WEST ROXBURY – Sneakers have come a long way. For a very long time, these were just sports shoes. Now they are collectibles and fashion statements.
A new venture in West Roxbury is taking it to the next level with a more personal touch for sneakerheads.
“There’s the collectability, there’s the rarity aspect where you get a hard-to-get pair of sneakers, and then you walk down the street and somebody else who’s a sneakerhead, will wave at you. head or a wink and say these are cool,” Bennett Collen, co-founder and CEO of Endstate, told WBZ-TV.
Endstate is a one-of-a-kind footwear company bringing technology to your shoe. Each sneaker has a chip to prove its authenticity and bring you closer to your favorite athlete.
“We partner with Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith and we have a chip inside the sneaker and we can create these experiences exclusively for the owners of the sneakers, who are DeVonta’s biggest fans,” Collen said.
The designs are also unique. That’s where co-founder and COO Stephanie Howard comes in. She is an absolute titan in the world of sneaker designers with experience at Nike, New Balance and Reebok.
“The most important thing to me when designing anything is ideas. What are people looking for, and then ideas about the future emerge. What’s on the horizon! ” she told WBZ.
Bennett is a Boston College alumnus, so it’s fitting that the Welles Crowther sneaker is ready to drop. All proceeds from the shoe will go to the Welles Crowther Charity Trust.
“It felt like a great opportunity to excite the BC community around Welles and his story and do some good in the process,” Collen said.
“I’ve never been able to design around a hero story like Welles Crowther before and then put our heart and passion into a product like this. So it’s really exciting,” Howard said. at WBZ.
For more information on Endstate, visit their website.
Levan Reid
