Converse x Joe Freshgoods Editorial
Ft. Chadley Abalos & Gino Coronado of Haides
Inspired by 1970s Chicago, Converse and Joe Freshgoods have teamed up to release a groovy collection of footwear and apparel. Consisting of a reworked bootleg T-shirt-inspired Chuck 70 Hi, a glamourized Pro Leather and a Tie Dye T-shirt, this drop harnesses both parties’ unique sensibilities for a legacy-defining capsule collection.
Speaking on the concept, Joe explains, "I wanted to approach the collection like a reader scrolling through a book about love, Black culture, soul, and art. Each piece is a history lesson." And we think he succeeded superbly.
In honour of Converse x Joe Freshgoods’ “This Is Not A Bootleg” collection, we teamed up with Parlor by Haides — a local barbershop in Surrey, BC — with a focus on Haides’ community-based workshops. As a company, Haides has been making moves in Surrey through their grassroots efforts as an educational hub for aspiring barbers and hairstylists. Putting on for their own, Haides seeks to foster growth in their community, and the youth around them.
For you to understand how this all came around, first you’ll have to read about Joe Freshgoods’ history. Artist and designer Joe “Freshgoods” Robinson got his start out in Chicago making bootleg T-shirts in high school, eventually building his design aesthetic into the full-fledged brand-of-the-same-name we now know today. His entrepreneurial and business acumen followed him around the city, and after little to no time, Joe’s reputation as a creative trailblazer was solidified as a part of Chicago’s glowing streetwear history. Most notably, however, Joe Freshgoods caught Converse’s attention through bootleg customizations of their iconic Chuck Taylor silhouette. That, and having established a community-based hub — called Fat Tiger Works — providing educational workshops for his city’s youth. Joe Freshgoods hopes to inspire the next generation by teaching them all about the business of being creative.
So, in keeping with the spirit of Converse x Joe Freshgoods, Haides knows all about the hustle. They teach business and entrepreneurial skills to a growing classroom of individuals they consider their friends and family. Haides hopes to educate their students for success in the future, whether that be in finance, professionalism or personal improvement — Haides is creating a community within their community.
We sat down with Haides co-founders Chadley Abalos and Gino Coronado for a Q&A discussing what Haides does; why the youth and community matters; and amongst other things, who is the best basketball player ever? It’s shop talk at its finest. You can read our full conversation below.
What is Haides Barbershop?
Chadley Abalos: Haides is a brand created in 2016 by Gino and myself. It features a full-service barbershop, salon [and] we also run an in-house product line called Haides Daily Goods. And lastly, we run an education platform — called Haides EDU — where we teach the art and craft of cutting hair.
What do you teach in your Haides EDU workshops?
Gino Coronado: Haides EDU is a new platform. For us as a company, we believe that it’s essential for growth. Aside from modern barbering techniques, I like to believe that we can offer not just the craft of cutting hair, but also the idea of how to run [a] business as well as [foster] personally growth.
As community leaders, what kind of legacy are you trying to create?
C: To create something that lasts generations and to inspire those around us to follow their dreams.
G: Leaving that long-lasting, generational, positive impact on our community is going to be huge. Personally, part of my legacy is leaving behind all of the experiences I have through barbering. Hopefully, through teaching, I can give those opportunities to other people. To be able to experience the same positives that I’ve experienced with the craft.
How important is supporting the youth around you and why?
G: Supporting the youth is such a powerful thing. The importance of it is almost second to none because as we go through life, there’s always going to be somebody that comes next. And we talk about growth; I think that it’s so important to realize how to be advocates for the youth. To support the youth. Keep in mind that industries like barbering, photography — all these things rely on the mentors to bring them to another level. The youth are ultimately going to be the future. If we want to better shape our future, we have to start by better supporting and shaping our youth.
C: I agree. I think it’s important to support the youth because they’re the future, and we need strong leaders in our future to create an impact in our community, in our industries and in life. We’ve been pretty lucky to have mentors along the way to help guide us. We just feel like it’s within us to give back and help in any way possible to create an impact in the youth.
What does community mean to you?
G: I personally feel like it's a positive thing. I don't think we talk about community in a negative way. Community is that sense of belonging. It's that sense of you're not alone. And this year has been huge in the sense of lack of any social aspect, the lack of feeling support. I know a lot of people this year are struggling mentally. So, I think now more than ever, community needs to come back to life. We need to bring it back to the forefront and allow people to know that we support each other as a community.
C: Community means really having a support system. Whether that's your family, your friends, your workplace — feeling like you can be yourself in a certain group is very important when it comes to your community.
What kind of initiatives are you currently running?
C: The main focus for our initiatives in 2021 would be Haides EDU — which is our education platform — and Haides Daily Goods — which is our apparel and accessory line. I think there's a lot of opportunity for growth in these two parts of our business. One other part that we want to focus on as an initiative is to do more community work and hold more events when the time comes. We love bringing people together.
Why are grassroots and neighbourhood-based programs like yours so meaningful to your community?
G: Programs like ours are very essential for communities to be able to grow and to function. When you see somebody from your community — who's just a regular guy with a dream — and you see them with a level of success and a level of passion, I think it's inspiring. You can be that hometown kid to inspire the other hometown kids.
Let us know what’s good with your recent donation drive!
C: Our recent donation drive is to collect as many sneakers as we can for the kids in the community. The charity that we've chosen this year is the Surrey Christmas Bureau. They focus on giving toys and things that the kids can look forward to opening for Christmas. The goal is to collect as many as we can, so that we can get them on as many feet [as possible] during these cold winter months.
What’s the significance behind a good haircut?
G: I think the significance of a good haircut is at the end feeling confident and walking away — feeling your best.
C: I've gotten bad haircuts, and I've gotten good haircuts, but the difference is in the confidence. When you feel your best, you feel like you look good. It starts to translate in all that you do. It's such a simple thing to give a haircut, but the power of what it can produce for the people who are actually receiving it can be extravagant.
Who’s the greatest basketball player of all time?
C: I'll keep it really short and sweet because I don't like to lie about things like that. It’s MJ. We're talking about the best basketball player. I know there's a GOAT debate but we're not talking about that. We’re talking about winning, we're talking about clutch, we're talking about championships, we're talking about practice; talking about the best basketball player to ever play the game. It’s Michael Jordan. Don't at me.
G: Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time. What separates him is his relentless drive and his will to win. It's unmatched. He has no weaknesses in his game. MJ is the GOAT.
