Why Concepts Are the Kings of Sneaker Collaborations

Introducing the kings of the collab.

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These days, sneaker collaborations are a dime a dozen, making it harder than ever for stores and brands to stand out amongst the crowd. It takes a certain level of design and storytelling expertise to really leave a mark, something that Cambridge, Mass., retailer Concepts — which was responsible for our top collaboration of 2015 — knows better than anyone.

Agenda Emerge recently sat down with Concepts manager/buyer Deon Point to break down a few of the ways that Concepts has gone the extra mile with their collabs. Looking back on the store's Nike SB "Lobster" projects, which played a major role in putting Concepts on the map, Point remembers that the storytelling was almost too real.

After crafting a campaign that saw fictional warnings about killer blue lobsters posted throughout Boston, the store's phone started ringing off the hook. "Now city hall's calling us, and the city of Boston is pissed, like, 'What the fuck are you guys doing?," Point said.

How's that for effective storytelling? Reminisce on some of the store's most memorable collabs in the clip above and look out for Concepts' next project, the New Balance 998 "Grand Tourer," to drop on December 26