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Supra, the name itself reeks of something creative, new and
fresh. Supra is a Latin word that stands for 'above and beyond' and the
creator itself thinks its important to have a great name to appeal to a
fresh, new crowd of hip, young youths. The Supra brand of footwear is
not your conventional Nike Sneakers. Nikes are great, but many would
prefer a contender, someone to come up with something new and exciting
and give Nike a run for their money and in my personal view, I think
Supra has done it. Breaking traditions, experimenting with colors and
designs, and attracting a loyal enthusiast of big names from Nike to
Converse to Adidas, Supra has managed to spontaneously combust in a
market place swamped with black, lo-fi blando-sneakers. Supra's
collection of neo-classical Skytops and their 14k gold Chad Muska model
has caught the attention of many and has been sold out in nano-second.
The reasons that make Supra appealing are their challenging designs that
are as ostentatious as they are original, sporting multiple buckles,
gold chains and blinding patent leather. Their over-the-top designs have
successfully managed to rip the hugely competitive market of sneakers
that are filled with black, lo-fi bland sneakers.
Founded by Angel Cabada, who is a self-professed dog lover and native
Californian, Supra Footwear is a skate and street inspired footwear
company that Angel kick started in 2006. From trying to find his niche
working in fast food outlets and not liking it, Angel finally found his
calling when he started making clothes with his friends. In addition, as
what they say, the rest is history. In less than three years, Cabada has
somehow built one of the most daring footwear brands available and is
now backed by some of the most influential skaters to put up a
skateboard, Chad Muska Erik Ellington, Jim Greco, Tom Penny and Antwian
Dixon. Apart from a large fan base compromising skateboarders, Supra has
also caught the attention of the music industries big names such as
Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake and Lil Wayne.
Before Supra, Angel started with TSA that lasted for about ten years.
Come 2002, Angel started KR3W, which he still owns under One
Distribution and is the umbrella body for both KR3W and Supra Footwear.
Supra Footwear, being launched in 2005, is relatively new on the scene,
but oh boy, has this baby packed a punch in the footwear scene. Supra
was supposed to be KR3W Footwear, by the creator thought better of it-it
could create a conflict of interest with the team so after much
brainstorming and thinking, Supra was ultimately the footwear label.
When Benjamin Franklin wanted to get electricity, people laughed. When
the Wright Brothers wanted to fly, people laughed. So obviously, Angel
would know how that feels when people started laughing of his idea of
Supra Skytops and when he invested $100k into the first few samples.
Nevertheless, looking back now, we are sure Angel has had the last
laugh. The shoes have even reached international shores and people all
the way from Tokyo to Paris and London to Sydney want the sneakers to be
part of their collection of branded sneakers.
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