Last week one of our clients launched. !SYOU is a new high end sneaker brand that likes to do things a little differently from most sneaker brands. !SYOU doesn’t associate itself with sports, but focusses on music, art and fashion. Syous will not be sold in sneaker stores, but through selected points, that will pop-up throughout major cities, and online.

But what makes them really unique is the way they have embraced social responsibility as a way of thinking. Syous are co-designed, meaning that all syous are a product of a collaboration between creative talents all over the world. They see it themselves as a global journey where their first stop was Burkina Faso. Here they collaborated with a local artist, photographer and writer to create their first sneaker model.

Besides working with local talent for a fair price, 10% of the retail price flows directly to creative talents in the countries they collaborate with. And of course they don’t just get the money, Butterfly works (know from return to sender) makes sure the money is used to spark local entrepreneurship! Syou also wants to create a shoe that is 100% sourced from local materials. They started with bio-cotton from Burkino Faso, the next stop is Colombia where they want to source leather from local producers for a fair price. The goal is to have the entire syou made from local fair trade materials within three years.

So where does Koos fit in?

!SYOU will not be sold in shoe stores. Shoe stores are something from the 20th century. A revolutionary concept like this needs a revolutionary new retail concept! So that’s what we are developing. Can’t say much about it right now, but whenever we can, we will.

Next to the Koos business, RJ is a enthused photographer. SYOU hired him for all product photography and also the launch on May 9th. A selection of the photos can be found on the SYOU website, alongside the style photography by Petrovski and Ramone. Jules also made some drawings – the ones that can be found at: the story –> how we do it –> the return model illustrated.

More information about !SYOU? Check out their website!