With Portuguese family ties, worldwide connections, and a base in London, Alex Nash has absorbed all around him that he loves, and infused his favourite things into his hands. In turn, his hands have produced some pretty unique customised trainers, catching the attention of sneaker heads worldwide. Alex has been featured in world renowned publication Sneaker Freaker, worked with Vodafone, and recently collaborated with DC. With all of this attention, he still remains as cool as the little red spot that graced Sega consoles in the early nineties!
Alex has been hard at work customising some iconic Nike models, with results that have garnished high praise from some, as well as questionable liking from others. One thing that is always agreeable is his imagination and work ethic.
Alex invites us to spend the afternoon with him in Cafe O’ Portu, a West London Portuguese cafe that had the pleasure of seeing him grow from young boy to present day man. WeAre presenting the man behind the highly acclaimed customisations…
We’ve known of you for a few years now, but for those that don’t, please introduce yourself:
My name is Alex Nash, some people know me as Nash Money or just Nash. I customise shoes, and now also design shoes. I’m from North West London, grew up in Westbourne Park, and spent the rest of my days in Kensal Rise. WEST IS BEST [said laughing].
How did the name Nash Money come about?
Basically, my first name being Alex is quite popular. Wherever I worked there was always an Alex, but for some reason everyone would just pick up on the Nash, and call the other guy Alex. Nash Money was just like a casual joke name, stemming from Cash Money. When I was managing an MHI store, I met Lupe Fiasco and he was really adamant on calling me Nash Money Dollars, so it really stuck from there. When ever he would big me up or was chatting about me, he would always call me Nash Money Dollars and calls my daughter Levi Angel Wings! I think people call me Nash Money anyway, but I think Lupe kinda cemented it. It’s just a casual thing, not something I want to market. I want people to know me as Nash or Alex Nash.
When and how did you get into trainers?
School. In the school playground it was about wearing the nicest crepes. Back then it wasn’t about collecting, it was just about having newest crepes. Mucking about in the school yard, I didn’t like Rugby cause it was too English; we all liked American Football but didn’t know the rules, so we used to play these games where we had a rucksack on two ends of the playground, and we would have to touch the ball on the other teams rucksack, with the opposing teams trying to stop you! It got quote ruckus, so at the end of the day our trainers would never last. As a kid, you would get a brand new pair of trainers, and after a month they would look a bit battered. You would do everything you could to ruin them, to get a next pair from your parents or whoever and that was a general thing.
I then got into skateboarding, so I was into éS, DC, Action, SLB’s, but again with skate shoes you couldn’t collect them, cause as soon as you skate you mash them up in all of two months. The rebirth of sneakers for me was when I started working in a sneaker store in Portobello. That was the real rebirth. Me thinking about the shoe: looking at it, as it’s designed, the art form. Some shoe designers are architects, design cars, etc. That’s when my in-depth passion for sneakers came about.
When speaking about your school days, you touched on being a kid. What were one or two trainers you had that would define your childhood?
Simple, the Air Max BW one time! I had a couple pairs of BW’s. I used to be into Grunge music, but was also really into The Prodigy, and if you watch some of Prodigy’s early videos, most of the band members had BW’s on which influenced me. Also the Adidas Torsion and ZX ranges were really the only Adidas I used to wear, mainly cause they had that Nike type of wide, soft foot bed. I would only really wear Superstars to skate in, but they would often shatter my ankles. Also used to wear a brand called Travel Fox. I was the only person in my school that had them, and no one at school knew the heritage of them, so I was a bit outcasted on them. After that I didn’t buy a pair again! I had an all black pair with nubuck on them. They are kind of what I do now, in terms of mixing the shoe with the trainer.
What was the first shoe you reinvented, and why?
I was working with my boy Alastair aka ALIST at the sneaker store in Portobello, and he was doing a lot of customs for G Max Sports. He was spray painting, had a bamboo stencil camo, and was spraying the stencil onto the shoes. He encouraged me to do stuff, as I would always come up with ideas and was creative. I had a couple of Air Force 1’s, and started mucking about with them. They didn’t come out well, but they were battered so they didn’t really matter to me.
About 6 months later, I worked on another pair which were all black with red embroidery and swoosh. I changed them up, and added jade colouring on them. In China, they have the jade lucky charm trinkets, which are a lucky charm. So they would have a jade tortoise which would mean good long life, and flip-flops which mean good luck in the walking path of your career, and they would usually be tied with a red ribbon. So I thought tying in the red with the green would work. I then added a suede tongue with my name on, gave them a moccasin stitch, did a chick-check midsole stitch, got a horse transfer from them aeroplane model kits, and put that on. I was born in the year of the horse, so it was kinda integral. Got tabs from the Year of the Horse Air Force 1’s, but didn’t put them on. I put them out there as a finished product, but they aren’t finished. I wanted to come up with a theme. I didn’t like the black and red combo on that Air Force 1, so I had to mix in another colour, and come up with a story of why those two colours would work with each other. With the moccasin stitch, at the time I used to have a pair of Snipe shoes which were moccasin and I loved them to bits. I wanted to change, to be wearing dapper shoes, to appeal to that dapper honey, and I thought wearing sneakers, women thought you would be immature, so I wanted to wear dapper shoes and dapper clothes. I messed those Snipes up, and couldn’t buy them again. So having a thought to myself, I said: you know what would look sick? What’s doable? A moccasin Air Force 1. That was the first thing: I wasn’t moccasin sneaker, it was moccasin Air Force 1. From that, it was a matter of executing. It was low cost, something I could manufacture at home. All I needed was a needle, thread, and Air Force 1’s, and I could come up with something. Realistically, I couldn’t manufacture any shoes. I don’t have the experience or know-how, and don’t have connections to make them. I could make a product at home that looks like manufactured product. I have control as I’m doing it, and if it goes wrong, I can go back and redo it. Quite a laborious task, but I didn’t mind it.
Your collaboration with DC on the Cad Well model is your first official custom/design with a major sneaker based brand. How did that come about, and what influence did you have over the colours, model, and materials used?
In 2007, I had a show in Barcelona during Bread and Butter, with a store called Trust Nobody. They featured all the sneakers I customized at that point. The guy that got me to do that show, I knew very well. We sat down and had dinner with DC. They really liked me. Got invited to Berlin and had a meeting with Damon Way (the co-founder of DC). Did a mood board, suggested an old English theme-styled thing. They really liked it. I designed the shoe from that point, and had a finished drawing that they liked.
I think there is a slight misconception out there though: I designed the shoe from scratch, no customising, working from the foot bed of the Monterey model. I chose a silhouette I liked, a shoe I liked. If you like the shape, then you work from the sole up. You keep the same silhouette, but then you can add all the design lines. I chose all the fabrics. Some parts were hard, like the moccasin stitch. I don’t think they got what I do completely correct, but it still complements the shoe. We also found it quite hard to find wax cotton. I wanted to go for that kinda Barbour jacket feel, but it was hard to source. I think the canvas on there is nice as it is. Everything on the shoe was up to me, all my idea: adding the crepe sole, hiking loops, all earth colours. So sneaker meets hiking boot, meets hunting shoe, that’s the theme on the visual design side. On the colour side, I have earth colours, but then the electric blue is a signature I like to use, one of my favourite colours.
In terms of the name Cad Well, it stems from old gentrified English wording, not CAD as in Computer Aided Design, but a Cad is an old English pimp; “Sir you’re a cad”, you know like a playa, a pimp. The Nash Cad Well, so pimp well, walk well, so to have a pimp walk.
So it’s fair to say you had near enough majority influence on the shoe?
Yes indeed. DC wanted to do it. They were doing a lot of work with guest artists, and wanted something a little more hands on. They really like my style, were confident in it and let me go with it. Collaborations where they do the SMU’s on shoes is 10 a dozen, and everyone needs to up their game and come with something new. I think it’s not a risk, but a bold statement for DC to do that, and pave the path for other brands. Other brands do collaborations, but not on this open level.
Everyone in the shoe game seems to have a favourite shoe. What is your favourite shoe of all time?
All time greatest? Probably the BW. All the colourways when they first came out were amazing. I prefer the women’s colourways. Joint with the BW, the Visvim FBT. I wish I designed them! I could wear the FBT everyday, for the rest of my life. They are the epitome of what I’m about.
Your DC Cad Well has virtually sold out worldwide. We have heard through the grapevine that there are a few more up and coming Nash collaborations. Would you like to give us more of an insight into these?
I’m working with Lacoste on the same principal as DC, where I design the shoe from scratch. Really excited about that one, as I would like to work with different brands. I think it’s good, as I would like to further what I have with DC, and work with other brands too. Lacoste and DC don’t tread on each other’s toes. It’s like skate one end, lifestyle on the other. Currently doing work with Second Son on a t-shirt collaboration, due to launch early in the New Year.
I would love to work with Clarks, and do something brand new. It would be like a Wallabee meets something meets Nash. That would be sick! Really would be mindful of working with brands that have rivals so to speak, so if I worked with Clarks, it would be hard to work with Hush Puppies, as it would be like stepping on one of the brands toes. Both DC and Lacoste have been good to work with though. They love my designs, ethos, what I’m about.
Have you worked with any other UK based designers or customisers?
Um……No [said laughing]. No, no I did a custom with Will Kemp from Second Son. We did a dunk together. He did all the painting. I did the rest.
What is your affiliation with Second Son?
Second Son are like my fam. I met them at Bond International. Will was working at Bond and I really liked their weather pattern at the time. We just got talking; it was never a forced issue. We were both at the same stage within what we were doing, so me being Nash and doing my customs, and them starting out as Loki. It was never about business, it was just for the love. We were mates, and hung out. They would always help me out, offering advice, etc, and they started getting me into photo shoots for their look-book, which was a compliment to me, using me as a model. I don’t think so much for my looks, but more for affiliation and our friendship. For me, it’s always integral. I love what they do, and we are on the same vibe: the older English tip. I like the fact that they are different. They come from a different background: Will went to Oxford University and got chucked out. I mean, they aren’t street guys, but they are themselves, and that’s reflected in their style. They really are into their heritage.
If you look at a lot of UK brands, they kind of followed what happened with UK Hip-Hop: before a lot of artists used to sound too American, but now there is an English sound, style, using English slang, etc, and I think that’s the same with clothing.
You touched on UK brands. How do you see the current clothing scene in London/ the UK?
I think it’s pretty good. It’s about the consumer. People are becoming a lot more proud of what we are doing, being very supportive of home-grown talent. You know, Second Son, Crossover, Cassette Playa, Trapstar, etc. Obviously they don’t all cater to me. I can’t wear all of their clothing, as some of it I might not like. They all have something to offer, and people are very supportive, helping it to get stronger and gain world respect. We are expressing ourselves in a London way.
With all that said, what is next for Alex Nash?
Keeping my options open. When I was younger, I never put myself in a position to have a long term plan. Now I wana do that, but at the same time, keep my options open. Now, I’m doing a lot of design work, but I wana carry on doing Nash customs, keeping it true to what got me here in the beginning. I find it easier and I’m more happy when I do my own stuff cause I’m fully in control. With the recent DC and Lacoste collaborations, it has taken a year from start to finish to see the product. When I do my own custom, its there. From theme to finished product, it’s a month, and I can execute it how I like. If I’m not happy with it, I can start again or do something different. I do wana do more design, getting into furniture. What I want, when I like.
I wana have my own brand, but don’t wana be restricted to seasons, so maybe one year I bring out 10 t-shirts, then the next year I don’t bring out any t-shirts but I bring out a mug. I’ve never really made a huge amount from my customs. Never sold any of them. I just wana keep them as an archive. No one really owns my customs. They are just for me. I’m too precious with my shoes, so really, I need to start thinking of the money side. I’m kind of doing that with the design side, but I want my primary source of expression to bring in money. My customs are good, as I can express myself through my passion, and they are a platform for me to show my work, putting me in a position to get seen. Doing to photo shoot for Second Son, they would blog it or drop it somewhere online, and my name is there. I may not have done anything, but I’m there. People see it. To be a part of Second Son, doing my customs, doing a shoe with DC, one with Lacoste, those are all goo. I’m blogging on Hypebeast now, and one of the things I wana do is have ‘How To Do It’ sessions where I show people how to do things with ease, at home. Keep your eyes out on my blog, and you’ll see!
Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to speak with us, and we wish you all the best.
Later!
Just to finish off, check out some of the videos about Nash. (One of them including our own WeAreHQ Coach – Magdi)
To get in contact with Alex Nash, visit:
www.nashmoney.com
www.myspace.com/nashatyourmumshouse
Questions and Photography: B
Interview conducted by: Howard
Videos: Victoria and Albert Museum, Foot Locker, and Vodafone.
