story

"My name's Chris Gibbs and I'm the owner of Union Los Angeles. I'm 
kind of... What's that term? Jack-of-all-trades, master of none."

"As a mom and pop shop, as an independent store owner, you kind of have to do it all. I've had to do the accounting for years. I've had to do shipping and receiving. I've done it all."

"Today, I spend most of my time on the creative side, which sounds sexy and its fun. I won't deny it. I'm no longer shipping. I'm still sweeping. And to this day, I'm designing shoes that I want to wear…"

"…that I find are maybe a void in the marketplace with fabrics and colorways and stories that I want to tell. This Dunk in particular is a personal story in as much as it's a story about Union."

"The 'Passport Pack' is a story of Union's history with Nike dating back to mid-nineties. And through a similar lens, my history with Nike and my history of Union…"

"…kind of all juxtaposed against each other. That story centers really around the dunk. It's centered around some early colorways that came out of Europe and Japan. And there were some favorites in mind that I wanted to tell."

"When you get down into the meat and potatoes of it, it's a Japan and Europe conversation. Through that lens, we ended up doing one European kind of reference color, and two Japanese."

"The 'Passport Pack' is made up of three shoes. This colorway [Court Purple] taken from early 2000 Japanese colorway that we referenced."

"It's the 'Argon' colorway taken from another, I think either late nineties or early 2000s Japanese colorway that we referenced."

"And the 'Pistachio' taken from a mid to early 2000s European exclusive color wave. Early on we would've been traveling to other countries and really all around the world."

"London, Italy, Paris, and Japan in particular, we noticed sneakers available in these other geos that weren't available for us. We started buying them. There's a way to offer something different…"

"…that may be a shoe in a different color. And early on, I was a really big dunk head early on. And so the dunks seem to be the shoe that was in these other geographical areas where you could get wild colors."

"Traveling really just opened my mind, opened my eyes to a whole other world, and that other world has allowed me to see our world and where I live and play in a different way and…"

"…has enabled me to navigate it in a really fresh way. Fast forward to today, we're privileged and honored that we are considered one of the preeminent street wear stores."

"It's funny because there was a good 15 to 20 year period where no one would've looked to us as a sneaker shop, but we are actually one of the first stores that really were strongly participating in that. And I wanted to tell that story."

"I know some people are driven by trying to make a legacy. That's not what drives me. I'm more into trying to do new things, new ideas. I'm very much into the journey."

Behind the Design: UNION x Dunk Low 'Passport Pack'

Behind The Design

UNION x Dunk Low 'Passport Pack'