Chris
Puma Sega RS-0 Sonic
@mcchrislflow is art director, stylist, musician, adman and everything else you want to call – a Swiss Army knife that is always on the run doing more than one thing at a time. We talked to him about his @puma Sega RS-0 Sonic, a sneaker that refers to his childhood but which at the same time reflects his life today.
“My name is Samuel AKA Chris and I’m 27. I graduated in marketing, I’m specialized in digital marketing and now I work with advertising. I learned Design, Advertising, all by myself, and I never had the dream of being a marketing professional, but I once I came across the opportunity I embraced it and I liked it (laughs). I already had this passion for colors, design, structures, architecture, I like to be in contact with everything related to art. Working with marketing I noticed the fashion market was on an uprise and my friend Alex, who is now my associate, called me to do an editorial, saying that I had a very cool and organized way at looking at things. The idea was to make something that had our style to it, so I did it, I liked it, and it’s what I do now.
besides that, I added something more to my skill set, which is Styling. I like to match, to produce, I like to think about clothes and consequently talk about sneakers. I already had this passion for sneakers, but I wasn’t following the market closely or anything, so I had to get back on track.”
Where did the name Chris comes from?
ChrisIt actually came from the series Everybody Hates Chris, my friends started calling me that, which in fact has nothing to do with my actual name. But later on, I made the initials mean something: ‘Com Humildade Realizo o Inesquecível Sonho’ (With humility I achieve the unforgettable dream). I had a dream about it and I realized I can achieve anything, I can do anything, anything I want. It’s a dream that came from within a dream, it’s some crazy stuff (laughs). I even wrote a song about it for my collective called ‘Louvo no Flow‘.
What’s ID prod?
ChrisID is a creative production company that works with a bit of everything, fashion, art, audiovisual and editorials. We also do a kind of Identity management, where for example, you want to go to a party but you don’t want to wear the same close again, and you don’t want to buy new clothes as well, so we come in, analyze your style and we design your identity for that day. It’s a very personalized service. It’s as if you would rent a collection, but we don’t just rent it, we do the whole style management for a day, just like an advisory.
We want to break some barriers, we’ve been doing a lot of o work for the fashion market and we want to expand to other markets, doing creative production for other areas as well. We can compete for our space in the fashion industry but for us, we just want to be where there’s creativity, that’s what we want to do.
“We want to break some barriers, we’ve been doing a lot of o work for the fashion market and we want to expand to other markets, doing creative production for other areas as well.”
Do you remember when your interest in fashion and sneakers began?
ChrisIt’s started at home, I used to always go to bazaars with my mom. She would get some clothes, I also liked some as well and that’s how I started. But it was some random clothes, there was no style or anything, I bought them because they where cheap.
When I got into Hip-Hop, I realized that everyone had a very specific style – like the Djs as well as the Bboys. I remember seeing a photo of Mark Echo and thinking “How does this dude dress up with this many colors? I want to do that!” (laughs). Today I understand a little better how he pulled off all those combinations of fabrics, colors and even style of clothing.
As we live our lives, we end up leaving some things on the side, and this interest was one of those things, but when I met Alex he said I was wasting my time working with marketing and that I needed to work with styling.
And do you remember the moment when you realized that you liked sneakers?
ChrisThe first real sneaker that I got was around fifth grade. At the time the Adidas “Spider”(Hellbender) was the trend, we called them Spider because they looked like they had webs on the side (laughs). They were my first passion, and besides everyone at school had them. Maybe I wanted them just so I could fit in, to be part of a group, and right after I got mine I realized that everyone had one and they had nothing to do with me.
Back them the unachievable sneakers where the Nike Shox, the one with 4 spring as well as the one with 12, I never got any of these shoes. So to go out with something different I got my first Adidas Climacool, they were from past collection but only I had them. So that’s how I started with this whole exclusive sneaker thing when I was 16.
I started expanding my collection from that moment on, not paying any attention to brand or model, when I see a sneaker I like to put them on and see if they work or not.
“I’ve always been very competitive if you’re going to do something do it the best way possible, even if you’re just playing tag (laughs). And it was the same thing when I was playing Sonic, I would get all the rings and that almost made me feel rich.”
And what does this Puma Sega RS-0 Sonic mean to you?
ChrisThe connection I have with these sneakers is something that I wanted since I was a kid. I always wanted to have the Sonic slides and I never got them, but my mom gave me the Video Game instead, which is way cooler. But when I saw these sneakers I needed to have them. I’ve always been very competitive if you’re going to do something do it the best way possible, even if you’re just playing tag (laughs). And it was the same thing when I was playing Sonic, I would get all the rings and that almost made me feel rich.
Today in my real life my hustle is a whole nother thing, I need to hustle to do a good art direction, an excellent management, I need to give very best at work and at home, so I’m always running around for those things. It’s not the same environment, but I feel like the hedgehog that runs around getting his money, that’s why I identify myself with Sonic so much. The day I got them, the moment when I took them out of the box it was like opening Pandora’s box you know? I was like “Daaaaaaaaaaamnn, what the…?” I put them on and right away I said I was going to take them, it was just like that, I didn’t have to go through it much, I knew it was love at first sight, since the first pictures of the shoe came out, but when I put them on I couldn’t resist.
@puma Sega RS-0 Sonic
Bought: 2018
Owner: @mcchrislflow
Photos by: Pérola Dutra
