BA's in all White.

     
1 in every 20 skateboarders were smart enough to save a collection of their beloved skate shoes or decks from their youth. As simple as the task may sound, it's in our natural instinct to unfortunately destroy something we love instead of thinking it over for a sec & saying "Shit, this might be worth something one day". Featured today is a homie of ours who did just that. His alias on Instagram is Chocolate_Gears & he was nice enough to show us his collection of Savier footwear he's been saving up over the past few years. If you're unfamiliar with Savier, they were Nikes second attempt to penetrate the skateboarding market & died out after less than three years. Their first attempt was with Bam. For more on Savier, their ad's & more, check out skately's bio page on them.

With this Q&A, we got the full story on his obsession with Savier & why he decided to hold onto them for so long.


How long have you been collecting this Savier collection?
I've had these Savier's for years. I bought my first brand new pair back in 2002. They were those blue Brian Andersons. I've skated those a bunch of times & it was a great shoe & crazy comfortable. I fell in love with those BA's & then I had the Brad Staba which I skated for a whole year before passing them on. I miss those Staba's so much. Funny enough though, I fell in love with the brand right as they were getting the axe. The appeal that Savier had was just so different for the time then. From their ads to their technology, the best example was their inverted stitching they used. At the time, it was stuff no other shoe company was doing.

It must've been fucked tracking down some of the older models, we're going to assume eBay, right?
I bought the Blue BA's from a local shop back in the day & got the white one off ebay about two years ago for $25. I got the Raleigh model from CCS on clearance in 2004 for $25. After getting all of these for a reasonable price, some Euro guy flooded the market with $250 price tags. Crazy how no one wanted them then and now they're all overpriced.

Savier's Raliegh.

 
How have you taken care of them? I've heard that certain materials over time tend to decompose & break down. Have any of them gone yellow on you?
On storing them, I've done nothing special. Just no moisture and no sunlight. Materials have all held up pretty good. Only thing that has really yellowed are the air bags in the soles. They all had excellent quality and should last me for years. I'll start wearing them someday soon, just waiting for a good moment to break some out.

What would you sell your collection for?
I'm not really into selling right now but for the right price, you never know. They're just material things. I can always say I owned them, you know.

Any memories you'd like to share with us about how your collection came to be what it is today?
When I first started collecting skate shoes, my local shop had so many models for cheap over the years. I would buy and sell and buy and sell. Wish I would've kept a lot of them though but at the time I was hooking up people through eBay with similar tastes and making a little money too. One shoe I do regret selling is the OG black & red DC Stevies. I paid $30 at the shop, turned around and flipped them on eBay back in 2005 for around $150, man if I had those today....

Favorite Savier model to skate in & why?
My fave model to skate were the Staba, they looked good. Had a thin grippy sole & a pointy toe that never blew out.

Do you think Savier could work today?
Savier would def not work today unless they got someone like Nyjah or someone else popular on the team. Skateboarding is just a popularity contest and kids are mostly following trends. Originality is something rare, which is why most shoes in shops now are black white vulc soles; they may skate good but I hate looking down and not seeing something that gets me stoked.

Thanks again to CG. Be sure to check him out on Instagram & over at Eastern-exposure.net where he helps contribute.

BA's	Savier/Habitat Collab

Box Info

Tech Info