GREEDY GENIU$

I’m sure if you’re up on your kicks and street wear game you’ve heard of Greedy Geniu$ two years back during the Magic show frenzy. Sites like The Hundreds, Slam x Hype and Hypebeast had all documented the upcoming rise of the GN$. The official shoes will be hitting your retail spots later this month. The two creative minds behind this shoe company are veterans in the design world. Hue who only goes by Hue, what a moniker right, has done custom shoes for the entire Hip Hop industry including big wigs like Diddy, Nelly, and 50, plus Hue has worked with Nike Blue House for the past few years as well. The other man behind this creative duo is Mikhayel Tesfaye who’s been creative direcotor for many labels like, Rocawear, Phat Farm, Zoo York, Mecca and many others. So with years of freindship and experience under there belt, these two decided to throw a monkey wrench in the shoe game. Now read up on how they plan on standing out and doing things different with there shoes that others haven’t yet done.

How yall doing, can we get your names, ages and locations?

Hue: My Name Is HUE. I Use To Do Graffiti And I Kept The Name…It Also Means Colors, Which I Use Alot Of. I Am 31, I Was Born In France And My Parents Are Vietnamese. Right Now I Live In Jersey City, Just Bought A Condo There, Been Living There About 2 Yrs. I’m Originally From LA Though, Had To Come To NY To Get Paid!!!

Mik: Mikhayel Tesfaye/Co-Owner/Co-Creative Director/NY-LA



What is the significance behind the name Greedy Geniu$?

Hue: All Of Us Have A Little Greed In Us…We All Gotta Make Money To Survive…Dman Right I’m Greedy, Gotta Get Mine Before The Next Man Does. Genius, Because We’re All Geniuses In Our Own Way, The Name Just Fit The Company. Our Team Are GREEDY GENIUSES…We Make Dreams Come True!

Mik: A Greedy Genius Symbolizes The Creative Hustler Who Has Endured The Game, And Turned The Dream Of An Independently Owned Platform Into Reality.

How do you two work together to create the shoe designs?

Hue: As Far As Developing Sneakers, My Partner Mikhayel & I Both Have Our Own Different Style Of Designing. We Both Design Things That We Would Wear. I Did The Cupsole Like The AF1 For Two Reasons…1- That’s What The Kids Know, Gotta Pull In The Interest. 2- That’s What I Know, I’ve Been Doing Customs For The Whole Hip Hop Industry For The Last 4 Years, Also With The Nike Blue House. Mik Got Some Prada Type Joint Coming Out…A Little Bit More Sophisticated…We Balance Each Other Out. I’m Street, He’s Street With A Little More High End Appeal…A Dynamic Duo!

Mik: So Many Aspects Go Into Creating The Product, Our Brand Is All About Fusion And Influences Vary From Style To Style. On Any Given Design One Of Us May Design The Silhouette While The Other Has A Vision For Fabric And Color, We’ve Known Each Other So Long, We Just Balance Each Other Out.



Which shoe is one of your favorites and why?

Hue: I Would Have To Say That The Teal Phantom With The Red Reflective Is My Favorite. I Took My Favorite Elements From Sneakers Of The Past & Combined Them..Color Reflektive On That Kind Of Shoe? Never Been Done Yet! Not Nike Nor Bape! All Good Friendly Competition…Here We Come!!!!!

Mik: My Favorite Is The 3m Reflective, I Always Wore Techy Outwear Jackets And Outfits That Combined As Many Reflectors As I Could Wear Together, Go Figure…

Why a shoe company instead of a clothing line or something else?

Hue: Right Now The Market Is Flooded With Clothing Brands And Honestly I’ve Been Doing Kix The Last Few Years, So I Already Was Into The Groove. It Was A Natural Progression For Me, Get Productions Of Sneakers Instead Of Painting Them. Also As Far As Competition There Isn’t That Much Compared To Clothing.

How did you two meet and how did yall keep in contact over the years?

Hue: We Met Back In 95. I Was The Buyer For Sharon Segal/Fred Segal. We Started Styling A Few Things And Worked On Different Projects And Kept In Touch Ever Since.

Mik: We Met In LA Bout 95-96, Been Cool Ever Since.



Before Greedy Geniu$ what did each of you do?

Hue: Before Greedy Geniu$, I Was Painting Kustom Kix’s For The Hip-Hop Industry, Everybody From Diddy, Nelly, Lil’ John, Chris Brown, Jadakiss, 50, Etc…So I’ve Been Doing That For A Few Years And I Worked With Nike Blue House In California. I Was One Of The First Recruits To Set The Pace In LA.

Mik: I Was Creative Director For Alot Of Domestic Street Wear Brands Like Mecca, Ecko, Zoo York, Phat Farm, Special Projects With Rocawear, Washhouse, C. Ronson, Red Label, Etc.

How was Magic and what was the response for the shoes?

Hue: Magic Was Great, We Had A Plan…Account Target List, Web Hype…Everything Came Together Perfectly. I Really Have To Thank Everybody That Supported Us…The Hundreds, Hypebeast, SlamxHype, Freshnessmag, Mr.Kim Says, They Really Came Through On The Hype Side…Oh Yeah, OUR KIX ARE ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mik: All Love, All Retailers We Wanted Supported As Well As Our Peers In The Game, Couldn’t Have Asked For More.



Do you guys plan on designing a few clothing pieces to go along with the kicks?

Hue: Actually We Just Got Back From Hong Kong, And We Developed A Few Pieces That Will Drop This Holiday. We Got A Couple Different Hoodies(Monogram, Big Grfx Type Etc.) A Couple Variety Of Denims(Selvage, Workwear Dirty Wash) Some Cargos, M65 Jacket(Waterproof…Tea/Orange, Like The Old FACE & LO’). We Have A Beautiful Factory That’s On Board With Us. The Quality Is Gonna Be Bangin, Style Wise, If I Don’t Wear It, I’m Not Going To Design It. All The Samples Were Taken From Our Own Personal Closets! The People Are Getting Straight Jewelz Right Now!

Mik: Yeah We Have A Small Collection Droppin In November, Jeans, Tees, Hoodies Etc.

Can you describe the design process and steps for creating a shoe?

Hue: It’s No Brain Science. This Brand Is More About Hybrids Rather Than Creating Something Brand New. I Basically Pay Tribute To The Classics That I Love. I’ve Been Hearing Kids Saying We’re Biting A Biter, Really I Live And Breath This Shit Everyday, My Style Aint Bought! I;M A Cat That’s From The States. This Is My Flip On This, This Is My Opportunity To Design And Fabricate Sneakers The Way That I Wish They Were Done, That’s All… I Take My Favorite Elements Of The Classics And Blend Them Together.

Mik: There’s Never Really An Othodox Rhyme Or Reason For The Process Till It Gets To The Technical Stage, Generally, We Identify An Inspiration Or Theme And Develop Colorways That Personify That Inspiration Then Come Fabrication.



Have yall started working on new designs yet for a new season maybe mids or high top kicks?

Hue: We Got Some Other Models Coming Out Next Year, 07 We Got Some Mids Coming Out, No Hi’s Yet. I Can’t Wait For New Joints To Drop, The Color Combos Are Bananaz!

Mik: We Just Got Back From A Development Trip To Asia(Big Shouts To Hong Kong!!) So We Are Just Getting Back In The Lab To Develop Our Spring And Summer Collections With A Full Apparel Line, Accessories, And 2 New Styles Of Footwear Dropping.

By:ttsmag

These is HUGE for one year in the game.....