The pro skater speaks out on IG, Kobe’s retirement and the new Koston 3.
Eric Koston has always been a sneakerhead. Froston’s back catalogue is chock-full of references to basketball shoes — his revamp of the Nike SB Dunks being the most obvious example of his admiration for performance footwear. But his latest model, the Nike Hyperfeel Koston 3, wears its influences right on its sleeve. Or rather, its collar: the latest in Koston’s Nike SB line takes design cues from Nike’s line of Magista football boots and makes the technology skate-able.
Frosty Froston himself hopped on the phone with HYPEBEAST to talk FlyKnit technology, Kobe Bryant’s legacy and how he thinks the Internet has changed the game for skaters.
I was wondering what the inspirations behind the Koston 3 were, as far as design is concerned?
That was basically from a concept that they showed me when I first met with [Nike], which was Hyperfeel. Which is now what it is. Before — 2 years ago — it was just a concept, and then there was a sample shoe, actually, that had been made that had all those features but definitely wasn’t there yet, as far as making it skate-able. And it was killing me, and they asked me if I could mold that thing into something that I could see as a skate-shoe. It was kinda shocking, but it felt very different. So at first it was like ‘whoa, that’s weird… but I like it,’ y’know? And I definitely saw something in it of how I can tweak everything and make everything work for skateboarding, because the first sample was very, very unstable. It was as minimal as possible, but it was almost dangerous. That was the inspiration. It started from that and eventually it evolved into the way I wanted to see it come to life. There was an internal bootie on the first concept made of neoprene, that’s just a nice material. It’s great for a wetsuit, but it gets hot, it stinks, it feels bulky. So the Flyknit came from what I saw Nike doing with the Magista and I wanted to use that. I wanted to work with FlyKnit and that was the only way I could actually use it and 1. have it be a part of my shoe and 2. actually be effective and serve a purpose for performance.
Beyond the Magista FlyKnit sock collar, what were some other changes you made to the concept to make it more skateable?
Just everything, y’know. The materials from the original — I used suede for the areas of flicking and contact with the board, to have it where it was needed and take it away from where it wasn’t needed. That’s where the mesh and skin are incorporated because it’s lightweight, breathable and flexible. I want it to be as form-fitting and glove-like so it’s moving as your foot’s moving. There’s no sort of delay or lag in the movements that your feet are doing inside of the shoe — the way some skate-shoes can be. I don’t want your foot to move around inside of it; when your foot moves, the whole shoe moves.
“I had to have [Flyknit] be a part of my shoe and actually be effective and serve a purpose for performance.”
I saw pictures of the first colorway mocked up in the Lakers colors and I was wondering about the cross-sport influence. Were you looking at basketball shoes? Football boots? What was the cross-sport influence on this shoe and skateboarding shoes in general, how do you see that influence affecting SB designs?
I saw what they were doing with that and how minimal it was. It was skinned out and they started the FlyKnit to wick moisture out when players were playing on a wet, crappy field. And also for ball control, because the skin they used works with the ball. Our skin would be suede. So I took a lot from that, because soccer is all about foot control, foot movement, ball control and ball movement. Same thing with skateboarding; you’re trying to manipulate your board with your feet, so that’s where the influence and inspiration and crossover occurred. There’re a lot of similarities, just apply that to skateboarding.
Was there an extensive testing period for the Koston 3? Do you go out and skate it, are there clinical trials?
That’s pretty much it: you get a sample and you skate it. One of the guys came down with a pair and I skated them at my park, The Berrics. Or there’s a park at Nike up in Portland, I flew up there and did it. But yeah, that’s the real test: just putting it on and skating it. It was a two-year testing period.
How do you feel technology and social media have changed the game for skateboarders and skate companies — Daewon Song in particular has a very strong Instagram presence.
It’s a very interesting one, because it seems like it’s a crazy race to post footage of yourself every day. And not everyone can do that. It applies differently to different guys, because a guy like Daewon — what he does is very unique, so when he does deliver that, it’s pretty exciting. And it’s great for kids, that they can have that delivered to them daily or every couple days. It’s something so amazing to watch. But some guys will just put stuff out and it’s not necessarily great, and it sort of dilutes a guy. Where you become desensitized to someone’s abilities. So I feel like you have to find a proper balance of how you deliver that. It’s not just flooded out there — it’s become oversaturated. If you look at the Explore page on Instagram — especially mine because of who I interact with and who I follow and all that — I see tons of skating. So there’s a lot of noise. And sometimes I feel like it can be a race and I think people really need to properly curate how they deliver that to the world. I don’t know if flooding it out there is the right way, because people will be burned out on you. But that’s my take on it, I dunno, maybe a kid’s like “I want anything I can get, every day, I don’t care.” I don’t know. It’s constantly changing and evolving and it’s faster now. I’m never a believer of quantity over quality, though.
“I think people really need to properly curate how they deliver [media] to the world. I’m never a believer of quantity over quality.”
I know you’re a huge LA sports fan and the Hyperfeel Koston 3s have a Kobe-inspired colorway, so I was wondering: what’re your thoughts Kobe’s retirement and his legacy?
I actually knew it was coming. I felt it coming a little bit ago, especially when he was breaking down, physically, which was sad to see… but it happens. And that guy has pushed himself hard, just in terms of post-seasons. How much mileage is on a dude? He’s just relentless at training, everything about it is a matter of how hard can you go? How much can a body take? So basically, yeah, he wore out. But now I think in the past he’s gotten a lot of heat and hate about how he went about things, the sacrifices he gave in order to be a winner. Now I feel that everybody’s been able to step back and look at the 20 years and truly appreciate it. It’s good and cool. As it was happening, people get caught up in the moment and now having the hindsight, everyone’s looking back and going ‘whoa…’ And how much he’s inspired the new generation of these superstars, these guys who all looked up to him: Westbrook and other dudes whom I’m sure he influenced, in terms of how gnarly they all are now. It’s awesome to see people totally appreciating him.
Top five sneakers of all time?
Jordan 1. Air Max 95. I wanna place something more contemporary, so the first HTM FlyKnit, the very first one. Just because of how much of a game-changer that was, and how it looks still… What’s another one? What do I like to look down at? (laughs) It’s a tough one, but I’m gonna give it to it because I still like it so much just to look at, even though I don’t wear it much: Jordan 11. And let’s go with something that isn’t Nike and look at my early skate influences, which would be the Vans Sk8-Hi. I spent a lot of time in them because they were cheap and skate-able, $20 down at the Vans outlet.