Just over a week ago, Joey Brezinski announced he had quit Puma, his shoe sponsor of five years. Via Instagram, he explained that he'd tried to create a skate program with the company, but his efforts had fallen flat, and all that materialized were samples of a more skateable version of the brand's Suede model.
(The shoe featured an improved footbed and outsole, along with a breathable tongue and elastic straps.)
In a new interview with Ripped Laces, he says that 10 such samples were made, and that he skated nine. And he explains exactly how he got on Puma—whose shoes he began wearing after Adio, his previous sponsor, fizzled—and why he left the company, which had a complicated relationship with skateboarding.
How it all began:
I just bought a couple of pairs of shoes to tide me over right after Adio depleted at the end of 2009, so instead of hitting up all my friends for shoes, I remembered that Clydes were skateable back in the day. I bought a couple of pairs of those to tide me over, which led to meeting a sales rep, who introduced me to a bunch of people inside Puma.