Shoe Palace CEO John Mersho on what he looks for in a brand collaboration

John, thanks for making time to chat! In terms of brand collaborations, Shoe Palace has worked with movie brands, board game IP, musicians and artists like Keith Haring and now Van Gogh… What makes a brand attractive to Shoe Palace?
It truly revolves around our customer base and what is attractive to them. We maintain a diverse range of consumers with a wide range of interests. As such, every partnership we have must make sense to our customers and the interests they enjoy.

And we at Shoe Palace are fans of these properties ourselves and are deeply passionate about creating products that we – as fans – would love. We always strive for this passion to be felt through the pieces we create.

Let’s dive into the Van Gogh collaboration. I imagine there’s plenty of different pieces you could’ve engaged with here, so what helped steer the direction you took this collection in?
Much of the direction for collections we create are based in large part by the trends we see reflected by our customers. We always keep our eyes open to trends and do our best to keep our finger on the pulse of new creative ideas in the space. As a result, we are dedicated to making things people want in the moment.

The range is cited as being focused on the importance of mental health. How did you approach conveying this theme through the design of the range?
Many of Van Gogh’s pieces reflected his continual struggle with mental health. We really wanted to highlight and emphasise this important subject through the pieces we created and the works of Van Gogh we utilised in the process. One example of this is the colour palette we used… It contains a combination of light and dark colours to show that mental health truly has its ups and downs.

“My creativity is fuelled by my motivation to achieve new milestones in the space, doing things no one has done before.”

Does working on a licensed collection change how you view the brand?
Anytime we take on a licensed collection – especially one as iconic as Van Gogh – we do our homework. I have learned a lot more about Van Gogh during this process and I do appreciate him and his work even more now. Van Gogh was truly a prolific artist, and one I am thankful to have learned more about throughout this process.

Did any piece in the collection pose a particular creative challenge that you’re pleased to have cracked?
The whole collection was challenging. Capturing the delicate beauty of Van Gogh’s art while translating it into a wearable format required a lot of experimentation with fabric textures, silhouettes and printing techniques. We wanted the collaboration to be both stylish and wearable.

Well, I think mission accomplished! I have one last question for you: What fuels creativity for you?
My creativity is fuelled by our customers and by my motivation to always achieve new milestones in the space, doing things no one has done before. This passion for our customers and always reaching new levels has been a core component of Shoe Palace’s identity since we started this journey in 1993.

I believe what helps me come up with new ideas in large part is always being open to trying new ideas in our creative process, communicating closely with my amazing team, and keeping up to date with the space’s newest trends.

Fantastic. Thanks again John.