We built this company based on ideas. And then the ideas became a vision.
The vision to build a company and brand that would continuously offer solutions to problems with the highest possible level of care and commitment. Whether it's something that may seem as trivial as how to ship a product safely without damage, or as important as the ergonomics of how something is utilized, we are doing our very best to put steady thought and care into each and every action while keeping the process pure.
Initially, with the inception of ANTIDŌT®, the idea was to release a "dead stock" scented shoe deodorizer.
Wouldn't it be cool to make a sneaker freshener that spoke to sneakerheads and that smelled like a new pair of kicks?
Last year in May, we released a Beta Version of ANTIDŌT g•leth•r(short for Glue + Leather + Rubber) -- the sneaker fragrance we've been working on since the inception of the brand. You'll notice it's only available to our Inner Circle and still not available to the public.
For those that are new to our newsletters, here's an excerpt from a previous newsletter we sent out in May regarding g•leth•r :
"We've also had the pleasure and opportunity of having @jeffstaple take a sneak sniff at the Agenda Show earlier this year (2016) and his words were,
'It smells and reminds me of a vintage sneaker factory.'
For those of you that enjoy (and have been waiting for) that Box Fresh sneaker smell, we feel that we've finally been able to capture its essence."
We were certain the sneaker community would be all over this dead stock scent. Of course, things are never that easy. But, for good reason.
The feedback was mixed. Some positive, some not so positive. We understood that we can't please everyone. And that different sneakers have different smells. At one point, we realized that with all of the different available sneaker brands and styles, it would be impossible to satisfy everyone's noses. But, nonetheless we still believed we could do more. We weren't satisfied. And, the idea continued to evolve. It kept getting better. And the feedback helped us as well (as it always does).
We had sent samples to Brendan Dunne over at Complex who was kind enough to give us his feedback. He stated:
"I think the glue smell is there, I almost feel like what's missing is the leather half? It almost smells too synthetic, a bit spray-paint like. It smells fresh, but more chemical-like than what I usually associate with a new shoe smell."
And then an idea clicked.
TO BE CONTINUED....