Hommy Diaz, Global Product Line Manager at Palladium Boots
At the Bread & Butter tradeshow Hommy Diaz, Palladium’s new global product line manager, presented his first collection for the venerable French brand.
Hommy, can you introduce me to some of Palladium's new concepts?
The Alpha Industries Collaboration is a support to our heritage. Palladium began in the 1920s, making tires for warplanes. After World War II there was no more business for the tire company, so Palladium decided to make boots for the military, using the same rubber and the canvas from the lining of the tire. That's how Palladium, the boot company, was born. Now, Alpha Industries started slightly before then in the US, making jackets for the military. So it's a common relationship there and collaboration was born from that. We had two companies sharing a similar past. With that we had Alpha supply the exact nylon from the jackets, for us to make the boots. So this is not a reinterpretation, this is authentic nylon from alpha. I was then allowed to design one jacket to go with the boots. The jacket, just like the shoes has an orange lining. The story behind that is that if a fighter jet would crash, the pilot would flip the jacket inside out, so he could be found and rescued. The shoe will be available for both, men's and women's and will be released between July and August.
I remember seeing Jackson Pollock inspired Palladiums at the Wald presentation...
Oh yes, that was a special edition for the Japanese Atmos Store for Spring 14, with the glow in the dark outsoles. They will come out in April and are very artistic with paint splatters and tie-dye - A fun collection that will be nice in the club.
What else is there to see?
Something that we are going to do consistently in the line, is that we will always have some camouflage offering because of the military background. So the frog camouflage is very popular and a lot of brands have done it on boots but no one has done it well yet. So what I've done differently is that I've done a print on military great ballistic nylon. That kind of nylon is mostly used on military straps and bags because it is tough. Everyone else has done it on canvas so I am doing this on great ballistic nylon and then it's a flip camouflage on the inside. It will be very nice for fall.
Thank you very much for the interview.
Palladium x Alpha Industries: boots and jacket
Palladium x Alpha Industries: boots
Special edition for the Japanese Atmos Store
