DNR- Urban Sprawl Feature with Matt George
Among the leaders in men’s fashion reporting, DNR has recently done a feature covering what they consider nine of the world’s leading spots for men’s streetwear. The article covers in detail the creative minds behind each respective retail outlet. Included among the list are Nomad/Ransom/Goodfoot, Wood Wood, Slam Jam, Juice/ACU and Someday. Please check the article about Matt George and the growth of his business. Enjoy
GOODFOOT/RANSOM/NOMAD
Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, Canada
Matt George is a busy man. An average day of work includes attending to concurrent build-outs of three Toronto stores, designating design decisions for his burgeoning streetwear line, and, of course, overseeing a photo shoot of a naked woman buried in a pile of sneakers. It’s a tough life heading up Canada’s Goodfoot, Ransom and Nomad shops.
At just 27, George already seems to have the Canadian sneaker scene under his thumb. He’s planted three Goodfoot sneaker stores in the country’s biggest cities, with two additional doors to debut in Toronto in the next month. His two Ransom streetwear boutiques—which carry highly sought-after lines like Staple Design, Levi’s LVC and Gourmet—have spawned a Ransom apparel label that now sits in a handful of exclusive streetwear retailers. And he was handpicked as the Canadian golden child for Stussy, this past weekend opening the brand’s first north-of-the-border retail shop in Toronto.
The U.S.-born George began his streetwear career practically by accident. To make extra spending money during school, the self-professed sneaker lover unloaded dead U.S. sneaker stock in Japan. It turned out that the Japanese were hefty sneaker consumers, and George watched his pile of “extra spending money” grow into a down payment for his own shop. The first Goodfoot sneaker boutique was born on Richmond Street in Toronto in 2003.
While he’s heavily committed to the market, George acknowledges that there is life beyond streetwear via his sophisticated Nomad shop, which carries high-design men’s wear labels like Martin Margiela and Engineered Garments. “We started Nomad to cater to the kids that grew up in the sneaker end of things, but got older,” explains George; he, himself, is one of those people. By adding Nomad, “we’ve segmented our business to go from Alife to Comme des Garçons.”
Ransom’s brand selection, too, reflects a maturing streetwear customer—instead of adding an up-and-coming hip-hop label to the shop’s mix, George is now rallying for Polo Ralph Lauren.
It is the more commercialized Goodfoot that George believes offers the biggest opportunity in Canada, and elsewhere. “A lot of us are on the Nomad side of things now, and that’s a fresh model for this industry,” he says. But, “even if the sneaker business is becoming more mainstream, that’s where there’s the most growth.” —JESSICA PALLAY
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