etnies plus

sal barbier is well-known as one of the most stylish street skaters of the '90s, as well as the designer of one of the best and highly revered skate shoes of all time, the etnies sal 23. sal's notable career started in 1988, when he was sponsored by h-street, one of the premier skateboard companies of the time. after turning pro in 1989, sal joined forces with etnies the following year, and went on to design the sal 23 to wide public acclaim in 1994. In 1996, sal founded elwood clothing and 23 skateboards, followed in 1998 by aesthetic skateboard & apparel, for which he was also the head designer. sal is currently vice president of marketing for zoo york and resides in new york city.

what was the inspiration behind your etnies plus collection shoe, the horace?
the overall design was inspired by a classic-style running shoe. to give it more of a casual feel, i looked to dress shoes for colors and fabrication. my footwear influences are from the 1984-88 era. back then, there were a lot of brands with one-hit wonders, and since most of the brands i like aren't around anymore, i just try and put a little of what i miss from them in my designs. some of my footwear influences are bass, foot joy, keappa, sperry, nike, adidas, and sometimes an occasional y-3 from the adidas collection. i would also have to add penguin as one of the only new shoe brands i really like.

what interests you in footwear, and more recently in your collaboration with etnies plus?
my interest in footwear design comes from pure frustration. i am an avid consumer of footwear, and i would have to say that i just buy the same three styles in different colors. i'm not interested in knocking off anything that's already out there, because i don't really like most of it. this makes it easy for me to come up with my own ideas for design. i feel that the etnies plus collection is a great place to do this, because of the open-minded attitude of the brand and its designers.

how does fashion influence you?
i am sometimes inspired to create footwear to compliment an outfit that i might be wearing from one of my fashion influences, which don't really change much. i like levis, polo and paul smith.