
op from brands are like seeing you know, creators out
there and being like, well, we're a whole big company.
We can just do that on our own. Like I
love when you have players like k D especially we
know his personality, we know he's on engaging with fans.
Um and the fact that they're like, we gotta go
to the artist because you're gonna get in and I
(23:33):
this is kind of a p s A. I'm gonna
put out there, you know as a creative myself too,
it's like, go to the artist because we're and you clearly,
with the way the shoe turned out, are going to
be excited about that. And um. You know some people
can be like, oh, you're selling outur corporate, but it's like,
you know, you're a basketball fan and and you've made
the shoe come come to life, and now you're gonna
see it on people's feet. So I guess to like,
(23:54):
um as a fan is sorry. I was just gonna say,
is no such thing as is selling out? I don't
like when I'm not a punk band, you know, I mean,
you're only as an artist, as a creative person. You're
only selling out if you're like making work for brands
that go against your values and your ethics, you know
(24:16):
what you mean. Or you're making work for brands that
you know very openly support or encourage racism, sex as
of homophobia or whatever. Like, I think that's selling out too.
But otherwise, like get your bag like every artist you know,
or get and get your exposure and like build those
relationships and work for all, especially if you're going to
(24:37):
have a certain level of creative license to do your thing. Um,
So just a little you know note for any creative
out there. Let's go to Break and lask more about
the Katie fifteen Timothy Goodman edition when we come back.
(25:01):
All right, we're back on running the Break. We're here
with Timothy Goodman Artists and has a new collab with
Nike with the Katie fifteen Timothy Goodman addition, So Timothy,
the shoe has come out? When when when people are
starting to hear this this episode December nine? Uh, what
is gonna be your reaction when you see this just
(25:21):
on you know kids feet out in New York and
and on the court and even on Katie, Like have
you seen them on Katie yet? What? What's what's gonna be? Uh,
your reaction? I haven't seen him on Katie yet. Obviously,
we'll recording this. They're they're about, you know, uh, sixteen
hours from dropping. Um, but I will be getting tomorrow night,
(25:41):
and I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my prayers up
that he will be wearing them tomorrow night. Um know,
obviously just don't know, you know, maybe he's not, maybe
he's feeling it for another day or something, but um
it's I'll be at the game, and uh it will
be if he is wearing them, it will be obviously
just completely surreal, you know what I mean. I was
(26:02):
at I actually saw I was at a Nike Swooch
event for for the for the high school students the
other night day on Tuesday, and that was they all
they all the the high school students they got there
the Katie fifteens, so the whole team and the coaches
(26:23):
were wearing them. Um, And it was yeah, it was cool, man.
It was like just just being at the high school
game and seeing all these all these kids playing and
the and then choose was special. So I'm sure I
can't even imagine what it's gonna be like seeing Katie
or any other NBA player wearing them. It's gonna be
it's gonna be special. Yeah, that's super cool. And you know,
(26:44):
you've talked so much about the creative process so far,
and you know, you talked about not being you know,
maybe like kind of you know, a sneaker head like
like some of the other people kind of in that space.
But I love to get your thoughts, you know, when
you're seeing how basketball sneaker design has been going, because
you're familiar with the shoes from like the past decades
and from when you were growing up, Like, what are
(27:05):
the things you would like to see more of, um,
you know, in the basketball sneaker design space. Um. You know,
I think it's a good question. I don't know if
I have an answer to it. You know, like I
think that I want to. It's like the reason I
made this is like, how do you find that balance
of something that stands out on the court but also
(27:28):
is something that you want to wear with a fit,
you know what I mean, and you want to wear
out in the in the because it just doesn't convert
a lot. And maybe maybe the answer is that it's
not supposed to, you know what I mean, Like maybe
it's only it is a basketball shoe that is for
playing basketball. That's why it was designed the way it was,
(27:50):
like the actual architecture of the shoe, and you know,
but if we can find you know, I think so
maybe it's not the answer for all, but if for
some of them, Um, I just think it's about like, man,
there's just so many they are ugly, if you know,
it's just it's just being real, Like it's just that
I also think the color ways about them, but it's
(28:13):
but they're great on the court, you know. So it's like,
I don't know, you're not supposed to drive a spaceship either,
you know, like you gotta so I don't know, I
don't know. I don't know what there's an answer for.
Maybe not everything is meant to fit and fit into
two different boxes. You're not, No, I think I think
you actually bring up a really interesting point that I
(28:34):
think it's like worth discussing. Is that I feel like
basketball sneakers in general has kind of trended more towards
maybe more for performance, like you mentioned right looking performance,
but when you when when Nike works with people like
yourself and and other creative artists, and then you know,
we talk a lot about like collaboration culture here like
(28:54):
on the show and stuff, I think that's a really
good way to really get the sneaker into a different audience, right,
because like the sneaker that you're talking about that you've
collabed with Katie on, like, that's a sneaker that you
can wear, like you mentioned, you know, if you're trying
to just get get a fit off, like on like outside,
like off the court. And I think I look at
(29:15):
the new Lebrons to like, I feel like the way
they designed the new Lebrons to like, that's the first
pair of Lebrons I would say in a while where
I've looked at it and I was like, this is
a shoe that I actually would wear and kind of
style for myself. So I do think there's like a
huge benefit there of of you know, of brands collaborating
with people like yourself. I agree, you know, I think
(29:35):
the tricky thing is that, you know, when you learn
about these brands like Nike, like so much of like
there's such a small percentage of what they make that
is actually they literally do not really care. None of
it transfers over to anything beyond athletics and sport performance,
you know what I mean, Like it's such a small
(29:57):
percentage and and it doesn't matter. The people are still
eating it up, you know, in all the ways, but
they really just make it about that thing, and it's
you know it would would it behoove them to do it?
I probably, but you know, who's who's to say? You know,
I think the hardened the hardened sixes were kind of
dope or they did some special ones with those. I
(30:17):
think those are kind of us. But a lot of
basketball shoes there's such like they're so unique, even the
cool one, even you know, these you can't wear them
or anything. You got to have a specific kind of fit.
It's like, you know, to make it work. And I
think that that's good, Like there's there there are a
specialty item, you know, you pull them out, you know,
(30:37):
two or three times a year maybe or something if
you're gonna like you want to make a statement. Um,
you know, I don't know. I also think with my shoes,
for anyone, who's who's who's who's looking at them? Um.
I think if you if the purple laces, the reason
we chose excess is great for the court and it
really stands out and it does convert. But if you
(30:58):
want into the streets, but if you want to put
black laces in, I think if it tones it down
a little bit, just makes it more unique about the arts,
not as loud, it's not as kind of you know,
um audacious in a way. So I think, you know,
that's a that's a good tip, you know for anyone.
Let's put black laces in the cartoons down, maybe it'll
go go more fits. I mean I always tell people
(31:21):
in terms of fits, it's like if you like it
and you and you're confident about all this stuff, like, no,
nothing is bad, you know what I mean. Like I'm
like I hate people's fits who are like, hey, I
saw this on a mannequ can and I just bought
the whole thing. Yeah, come on, So the question I
wanted to ask you, I mean, like you're in the
art world I come from and in the whole point
(31:42):
of this podcast too, is like in my background is
I'm a comedian, and I think at some point a
few years ago, people found out a lot of comedians
have such a um a big passion and interest for
for sports and specifically basketball, Like people are really intrigued
to find out how much we love basketball and like
talk about basketball many ways. Is there that in the
(32:04):
art world, because I feel like in you know, the
stereotypes are pretentious or like quiet, but like you're you're
talking to you for a few minutes here you you
love basketball? Are there more artists like do you have
a crew or shoes like getting people into it? I mean, no,
there's definitely a lot of artists who love basketball. You know.
I also come from like I'm more of like come
(32:25):
from a I'm more of a commercial artists in a
lot of ways, um, not necessarily like a fine artist.
Uh So, you know, I think that in a lot
of ways, there's many more kind of commercial artists who
are you know, into sport and basketball, um than you're
kind of like you know, but there's plenty of all
kinds of creative artists out there, visual artists that love basketball.
(32:47):
For sure, I gotta crew you would be surprised. I
think of it as an artist. Like the reason I
love basketball so much is just it's like it is
visual poetry to me in a lot of ways, Like
is just you know, it's astounding to kind of watch
players and the athletes, uh do the things that they do.
It is art to me in so many ways. And
(33:09):
on the same way I appreciate music, same way I
appreciate stand up comedy. Basketball, Um, you know, in visual arts,
I think there's so many crossovers. Yeah, who who are
some of your favorite players to want to watch right now?
Luca without a doubt, to me at this moment, is
probably like if I had, if I had to, like,
(33:29):
who is like a player you want to pay you
want to pay your money to see going this? Her
style was like it's Stephane Luca to me, and Kevin
Kevin's up there like top three, Lebron Kevin Luca. I mean,
you know, the usual suspects, but um, but Luca and
stuff is just so exciting because they're like I'm like there,
I'm six three that that's like the height of the episodes,
(33:50):
kind of like you might have been meant to be
a basketball player. You just dropped in your Yeah, maybe
maybe my jompers are right. I'm rusty at this point. Uh,
you'd be. I mean, we can get into it, but
you'd be surprised how much we all talk about our
basketball playing ability on this podcast. Also, not not to
make Timothy mad, but everybody says they're jumpers. All right?
(34:14):
Are you calling me out? Man? Shout shouts to Jaileen Brunson,
r J Barrett. Uh, you know Julius Randolph, my next
my next career. No, I mean yeah, Like, do you
worked with Katie, You've worked at Bleach Report, you worked
with all his brands? Do you like just from like uh,
I guess like a dream list? Do you have you know,
(34:34):
players or teams that that you'd love to work with
and even have some ideas in the bank? Who is
a good question? You know, I don't know. I think
I'm living the dream right now. Man. You know, um,
I've been able to you know, I've had a global
Uniculo collection. Um, you know, I've had solo art gallery shows.
(34:58):
I've worked with Hasta me as you know for Netflix show.
You know these people like all like these kind of
brands and you know, now it's a Nike, They're so ubiquitous,
and you know, being able to just collaborate in all
these ways and get my expressed myself, it's just the dream.
So um, you know, I don't know, like are the
(35:20):
you know, do out It would be dope to do
more work for I think, um for luxury fashion brands
as well. I do have some some something dropping in
um spring that I'm very excited about. Um. But yeah,
just you know, continuing just you know, I'm very like,
just play it as it comes, like, you know, just
(35:41):
continue to put myself my work out there, continue express
myself and you know, and collaborate with the people that
make most sense as it comes, you know. So yeah, no,
that's super cool man. No, listen, everybody should check out
the Timothy good good Man, Katie fifteens and tim Let's
let's let the people know before we wrap up, like
(36:02):
where they can find you on socials so as to
kind of continue following your journey. Yeah yeah, yeah, I'm
on Instagram at Timothy good at Timothy Goodman. I'm on
Twitter Timothy O. Goodman I'm on all the other platforms
with those are the two main ones you can find me.
Timothy Goodman is pretty easy to search. Um and uh,
I have a graphic memoir coming out for Simon and
(36:24):
Schuster January thirty one, will be as stores, uh you know,
all across the country. Um, it's about this time I
went to Paris. I do a lot of poetry. I
do a lot of stuff with words, and um, I
wrote this graphic memoir about how I went to Paris
and and kind of um uh learned French and and
fell in love a couple of years ago. And it's
this whole story about the whole year, and it's filled
(36:46):
with my art and poetry awards. And that would be
our next next month and the next month. Dope. Everyone
check that out and then hey, Timothy, will we'll give
you uh me and Alex will give your address. Of course,
I know you have some and family pairs, so um
you can send those over totally kidding. Um, thanks for
joining us, everyone, Thank you, Okay, I appreciate it. Thanks
(37:09):
for everyone checking out running the break. Shout out to
our producers Peter, Kurt Grace, uh and we'll be back
next week
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