The Reference Council: Clae 10 Years Of Innovation In Modern Footwear

Steven Vogel’s The Reference Council interviews Clae founder Sung Choi as they highlight the footwear label on its 10th year of existence. Since bursting onto the scene, Clae helped pioneer a new form of footwear design that brought together the worlds of both casual and athletic-minded offerings with the aesthetics and refinement of traditional shoes. A selection of answers can be seen below, while the full feature can be seen here.

Who are you? Rather than just a biographical run down, which I do think is not only interesting but also necessary, what I am trying to get at here, is who you are and where you come from. I think this is not only interesting but also important in understanding how you and your history influences Clae as a brand.
My Name is Sung Choi. I was born in Seoul, Korea, raised in New York City during the Koch/Dinkins era, which was during the 80s and 90s. I graduated from Brooklyn Tech High School with a major in Industrial Design. I joined pioneering streetwear brand PNB Nation (disclaimer: pre what we know as street wear today and pre Nick Cannon) in the early ‘90s, then relocated to California in 1997 to design footwear for DC Shoes. I launched Clae footwear in 2001 while also serving as design director for Lakai Footwear. In this first year Clae received the “Best Men’s Footwear Collection” award from Sportswear International. Unfortunately, the back end of my business wasn’t right so I put the brand on hiatus in 2004. I re-launched Clae for fall 2007 and now we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary.

How did you get to the point of being a designer? Where did you start working, and under what circumstances did you then derive to becoming a designer? Did you learn design in school, or did you self teach?
I majored in industrial design in High School, which I didn’t enjoy at the time, but it gave me a foundation and knowledge that helped me later on as I transitioned from graphic and apparel design into footwear.

Growing up in New York City gave me decades of footwear ”experience” – witnessing the sneaker evolution from the playgrounds to the streets. I had been designing graphics and apparel since the early 90′s with my partners in PNB Nation, and contributing graphics to other brands like Union and Supreme. Working with these fashion and skate brands got me onto the radar of DC shoes. It seemed like a natural progression to go from 2D to 3D design. Plus, my interest in sneakers dated back to the mid ‘80s when I was working in the footwear department at Paragon (the legendary sporting goods store in Union Square, NYC). I knew sneakers from both a product and cultural viewpoint – I think it gave me an insight that many other sneaker designers didn’t have.