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What can a $100K riot-inducing sneaker teach us about storytelling, design, and creativity?
Jeff Staple’s 2005 Nike Pigeon Dunk didn’t just drop. It ignited a riot in the streets of New York City and helped rewrite the rules of streetwear, brand marketing, and storytelling through design. On IN PROXIMITY, Jeff joins host Paola Mardo to unpack how he built Staple into a global brand one shoe and collab at a time, what filmmakers and creatives can learn from design and brand building, “the power of the t-shirt” and marketing before social media and the internet, the wild story of his elevator pitch to Yasiin Bey (then Mos Def), and how to navigate hustle culture and find creative inspiration anywhere.
(00:00) The sneaker riot story
(02:40) Jeff Staple did for the pigeon what Walt Disney did for the “rat”
(03:15) Not Just Sneakers book and Jeff’s interest in brand design and sneakers at a young age
(06:30) Growing up in an immigrant Chinese family in New Jersey in the 1970s and 1980s
(09:20) The Staple Origin Story and Connie Chung
(13:14) Turning his art into a business
(14:50) “The power of the t-shirt” and marketing before social media and internet
(18:00) Seeing your art in the wild, streetwear as IYKYK
(19:02) Is streetwear still cool?
(21:15) Staple and hip-hop
(23:36) The Pigeon and trademarking pigeon poop
(26:40) Elevator pitching the collaborating with Yasiin Bey (Mos Def)
(31:20) Collaborations today
(34:00) How to stay connected to the creative, why he started a podcast
(35:50) Hacking hustle culture
(39:00) The Goods a.k.a. the shoes and the full sneaker riot story
(44:50) Jeff’s checklist for designing sneakers
(48:04) Jay-Z vs. Andre 3000 creative careers
(51:20) Prox Recs
What Filmmakers Can Learn from the Sneaker That Changed Streetwear
November 17, 2025
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