Todd Krinsky Talks Reebok Collabs, Allen Iverson & 30th Anniversary of the Classic Leather

Todd Krinsky started working in the mailroom at Reebok as a youngster. He now serves as the Global Vice President of Lifestyle and Entertainment Marketing for the resurgent brand. Not only is he responsible for one of the most popular sneakers in Reebok history, but he has also played a major role in the brand’s return to prominence. Nice Kicks sat down with Todd during the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Reebok Classic Leather at SOB’s in New York City to discuss everything Reebok.

Nice Kicks: Reebok has definitely had a resurgence of late. What goes into selecting the celebrities or endorsers you team with?

Todd Krinsky: First, it starts with the idea that we want to start with artists that believe in the brand. Either they’ve grown up with the brand, or have seen the movement, and want to be a part of it. We are not signing a lot of artists and creating sneaker lines with them like we did back in the day. What we did then was cool, but that was a moment in time. I think now we’re looking to really get involved with artists who really want to be a part of the brand and the movement.

Todd Krinsky with music producer and Reebok Creative Director Swizz Beatz

Nice Kicks: Is that how the three artists were chosen for the Reebok Classic Leather “City Series” campaign?

Todd Krinsky: We wanted to sign some young, emerging, up-and-coming artists. Artists that really kind of have their own movement. So when you look at Travi$ (Scott) and Ace (Hood), these guys have their own brand. They are driving their own brand. They fit with our Reebok persona. They are from some markets down south where Classics were really big, such as Florida and Texas. So, it’s cool to have some young artists from the south because Reebok Classics were so big in the south back in the day. It really makes a lot of sense from a cultural perspective.

Nice Kicks: Though you are celebrating the Reebok Classic Leather’s 30th anniversary, it seems like the shoe never truly went away. However, some new and fresh ideas have been presented via collaborations. How do you select which non-musical entities that you are going to work with to collaborate on a shoe, such as with the “City Series”?

Todd Krinsky: The Classic has been around 30 years. There are only a few shoes in our entire industry that are timeless silhouettes, and the Classic Leather is one of them. We did take the shoe out of the market for a while so we could create that prestige again. When you bring it back, you have to bring it back in the right way. Stash is a legend in the graffiti world. He’s like a godfather of that whole genre, and he has this really cool group of artists. When we got with them, we wanted only wanted to do stuff with him. However, he thought we should also get this next generation of artists from all over the world. I think it just brings the Reebok Classic Leather to a new level. It’s a really clean silhouette, so when these young cats put their twist to it with their art, it’s really cool. It’s a really new look.

Stash x Reebok Classic Leather “City Series”