Angel Cabada, Founder of KR3W and Supra – A Supra Sneakers Story

Recently, it seems that Supra had just magically exploded onto the sneaker scene and almost single-handedly took the shoe industry by storm, creating a footwear revolution in the process.

For the longtime skater, streetwear maker and sneaker aficionado Angel Cabada, the founder of Supra, the journey has been long and eventful, with lots of twists and turns rather than a quick and straight blast to the top of the sneaker game.

Angel founded his first company, known as TSA, with a few fellow skaters who were mainly in the business of making clothes that they could wear when skating. That was in 1991 and it lasted about ten years until Angel decided to leave so he could do his thing. The company he founded in 2002 was KR3W, his current clothing brand that he manages together with Supra under the distribution umbrella for the two projects known simply and aptly as One Distribution; initially built to eliminate the middle man in the European distribution process.

So what did Angel take with him from his TSA experience? Well, just that … ‘Experience’. He has described his first project as his ‘Education’ in the business and I have heard other entrepreneurs / founders in street culture and sneakers say similar things; as the lead designer and co-founder of Creative Recreation, the other fashion brand in the upscale sneaker niche, who commented in a recent video interview that his training ground in the sneaker industry was as a design technician for snowboard boots and then sneaker designer. for Vans.

After all his years of learning on the job at Team Santa Ana (TSA), he openly admits that he made a million mistakes when he was a young, creative entrepreneur trying to build his first brand. And indeed, one thing he insisted he would do when KR3W opened was to take all of that experience and apply it effectively so he wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.

Since 2002, Angel has been gradually building KR3W based on a solid formula of simple and effective clothing making for skaters, made by skaters; similar to the philosophy of the Santa Ana Team but with a more efficient business infrastructure and an efficient and productive team of specialists who take care of their particular areas of expertise. KR3W has gradually built a loyal following within the skate community due in part to its durable and stylish designs, while the other part of its recipe for success is developing a team of respected, charismatic, edgy and knowledgeable professional skaters. of the culture and marketing that are admired by this generation of young skater consumers. The next generation of new interns look up to the professional riders they look up to and learn their skills from, but they themselves are actually the ones who wear hoodies, jeans, and skate shoes every day to really get a feel for their authenticity and how they do it. resist daily wear and tear.

Most of this team of professional riders / sponsors are friends with Angel, who he has grown up with in the Orange County skate scene, so the people he gifts merchandise to are just friends (from the world of music and skating) that represent the brand well and enjoy the team for its comfort, style and functionality in terms of look, feel and performance. Young people buying clothes recognize when the clothes and shoes are designed by people who know the way through a skatepark and a skateboard and can smell a fake from a mile away and in this sense the genuine roots of Angel’s skateboarding, his associates and their sponsors. ring true to consumers; Cabada claims to have a personal bond with each member of his skating sponsorship team and judges each on the merits of both character and personality and skill on the board.

So where did Angel get the inspiration to create the Supra shoe company? I suppose you could say that Cabada wanted to go ‘further’ (the free translation of ‘Supra’ from Latin) what already existed in the sneaker market at the time when he came up with both the name and the concept behind his new shoe. line. His motivation was to create a shoe that would be a good complement to the KR3W clothing line and he wanted to take the sneaker game up a notch as, in his words, most of the shoes were a bit ‘thick’ for his liking .

Angel has been in business for 17 years and rides a board longer than that, so as skaters get older, why shouldn’t his brand do the same? This is the vision behind Supra, a skating-based brand that also maintains a greater overall sense of fashion awareness and sophistication. You can skate on the Skytop but also use it in the city without hesitation, regardless of the occasion. As for what some might say are radical design concepts for his refreshingly innovative models, especially in high cuts, Cabada attributes his inspiration to his continual daydreaming, “I’m a thinker. I think a lot, I dream a lot, I think of ideas, constantly talking to my designers “; as the old acronym says … All day I dream about Supra.

What was the first reaction to the concept of your new line of kicks that combined skate culture with more refined and elegant stylistic sensibilities? At first, upon learning that he had spent $ 100,000 USD on research and development of the shoes, even his partners thought he was a bit crazy and as for the general public, many people thought he was completely crazy when they took a look at the Skytop prototypes. and some even laughed; Now Angel says he’s the one laughing, all the way to the bank.

As for the more avant-garde designs in the NS (Non Skate) line, the brand’s creators had to think outside the shoe box in their marketing approach as if they had been innovative in product design. It was necessary to expand into the more fashion-driven trade shows at the time and move away from the traditional athletic / sports-based promotional events because Skytops hadn’t even been adopted by the skate community yet.

Initially, Cabada wanted to make sure that while the designs were fresh and innovative, the color schemes weren’t too far-fetched to alienate his loyal and staunch KR3W fans, so he insisted that the Skytops be introduced in simple, classic colors. in black and white. . Over time, however, Supra grew more nervous with its initial success that guaranteed cash flow and confidence, and took a chance on bolder and brighter color combinations (though still mostly in one or two uniform combinations, simple but classic). Taking advantage of a few risks paid off, especially with the launch of the exclusive limited edition Gold Chad Muska series that originally scared people off with its choice of experimental materials and sneaker color scheme. However, when they hit shelves, it wasn’t long before the buying public bought them along with later releases from Skytop, Vaider, and Suprano Hi; thanks in part to the innovative colors, materials and designs and also to the respect in the street culture community for the renowned skater sponsors who represented the brand.

Supra footwear has come a long way in a short time from the designs that people initially laughed at to the models that everyone is copying (and copying) these days; Hoping to capitalize on proven success rather than focus on innovation like Angel, its lead designer Josh and his creative design team have decided to do. On the eve of the launch of Terry Kennedy’s signature shoe, as well as the development of the Skytop II and other exciting new design concepts in the works, Cabada is more flattered than angry that competitors, both small and large, are choosing to copy the lines. distinctive Supra. . The founder of Supra Footwear hopes that the consumer has the skateboarding and shoe IQ and good sense to know the difference between the copycat and the innovator.