
Alexandre Felix created Sneakers MOB to bring back some of the stories and emotional bonds we have with sneakers. He has lived Hip-Hop culture since he was young, he had his skateboarding phase and today he’s an engineer, but sneakers have always been a part of his life.
And it was skateboarding, that Alexandre came across the New Balance 1600. He was so amazed by the sneaker that he followed the kid that was wearing them, just so he could get a better look at them. Since first laying his eyes on the 1600 till he actually found out what they were, and later on created Sneakers Mob, a long time filled with stories went by.

You choose to breakdance when you were younger – how did your connection to dance and how did they influence Sneakers Mob?



“The idea was to make a project for those who like coming together, have the passion deep down in their soul, that share the same love for sneakers, and I wanted to bring that differently. I’m not going to talk about what’s coming out and what’s the price. I’m going to talk about stuff like: ‘bro, did you see these on the streets? Those are the Air Jordans. Do you know the difference between the Air Jordan, the Dunk, and the SB Dunks? I’ll show you’.”
How was the trajectory of creating Sneakers MOB up until today?


“I used Orkut a lot, and I would look for sneaker communities but I didn’t find any from Brazil, but I kept looking consult some communities from abroad that talked about sneakers – communities that today have their own websites and Instagram accounts. A lot of Japanese talked about sneakers as well. It was a mess because they were stuff written in English, Spanish and Japanese, everything was mixed up.”
What we like most about Sneakers MOB is how rich the content actually is, not only with the writing but with the images. How is your research process?



“I got close to him, I saw that there was something written on the front and I wanted to read what it was, but you saw me. He kept looking back thinking that I was going to like, rob him or something (laughs). Started speeding up, and I, a skater, started speeding up as well. Are you almost shouted, ‘Hey, hold up let me see your sneakers man, wait up!’”
And why out of your 52 sneakers, did you pick this new balance 1600 CM1600G for this Kickstory interview?


What do you think about the whole sneakers thing that’s going on in Brazil especially in São Paulo?
alexandreI’m happy because the culture has expanded, it has gone to a lot of places and different levels in different forms. As Ian mentioned before, everything that went down with the Fila Grant Hill’s and Tupac, it was all very natural. There was no contract, no sponsors, nothing it was something that just happened naturally. But not today, everything is sponsored. Everything is money. And what I see happening today in the seeing is that there are people that might not be going to a sneaker event just because they don’t have that dopest sneaker. And stuff like that can’t happen. Sneaker culture itself, the whole principle is identity. You have to have your identity. Identity on Footwear as well as in apparel, you need to have your own. Some guy maybe rocking a sneaker that cost like 5 grand, but has no content at all. He might not have anything to say about them. I think that’s too vague. What’s the story behind all that? How much do they mean to you? But what I see today is people not giving you respect if your sneakers are not as expensive as the other one, or someone who has up collectible over someone who has just a simple model but that might have a lot of meaning for them. It’s a part of what they’ve been through. Everyone makes their choices. And I think that’s a bit of what’s missing today, that Sensibility. But the whole scene is moving, say things are turning around, people are bringing more information, so we can specifically change a bit of this mindset, so they can’t see that what they’re wearing on their feet, and the clothes they wear, don’t show what you are worth. Your worth is what’s inside you. That’s your identity.
“Everything that went down with the Fila Grant Hill’s and Tupac, it was all very natural. There was no contract, no sponsors, nothing it was something that just happened naturally. But not today, everything is sponsored. Everything is money. And what I see happening today in the seeing is that there are people that might not be going to a sneaker event just because they don’t have that dopest sneaker. And stuff like that can’t happen. Sneaker culture itself, the whole principle is identity.”

So that’s it. Thank you so much for the interview and for sharing part of your stories with us!

New Balance 1600 CM1600G
Year: 2017
Owner: Alexandre Félix
Photos by: Vinicius Martin