At age nine, Brandon “Bimma” Williams would lace up his Air Jordan 9s in hopes of one day being as fresh as his older cousin. After years of collecting sneakers, that kid in Louisiana carved out his own path. By the time college rolled around, Williams and his friends looked beyond the general releases that they could find at the mall and tracked down special regional pairs and limited drops — amassing a collection of everything from the “Hawaii” SBs to multiple pairs of “Copper” Foamposites. At LSU, his crew was the one that football and basketball players would hit up to get their own rare kicks and it was only a matter of time until Williams would go on to channel this passion into a career.
With a background in marketing, Williams first teamed up with Saucony in 2013, bringing an eye for the lifestyle scene to a brand that had its focus on performance gear. He later had the opportunity to team up with one of his favorite artists, Ye, by working on the adidas YEEZY team and its YEEZY BOOST 350 V2 line. With a bevy of knowledge regarding collaborations under his belt, he then joined Nike’s marketing team and played a role in launches involving the likes of Travis Scott and ACRONYM.
However, it was Williams’ unrelenting entrepreneurial spirit that took him to the next level. In 2019, he launched Claima Stories with Bimma, placing himself in the spotlight for the first time. His 100+ conversations featured industry leaders from Melody Ehsani and Jeff Staple to Bephie and Chris Gibbs.
Now, Collab Lab is Williams’ current chapter. What began as a one-off discussion about Pharrell’s viral Louis Vuitton x Timberland collaboration is now a series full of the unfiltered truth about collaborations — analyzing what makes a hit and breaking down the reasons why a project is a miss. As Williams continues to spark conversations with the sneaker world, he gave us a glimpse behind corporate curtains and broke down why collaborations aren’t as special as they used to be.
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Is there anything about working in the sneaker industry that surprised you?
Joining Saucony in 2013, I was surprised to learn that they knew everything about performance running, but they had no clue what was happening on the street with their brand. When it came to retros, there was only one guy that understood, Mike Hughes. Mike was a “Shoe Dog” — he’d been at different brands and he knew the product really well. Mike was leading collaborations with boutiques from around the world and understood it. When I came along, as a genuine fan of sneakers, he was so relieved because there was someone who finally got it.
You later worked with both adidas and Nike. What was that shift like going from a smaller company like Saucony to a larger one?
The biggest difference between a brand like Saucony and the larger brands is that places like adidas and Nike have more systems and teams backing each element. Seeing dedicated PR and marketing teams handling these projects was eye opening. It was a team of three others over at Saucony and here I was at adidas surrounded by a team of 30.
The other key component was the brand awareness amongst the sneaker community. More people knew about adidas and Nike shoes and they already had excitement surrounding them. We were also seeing breakthroughs in how partnerships were created — from Ye and Pharrell at adidas to Rihanna at PUMA and then Nike entering a new chapter with Travis Scott. The landscape was changing and sneakers were becoming more of a global phenomenon, something that these big brands were ready for.
What gave you the confidence to bet on yourself when you decided to pivot to Claima Stories?
I had some entrepreneurial experience prior to stepping into the industry so I’ve always had an independent beat to me and big ideas. One thing about being in a corporate environment is that it requires a lot of people to sign off on things. There were times that I couldn’t convince leadership to follow my direction, whether it be due to outdated policies or a difference in priorities. With Claima, I just wanted to try the idea. One thing I learned at YEEZY was to never cancel an idea before trying it, and this stuck in my mind. My background in digital marketing made putting together content easier, but the real challenge was being the face of it. I was no longer the strategist in the back creating the play.
And shortly thereafter, you had a full-circle moment when Claima Stories collaborated with Saucony. What was the collaborative process around that project like?
When collaborations make the most sense is when we’re coming together with two different perspectives. I’m not a person who thinks collabs are a participation trophy. With Saucony, they wanted to reach into our space more and spotlight up-and-coming creators. As I’m someone who loves to champion creatives, it made us a great fit.
From there, we started the conversation around what we want to accomplish with the collaboration. For me, it’s always important to have an idea of what sort of budget and resources are involved so that we can plan appropriately. With all of that set, you can then start looking at the technical CADs to apply color and storytelling to the shoe. For this project I connected with my friend John Humphrey who has his own brand Beignet Boys because I’m just a marketer, he’s an actual designer and helped create options for sampling. We sampled four different colorways the first time around and refined it from there. The process is time-consuming as it will take months for a sample to come back from the factories and that limited us to just two rounds of samples.
With the design finalized, we went ahead and drafted a marketing strategy — how we wanted it to hit video and social platforms, events and seeding. I’m the type of person to really get into the weeds with it, but at the end of the day, it’s about answering the question of, “How do we stay true to the story that we’re trying to tell across the two brands?” The best collaborations aren’t one-sided.
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You’ve been creating content for your new Collab Lab series since May and it’s been a real breath of fresh air in the footwear space. How would you describe what you’re doing with Collab Lab?
Collab Lab is an analysis of sneaker collaborations — in simple terms, if it’s good, here’s why. If it missed the mark, this is why. It’s never just calling something out as trash, I go in and explain why this isn’t what we’re looking for.
The starting point was that I started to consistently see collaborations that were … just okay. No one was moved by them emotionally, they felt like cash grabs. I also felt like there was a lack of effort when it came to storytelling. I then began asking myself, “Why isn’t anyone saying this? Why is this only in my group chat? Why isn’t our space comfortable with analysis and critique?” I grew up with the mentality that iron sharpens iron — critique is a necessary part of improving. This also comes at a time where our market is down and sneakers aren’t selling the way they used to.
The name Collab Lab stuck with me because I like to think of myself as a professor at this point, sharing with the “class” and sparking discussion so that the next generation of marketers and collaborators can take this information and improve the industry. What I love most about this is interacting with my audience as I prompt them to debate me by sharing their opinion in the comments. Even with my background, these are opinions and anyone who has an informed stance should be heard. Seeing people engage with these topics in a meaningful way reminds me that I’m not the only weirdo that cares about sneakers.
Do you feel that the dwindling prevalence of true commentary in the sneaker sphere has, in part, led to this period of collaborative complacency?
When a market is really healthy, anything will move, which is what we experienced over the pandemic. Sneakers became so popular and if any semblance of scarcity and perceived value was associated to a shoe, oftentimes via a collaboration, it would sell. The core audience loves collaborations that involve two entities coming together to do things that they can’t do by themselves. We know we’re being sold to, but we still get lost in the storytelling and the mystique of it all, elements that we lost as brands became reliant on these collaborations for revenue. For the bottom line, collabs became this drug that sells to cover up issues a brand may be having. There’s also been a shift of talent — a lot of people with years of cultural knowledge about the global market who are no longer involved. When you lose that perspective, you forget how to address your core audience and end up catering towards the masses, which is how you end up in the situation that we’re in right now.
The accelerated trend cycle is definitely playing a role as well.
Absolutely. There’s a key product cycle at play — visionaries, tastemakers and early adopters try something new and by the end of the cycle, after a couple of years, it’s at the mass audience. Once it’s there, you have to be thinking about what you’re introducing now for the tastemakers because they’re already off of the last thing. With the Air Jordan 1, it peaked and then fell off a cliff and there was nothing ready for that audience to be excited about again.
There’s a lot of new young folks out here, creatives that are doing really great stuff, and brands need to step outside of working with the same silhouettes and partners. A balance needs to be restored to collaborations — elevating it from a revenue-oriented perspective to operating as a marketing vehicle again.
“[Collab Lab will] hopefully shape what the future looks like for collabs — making this feedback and decoding of projects accessible to not only the consumers, but brands too.”
You’ve accomplished many incredible milestones with your previous projects. What’s your goal with Collab Lab?
In 10 years, if we look back at the new wave of collaborators and marketers in the scene, I want them to be able to say that they were educated and nurtured from Collab Lab. What that will take is adopting longer form concepts where we can really get into the weeds of things. The minute-long videos are great for a quick beat, but I want to get into the space where it’s more analytical while being the trusted source for the unfiltered truth. In sum, this hopefully results in shaping what the future looks like for collabs — making this feedback and decoding of projects accessible to not only the consumers, but brands too. I also want to do a book, a speaking tour and continue to build a community around all of this.
Have collaborations become too formulaic?
Collabs used to be the thing that execs would not pay attention to, which is why it worked at some brands. The corporate people just wrote it all off as weirdos doing weird projects that aren’t going to lead into any big money. Once they realized what kind of money it can bring in, they wanted to put systems around it in the way that they systemized the rest of the business. Yes, it’s formulaic, and it’s not good because the best collabs to me are like watching a whodunit because the best collabs trick you — you can’t expect it and you’re so excited because you’re like, “I got to be a part of something that felt special.” It can’t be so telegraphed, we have to get back to a formula-less approach. In order for these projects to be exciting again, we need to rip up the recipe each time.
“You have to make these things meaningful for today — you can’t rely on what you thought it meant yesterday.”
We’re seeing more bring-backs from Nike than ever before, with them going so far as to reissue grails like the Wu-Tang Dunks. What do you think of this move?
This is both a supply and demand issue, as well as a target audience issue. With target audiences, you have to decide what’s going to be best for where you want to move forward. If you’re doing bring backs, a lot of the people who missed out weren’t part of the original conversation, which is a good thing, in small doses that is. When you’re unloading everything, you’re not speaking to that visionary, early adopter audience anymore, which leaves them wondering, “Who is speaking to us?”
When it comes to demand, you have to be able to assess what is social media chatter and who’s showing up to buy pairs. With the re-release of the HUF x Nike Air Max 1, I thought it was dope, I wanted it, but, unfortunately, a lot of people didn’t want it. You also have generational differences — what was hot 10 years ago to older sneaker enthusiasts is not to the newer ones.
With releases like the “Galaxy” Foamposites and “Wu-Tang” Dunks coming back, how do you get the audience to reconnect with them again? I’m curious to see how they’re going to navigate it. How are you going to do something unexpected? Maybe the “Galaxy” pair will have an exclusive NYC drop or the “Wu-Tang” Dunks will be available first at a Wu-Tang concert. You have to make these things meaningful for today — you can’t rely on what you thought it meant yesterday.
Is this rate of collaborative output even sustainable? Or is the bigger issue creativity?
It’s as if there’s four seconds left on the clock and somebody’s gonna take the three to win the game. Sure, if you make the shot, you’re a hero. If you miss it, you’re an idiot. That’s what collabs are when it comes to how many. If they’re hitting, no one’s complaining. If they’re missing, everyone is telling you that you’ve done too many.
We’ve ended up in a place where collabs are bandages for revenue. The belief is that you can quickly generate cash flow by collaborating with the right partner, but the point was to energize the in-line. Say you collaborate with Travis Scott on the Air Force 1, you’re going to bring excitement to the entire AF1 business. The point was never to do a ton of volume on the collabs but now you have an audience that is built around them.
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Who’s more at fault for lazy collabs: the shoe brand or the collaborator?
The footwear brands are the ones who are behind the selecting of collaborators, as well as the funding, manufacturing and marketing of it all. Sure, these collaborators can come in with a bit of leverage, but at the end of the day, if adidas or Nike says they don’t want to do that, then the collaborators can’t do it. These partners are unable to create these projects on their own, they don’t own the brand and they are on rented space, so it’s on these shoe brands to educate themselves about what’s really happening in the marketplace — understanding what the market can sustain and finding different ways to innovate. When it comes to product, they have to actually create innovative designs, they can’t just rely on collaborations to solve everything, so I hold the brands 100% accountable.
More often than not these days, I’m asking myself, “Why does this collaboration exist?” Are brands skipping that initial step of the “why?”
The reality is, if there’s an area of the business that is working, it is going to get squeezed, regardless of how it impacts the market. People need jobs, people at higher levels get bonuses, they’re going to do everything possible to hit those numbers. One thing we don’t always like to acknowledge is that some of these folks aren’t there for long, so their motive might be to get the numbers up by any means possible and then they’re on to their next thing. At the end of the day, it’s a money-related issue and there are times when very few people have a voice at the table who aren’t prioritizing the money. Don’t get it twisted, the real money shows up when we start with the “why” versus doing what we can immediately to fill in the cracks.
“Anthony Edwards’ adidas AE1 is [the top collaboration of 2024] in my rankings right now. For me, everybody else is playing for second place.”
As much as the scene has served up disappointments recently, there are some real gems that have dropped in 2024 so far. What are your leading picks for collaboration of the year currently?
On my contender list right now is Joe Freshgoods’ New Balance 1000 “When Things Were Pure,” both of Nigel Sylvester’s Air Jordan 4 RMs, the Marvel x KITH x ASICS project, the upcoming A Ma Maniére x Nike Air Max 95 and Salehe Bembury’s new Crocs Pollex Juniper. However, it’s Anthony Edwards’ adidas AE1 that is number one in my rankings right now. For me, everybody else is playing for second place.
It’s been over a decade since you appeared in our Essentials series. If you could go back to that time period to tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
I would tell myself to be patient — I was so eager to get somewhere without knowing where I was trying to go. I know it sounds cliché, but you gotta trust the process. I would also want to say that you have to keep experimenting — the constant evolution involved with experimentation is how you continue to grow.
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