Sole Mates: Ron Khy and the Crocs Classic Clog

It’s undeniable that celebrity and pop culture will always play a big role in generating the most hype in the sneaker world. But behind the grandeur, comfort and utility will also have a place alongside the greats. Just ask Ron Khy, a seasoned sneaker enthusiast with 20 years of experience who sees the current Crocs movement as one that will not go away anytime soon.

“I’ve done my work — they’re comfortable and everyone in Japan has them,” Ron told HYPEBEAST. If Japan’s storied history in streetwear was any indication, then the current stream of Crocs collaborations should come as no surprise.

Much like many kids growing up in Los Angeles, Khy skated down Melrose Avenue across the various boutiques that paved the way — from Sportie LA and Fatlace to the dozens lining up the street today. As the marketing director for BAIT, Ron has played an instrumental part in expanding the business from a mom-and-pop shop primarily selling toys and comics, to a sneaker giant with 15 locations around the world.

Chief to BAIT’s success is staying true to their team’s core interests and listening to suggestions made by fans. With a collaboration list that includes a number of iconic series, including Astroboy, Batman and Initial D, to more contemporary comics and shows, such as their Attack on Titan Ultraboost collaboration with adidas.

HYPEBEAST caught up with Ron to unearth BAIT’s story and chat about his love for Crocs on for the latest installment of Sole Mates.

Nick Llanton / Hypebeast

HYPEBEAST: Can you recall what shoe got you into the game?

Ron Khy: It’s funny, I remember growing up in high school and obviously I watched Jordan, Kobe and Iverson. The first pair that my mom got me was the Iverson Question’s, but she got them for me when they were easy to get.

I was always a fan of the Air Jordan 1’s, but I remember the first pair I ever camped for was the Jordan 4’s. I went to UNDEFEATED and I remember the manager who helped me is actually still running the company now and we talk all the time.

It was always people who went on NIKETALK that would go camp at Undefeated and everybody was cool. There were no mean spirits, everyone would just get in line. There were always people you’d always see there and get to know.

Do you remember the particular colorway for the Jordan 4’s?

When it comes to Jordan’s, I’m all over the place. For example, Jordan 1’s, I always get the “Chicago”. When it comes to the 4’s and 5’s, I remember waiting for the “Laser”, “True Blue” and “Grape”.

Back then I just wanted to get the shoes, I didn’t care about the name. I actually still have a pair of my “True Blue’s” — they’re yellowed out like crazy. Growing up in the ‘90s, it was always about the popular players back then, which persuaded which shoes I’d get.

Nick Llanton / Hypebeast

“I went from selling women’s heels to men’s shoes to marketing men’s shoes.”

What else during your youth do you think shaped you as an adult?

I grew up in Long Beach and the ‘burbs, so I had mix of both. I remember growing up to all kinds of hip hop and rap. Bone Thugz-N-Harmony, Warren G, Snoop Dogg. I picked up skateboarding from like eight grade to high school, so I render coming to Fairfax skate all behind Beverly all the way to The Grove all the way back up-and-down Fairfax up to Sunset and one time all the way back down to Dodger Stadium.

A four-hour skate ride and not one trick haha.

Did you know what career you wanted to pursue early on?

I was going to Cal State Long Beach to be an English teacher. I always knew I wanted to teach English in high school, but meanwhile, I started working at a shoe store in the Beverly Center. But oddly enough, I started by selling women’s shoes — UGG’s, heels, Jeffrey Campbell’s — and I got really good at it.

Down the hall was Foot Locker and I became really good friends with those guys and every time there was a release at the mall, I’d wait outside because my shift starts at nine and I’d go but the shoes real quick and then go to work.

Eventually, I pivoted to Sheik, which if you’re an LA person you’ll know what it is, but if you’re not, Sheik is essentially a mall giant. I went to go work on the eComm marketing team. So I went from one store to working with another with over 150 stores. Sheik is going up against Foot Locker, so they’re all about sneakers and I had a really good time working there because it helped me shape how to market to the masses versus marketing locally.

I had no intentions of working with shoes, but when you work at it, you get good at it. I went from selling women’s heels to men’s shoes to marketing men’s shoes. I got this opportunity with BAIT through a mentor of mine.

This was 2011/12 and back then they mainly sold toys and comics. BAIT back then was just in the suburbs of Dunbar. They weren’t really a shoe store yet, besides carrying some Reeboks. The owner had a vision on how he wanted to grow BAIT and offer some really high-end stuff that people could really afford and make it into a lifestyle.

BE@RBRICK’s are everywhere now, but BAIT has been putting them on since the beginning. The owner is part owner of Undefeated and when he originally wanted BAIT to be a sneaker shop, but you first open, it’s hard to compete in Los Angeles.

But in time, we managed to get BAIT a Nike and Jordan account because we know the clientele we cater to.

Nick Llanton / Hypebeast

“If you’re the sneakerhead who like anime, we’ll have something for you.”

When it comes to curation, what brands, comics or stories do you look for during the ideation process

When we’re working on collections, we all come together and decide what we like. A lot of us are a bit older than the new generation, so we look at what’s moving in the world of pop culture, but at the same time gravitate towards the things that we like. So for example, the owner is a big anime fan and in particular, we tapped into Initial D because no one had done it at the time and it’s still one of our best-selling capsules to date.

We just gravitate towards people who like the BAIT brand. We assume that if you mess with us, you’re a fan of pop culture, comic books, anime, but also love sneakers. You go to Undefeated, you know you’re going for sneakers. You come to BAIT, you know you’re going to get the whole hodgepodge of random stuff. We’re going to sell you shoes, but we’re also going to sell you toys. If you’re the sneakerhead who like anime, we’ll have something for you.

Again on curation, we also listen to our customers. People will come in all the time and be like, ‘hey you should do this anime or movie.’ We take all that feedback back to owner and basically do our homework. We’ll all watch the anime and asses if it was trash or not. We kind of go from there.

Nick Llanton / Hypebeast

“You can’t be rocking Jordan’s in the kitchen for eight hours and if you do, you’re an idiot.”

Can you talk about the genesis of the name BAIT?

It took me a while to get it, but the owner explained to me, ‘What do you use BAIT for…the things that you want.” So when you’re fishing, you put the bait out to get that big fish. So for him, he liked really rare sneakers and toys, ‘so what kind of bait do I have to say to get the thing that I want?’

It plays along with SWITCH, our toy production company. But the whole BAIT and SWITCH thing is not like we’re trying to bait and switch you, it’s just us being stupid and having fun with it. There’s a lot of humor over here, we’re not serious guys.

How big is the team?

It’s a pretty small team as far as the immediate circle, which is around six of us. Jamie’s the design and brand director, I run marketing. You also got the owner, buyer, along with the Instagram and social media person.

It’s a small team but we have stores everywhere. 10 in the US, and four in Japan. We expanded to Japan a couple of years ago, right before the pandemic — three in Osaka, one in Tokyo, with another on its way. Last week we just opened a shop in Taiwan, which the owner is from Taiwan and wanted to open one in his home city of Taipei.

Bringing it back to sneakers, which shoes, past and present, do you think have defined you?

I have an interesting relationship with sneakers, but I’ve always been about comfort. As far as what sneakers define me? Air Jordan 1. I literally have 50 pairs at home and I even try to buy more when I can. I even buy mids, you can quote me on that haha. There’s nothing wrong with mids guys. Also Vans Authentic’s, Adidas Superstars.

Crocs have also always been in rotation for me, because I didn’t touch on this earlier, but while I was working at the Beverly Center, I was also working in the kitchen.

I got wide ass feet, so Crocs fit perfectly and don’t hurt when you’re in the kitchen for eight hours. You can’t be rocking Jordan’s in the kitchen for eight hours and if you do, you’re an idiot. That’s how you’re going to mess up your shoes.

We’re not even a Crocs account, but a lot of us rock them at work. We’re big fans of Anwar who did the Carrots collab — he’s been on Fairfax his whole life and he used to come and sell to us all the time, so I like to support that. I like the Salehe’s but I missed out on them and not gonna’ pay $1,000 USD for Crocs. Nothing against Crocs or Salehe, but there’s a price limit on a mark up haha.

When I was first hit up to do Sole Mates, I looked and it was always pretty cool shoes being featured. And I have cool shoes, but why not talk about shoes that I wear everyday? Let’s talk about Crocs. I used to wear Crocs back in 2009-10, and before. ‘What are those?’ I remember my friends just being like, ‘why??’

I’ve done my work — they’re comfortable and everyone in Japan has them.

Nick Llanton / Hypebeast

“People gravitate to what they grew up with — that nostalgia factor.”

Japan’s always miles ahead on the streetwear front.

I’ve been to Japan probably 20 times in my life and every single time, I see Crocs on people’s feet working in a restaurant or retail. You can get a pair at Don Quijote, which for people who aren’t familiar, that’s a convenience store that blasts music and seizure-inducing signs, but they got Crocs for $22 USD. I first saw fleece-lined Crocs there in 2012 and only recently did I see the same type here in America — so Japan is definitely ahead of the curve.

But you see them everywhere now, at Starbucks or the airport. Let’s be real now, if I need to go to the store to pick up sparkling water and chicken, I don’t need to wear Jordan 1’s. I’m the guy who doesn’t like to crease my J’s, so I’ll throw on a pair of yellow puffer jacket Crocs haha.

The Croc movement here in LA is strong. I hate to say it, but there’s a lot of companies now dropping clogs. I was just at Foot Locker and saw Nike has their own soft comfortable shoe.

Yeah, the Croc movement isn’t going anywhere. I think people have embraced it. They’ve embraced the comfort. They’ve embraced the utility of it. You know, there’s that joke about 2-wheel drive, 4-wheel drive. There’s a viral TikTok, where some guy has the heel tab up and he comes across a puddle of water and puts them into 4-wheel drive to walk through his day.

I think that’s kind of helped people embrace the Croc movement.

Sneakers are already being seen like collectible art pieces. Where do you think the industry will be 20-30 years from now?

That’s a very good question. I’ve been selling shoes since 2003 and there’s always one thing that’s going to be a given and that’s history. There’s going to be some kind of heritage. People gravitate to what they grew up with — that nostalgia factor. For me, growing up Air Jordan 1’s were my thing, so I collected. If you ask 20 years from now, it’s going to be some form of it for all of us. We’re going to be a little older and we’re going to look back on the things we gravitated towards.

Maybe in 20 years, we’re going to be sitting here talking once day like, ‘I remember in 2020 buying a pair of Crocs…’

I think that’s still happening to this day, that the shoes that are still hype are the shoes that have some kind of heritage to hold on to.