Editor’s Note: Ronnie Fieg is the HNIC behind the Asics x Trilogy Project that recently dropped in collaboration with CultureShoq, NiceKicks and HighSnobiety. Check out more of his work at www.RonnieFieg.com or follow him on Twitter: @RonnieFieg.

It all started in 1995. I just turned 13 and my dad had just thrown my first stereo out my window for listening to Wu Tang’s 36 Chambers. All I wanted at the time was a million pairs of kicks to go with matching Polo gear, and my parents weren’t buying me shit. In comes David Zaken (David Z.), the uncle who slipped Benjamin’s in my pocket every time he came through. I convinced him to let me work the stock room in his warehouse that summer, and that’s where it all began for me.

Fast forward to 2006, I have covered every possible position in the company from stock to sales to assistant management to management to assistant buying to head buyer. It was simple; I made more money, which meant more sneakers, which also meant 3 pairs per style, one to rock and two on ice. By 06 I had collected for 6 years and I had built a crazy collection of Nike SB’s and Jordan’s. They flooded my parent’s garage, the apartment I lived in, and two storage rooms. I never counted but I had nearly 600 pairs of sneakers dead stock. I cared more about my sneaker collection than my girlfriend of the time and her stupid little dog.

The most important element of my job was obviously buying the right styles. I worked hard at that, but I had my eyes on creating my own kicks, it was my passion. In September of 06 I was approached by Asics, a company which I had opened an account with 7 years prior. I had built a strong relationship with management. They all loved me and loved that I was a sneaker fanatic. They approached me with an opportunity to go through their archives and pick out a style to which I could take and design my very own “special make-up”. That had me happy as a motherfucker. I was flipping through the old catalogs from the 80’s and 90’s, and I knew what I was looking for. I found it on the last page of the last catalog. Just seeing the Gel Lyte iii in the catalog brought back memories of my OG pair I used to rock when I was 10 years old (I was fly since I was 2). I re-introduced the style for the first time around the globe in May of 2007, in 3 colors and labeled the project “252 pack” simply because there were 252 pairs produced per color-way. The shoes were featured in Complex Magazine as well as the cover of the Wall Street Journal and Nicekicks.com. Two days later, all 756 pairs were gone. Since then my head has grown about 2 sizes in a New Era fitted and people have called me a cocky asshole at least twice a day.

It’s been all uphill since, collaborating with brands such as Adidas, Saucony, Sebago, Red Wing, Clarks, Timberland, Converse, and Polo Ralph Lauren. My trademark with collaborations has been very premium materials and colors that you wouldn’t find elsewhere in the chosen styles. FUCK HAVING MY OWN LOGO. It’s not about paying for the name; it’s about getting what you pay for. It’s very important for the customer to feel he/she got their money’s worth. I try my hardest to make my goods accessible. One of my goals is to knock down this “cool guy” shit that distance people from their products by making them feel they are superior to the consumer. That’s bullshit. #Fact – A quality product is a quality product.

Having the perfect product at retail is only the half of it though. The other half is the most intriguing; getting the information out there for the world to see. That is where I feel I have grown the most as a collaborator/curator. Gaining the respect of bloggers and editors has been a blessing. Making friends in this business came easy. We talk about sneakers all day, it’s where amazing happens. I believe that being passionate about something is good start, but if you’re consistently working hard and wait your turn, you will eventually get your shine. It seemed as if I waited a century for mine.

I read a lot. I’m on the blogs all day everyday A. because I consider myself smarter at the end of the day B. It’s part of my job to be on top of trends and C. I’m always looking to be better than what is out there. Over the years I became close with a few bloggers. On a hot summer day in 2008 I was chilling at my boy’s estate by his pool and I just got off the phone with Matt Halfhill from Nicekicks.com. 5 minutes after that I got a call from Greg Weinstein at Cultureshoq. When I hung up with him I was emailing David Fischer of Highsnobiety. The craziest thing about it was none if it was work related. It was all just regular conversations we would have weekly just to shoot the shit. I started thinking about what I could do to give back to them for the work that they put in on daily basis, and supporting all my work since day 1. I wanted to work with these three guys because those are my favorite three blogs, and each of them catered to a different audience. Cultureshoq is a lifestyle blog that covers everything from gadgets to mansions. Nicekicks is the epicenter of the sneaker universe. And Highsnobiety is an online fashion magazine that gets all the fashion news first.

It was like getting slapped in the face with a light bulb. Having built a following for the Gel Lyte iii, I thought why not give these 3 blogs their own versions. All three dudes were down and we got going early Fall 2008. The design process with each blog was different and it was interesting to see how each of them approached the project with their ideas for their design. Working on each Gel in the Trilogy was a dope experience, going through 4 to 5 samples before we came up with the final product. Most people think it’s easy to design a shoe and it might be on Nike ID but my world isn’t “Sneaker Design for Dummies.” It gets technical and it’s very time consuming, because each detail needs attention. My idea and concept for the project was for each shoe to represent the color scheme for the respected site. So we chose grey/purple for Cultureshoq, red for Nicekicks and navy/grey for Highsnobiety. Holding each shoe and being able to tell which shoe is for which site meant: mission complete. The materials were right, the designs were right, and the people loved it.

Fabolous kicked off the Project on August 1st rocking them to the launch party at Dune South Hampton, where he performed tracks off Loso’s Way as well as his greatest hits. Fab was mad cool. He loved the kicks and sent me an email from the road telling me people asked him about them all month. The all red Nicekicks joints must have set a record for the fastest selling non-Nike product. The 250 pairs evaporated in 10 minutes and they have quickly become a collector’s item. The Highsnobiety Gels dropped a few weeks ago on black Friday. A dope winter color-way dark grey/navy (still a few available on Davidz.com). The Trilogy was a major success and it raised the bar as to how I go forward with my future projects.

My goal is to be the people’s champ. I want to make shit that people want, like and respect. I could give two shits about anything else like Tiger, Oprah, Chris Brown or Balloon Boy. Just let me put together a fresh pair of shoes and I’ll be on my way.

Look out for Ronnie’s latest collaboration, dropping sometime in the near future.