HUF interview . Keith Hufnagel . founder / owner

Click here to watch part 1.
Click here to watch part 2.

Smart and innovative are two words that come to mind when I think of HUF, the retail store located in San Francisco, CA.  When the initial space launched 3 years ago, you could find a store stocked full of fresh and exclusive footwear provided by companies such as Nike and Adidas made at limited quantities to be sold in mostly small niche boutiques.  The founder, Keith Hufnagel, who many may know as the professional skateboarder or the guy that teamed up with Nike to create a Nike Dunk SB, managed to excite and maintain his customers by offering them what other similar retail stores in San Francisco were not.

Now, three years later, Keith has managed to expand HUF into a powerhouse, by opening an apparel store next to the initial space on Sutter Street, and an additional shoe store in Hayes Valley.  He also managed to develop his stores focus into more than just a provider of exclusive shoes, but a leader in creative retail business, which now specializes in the distribution of an exclusive, young lifestyle. He offers his clients hard to find products such as casual street wear, footwear, literature and accessories.  After talking with Keith about his stores and their locations, what I realized and found to be most impressive was the newly created opportunity of now being able to not only keep his existing customer, but capture another, wealthier base of clients. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

It's not just that culture driven, young sneaker enthusiast shopping at his store anymore, who's average yearly income is probably around $20,000 / year.  It's a mature, single 32 year old lawyer that wants to feel young, wear a cool looking pair of shoes, and most likely makes 5+ times more than what his initial customer does.  I feel this has now opened a new door for HUF, and participating companies as well.  It also poses an interesting question.  How far can he take his clients product wise, and at what prices?

He has taken this new customer, gained their trust and made him / her feel special by introducing them to a new and interesting youth culture.  It's something they feel will set them apart from their peers on a hip, new aged level. Remember, people love to be put on to new shit, and if you can make an older person feel young again, you've sealed the deal.  Maybe this will make room for shoe companies to now start producing products, made of superior materials, at higher price points.  Shoes should be made to last, so why not bring back that ill pebbled leather, or a line of ill hand made products.  I mean he does have a new emerging market of customers that are willing to pay for it.  Maybe Nike could take the LUX series to new heights.  But wait; maybe producing a higher, more costly line of sneakers is not the answer.  Keith still has room to offer different types of product, like the HUF track bike he made, which sold at $2000 a pop.  People adore hard to get, amazingly produced products, and are willing to spend the money for it.  The possibilities with HUF are endless.

When Keith opened up his first store, I realized it had a future in San Francisco, and that was a leading reason on why I decided to approach him with ideas on collaborating to create a Heron Preston x HUF double label shirt which actually sold out at an alarming rate.  (If you have one of those shirts, congratulations.  I only made around 25 exclusively for the store on Sutter St.)  HUF is most definitely a Heron Preston approved company.  Keep an eye on this business, because if you haven’t noticed, they are only going to grow and get stronger.  Peace to everyone who works there as well. Can we get a HUF x HERON PRESTON x MAC DRE skateboard??

According to Keith, everything you create must have a story behind it.

I'm calling this first piece the Tenderloin story. 

It's a 5 panel baseball style hat with pull straps to adjust for size. 

The Tenderloin story is shown through graphics that represent a story of street life, drugs and prostitution.  No, the graphics aren't the result of an idea some guy's thought would work HOT as a theme.  This is an actual neighborhood in San Francisco and a community HUF is apart of.  It tells a story of the community's daily lifestyle, and if you know about the Tenderloin, I'm sure you'll agree with me.  If you don’t know about the Tenderloin in San Francisco, Google it, read about it, then come back and peep the graphics.  This one for sure is already my favorite pick up over the last 2 years.  If you look closely, you'll find the word Tenderloin embroidered on the back, in a script style typeface.  An amazing designer and good friend of mine, Hanni El-Khatib of Corporate Heartthrob, did all artwork. 

The San Francisco Gold Diggers Story.

The San Francisco Gold Diggers Nike Trainer was created by the design team at HUF, which consists of all the employees and Ben from Stay Gold Creative.  The inspiration behind this shoe dwells from the past of California, and a pretty cool one.  The state was founded on hustles, and Gold Mining was one of them.  There is black mesh over the toe box and side panels with gold metallic material underneath, to symbolize the trait of panning.  Panning is a technique the gold miners used to separate gold from dirt and water.  The red within the colorway is added to symbolize the San Francisco 49er's.  Detailed embroidery on the heel of the shoe depicts an image of the tools gold miners used.  Wow, look for that one in the video.  To be released in November.