Major key alert: My 5 Mondays are here and here to stay. Traveling all the way to the other side of the globe, we caught up with a store owner and culture shifter that has been in the game for decades. Before you get his rotation, get to know him in his own words:
My name is Fabrizio de Lucia, I’m an 80’s kid, born and raised in the eternal city, better known as the city of Rome. My passion for sneakers and street culture started in 2002 when Nike SB started collaborating with artists and other brands – the time when limited edition actually meant something! I was really able to find myself in the combination between music, art and sneakers.
With my vision I continuously attempt to transform the city by creating an urban subculture that Rome – compared to other big metropolis in Europe (or even the world) – never really had. The first step in this was the creation of Providermag in 2005. Providermag was the first blog in Italy dedicated to sneaker culture and street style. I think it has been a great building block for many of the blogs that have popped up in this country in the past 11 years. Because of Providermag I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world and see the things that are missing in my hometown and incorporate them in my projects.
That’s when I opened SUEDE Store in 2012. The concept of the store is to combine sneakers and art in one space by organizing events where Romans who are interested in art, music and sneakers can come together. I’m not going to give you a list of the crazy stuff we’ve done since the store has opened, but the recent number one is for sure the collaboration with adidas Originals in September 2015. We transformed the store into the only adidas Originals Tubular pop-up store in Europe. This experience has put the store on a new level: starting from this year, SUEDE has become part of the Consortium family of Adidas. And this is only the beginning. We’re on to some new sh*t, get ready!
adidas Yeezy Boost 350 “Turtle Dove”
Fabrizio de Lucia: These shoes blew my mind the first time I put them on. The Boost comfort on them is one-of-a-kind and I have become totally hooked to them. I think also how this shoe has totally changed the sneaker market. I wear them almost every day — different colorways, of course.
