All about "Chef"
Currently the reigning "Air Force 1 King Of
Connecticut", Chef of GourmetKickz is an award
winning sneaker collector, artist and sneaker
customizer who is making major moves in the sneaker
game. Chef sets himself apart from other customizers
with his attention to detail and use of exotic
fabrics and special appliqués. His line of special
"gourmet" style sneakers which he appropriately
calls GourmetKickz are all hand painted and include
such a high degree of detail that people often
question whether they are hand made or factory
produced! Born in 1975 and raised in New London, CT
Chef was always into art and excelled in honors
classes all across the board. After a 2 year battle
with bone cancer, Chef graduated from New London
High School and was quickly accepted into Brown
University in 1994. He made good use of the campus'
proximity to world renown art school RISD by taking
a few classes there during his time at the Ivy
League. One-upping famed college drop-out Kanye
West, Chef said goodbye to Brown University after
only a 2 year stint and decided to make his own way
in the world.
Chef lived the life of a white collar businessman
for several years after Brown, moving from auto
sales to insurance sales and finally on to
mortgages. His success in the sales field, though
financially rewarding, left his soul with much to be
desired. Chef began to feed his soul by spending
some hard earned cash on elements he missed from his
teens years, sneakers!
It all started with the purchase of some Nike Dunk
SB's on eBay one boring afternoon in a dim mortgage
office in New Haven, CT. Chef was instantly hooked
and his collection grew exponentially. Chef quickly
developed connections with overseas boutiques, top
Nike account holders, and underground resellers
galore. His appetite for rare kicks, in particular
Nike Air Force 1's, quickly earned him the
reputation of "The Sneaker Guy" throughout New
England. Chef became known for being able to secure
virtually any pair of Air Forces before their actual
release, foreign or domestic! He earned serious
bragging rights when he received a pair of "Blue
Tattoo Hyperstrikes" Autographed to him from famed
tattoo artist Mr. Cartoon who collaborated with Nike on
the sneakers. Owning 6 of only 48 pair of
hyperstrike HeadAutomatica Nike Air Force 1 Hi's
also earned him some recognition from boutiques
worldwide. 8 pair of Nike Air Force 1 "Fearless
Warrior" Lebron James Chamber of Fears and 1 lasered
and numbered pair also got him some props! Needless
to say, with his boundless resources and connections
to sources for rare kicks, Chef became one of the
top resellers in the New England area, even
supplying some top boutiques with their display "eye
candy" kicks.
With his growing interest in sneakers and endless
hours scouring the net, Chef was introduced into the
world of custom sneakers. His desire to express
himself through art had found a new home, on the
surface of all whites! Pouring the passion from his
battle against cancer into his art was indeed the
food for his soul! Chef customized his first pair of
kicks, "The Beef N Broccoli" Dunks about 4 1/2 years
ago, and has kept it moving ever since! After seeing
the response to his artwork, Chef made a life
changing decision to pursue a career in kicks full
time. He launched www.GourmetKickz.com in mid 2005
after burning through over 150 pair of 05' Easters
on eBay and thereby getting his name on the net.
Soon after Chef focused on customs and put down the
reselling as a main source of income. Since then
Chef has received a great deal of press and
recognition for his outstanding artwork.
In May of 2006 Chef was interviewed live on CT
largest Hip-Hop radio station 93.7 about his home
grown custom sneaker enterprise GourmetKickz. He was
immediately commissioned by every DJ at the station
to customize the footwear they would rock on stage
for 93.7's sold out event at the Hartford Civic
Center, HOT Jam 2006. Backstage at HOT Jam Chef
turned sneaker fanatic and R&B prodigy Chris Brown
into a client with his customized "Bambatta Supreme"
Air Force 1's. Chris rocked them on stage
immediately after copping them to perform the "Run
It" remix with Bow Wow.
In June 2006, Chef was commissioned by Super Stylist
Groovy Lou to do a pair of custom Air Forces for
Rick Ro$$ to wear on the red carpet of the BET
Awards.
On July 22nd Chef took his collection of over 300
pair of rare kicks to the Hartford Convention Center
where competed in the FunkMaster Flex International
Sneaker Battle. His elaborate layout and 2 models
dressed as waitresses for the restaurant styled
display for GourmetKickz won Chef the "Best Display"
Trophy. His array of rare sneakers, in particular
the 1 of only 10 lasered AND numbered "Fearless"
Chamber of Fear Air Force 1's earned Chef the trophy
for "Best Nike Air Force or Dunk Pair", making him
the official Air Force 1 King of Connecticut! On the
same day Chef received notoriety for his
achievements in the sneaker game by being published
on the front page of the Living Arts Section of the
Boston Globe! <<<hyperlink to article. Chef was also
featured soon after in the online paper called the
Phoenix. Other press exposure in the past includes
an article which appeared in Streetz Magazine in
Summer 2006 and an article which appeared in
Boston's Christian Science Monitor.
In October 2006 Chef was featured in a Fox 61 news
piece entitled "Art & Sole" where he was interviewed
about his passion for sneakers and his custom
sneaker enterprise GourmetKickz. The news piece was
5 minutes and aired throughout New England on Friday
night, and was picked up by a sister network airing
again on the following night. The news piece has
been YouTube'd and can be seen below.
In November 2006 Chef made the front page and top of
the fold of the New Haven Register. His story was
featured on the front page of the Life / Styles
section of the paper. The story covered his triumph
over cancer and his contributions to the sneaker
culture. Among these contributions is his invention
of The DeCreaseR, a patent pending shoe insert that
prevents sneakers from creasing! Chef even went to
far as to donate a Free Do-It-Yourself version of
the invention to the sneaker world in virtually
every sneaker forum on the net! His sole
inventorship status on this nifty device has
solidified his already integral role in the sneaker
community.
In March 2007 Chef was featured on
www.weeklydrop.com in the sites “very first
sneaker-centric episode”. He spoke about his passion
for collecting, how he got into it, his greatest
finds on eBay, his new invention, and much more.
Chef was also double featured in the SoleCollector
Magazine AF1 25th Anniversary Collector’s Issue. The
magazine featured him as a top collector and later
featured his custom artwork in the top customizers
section. Chef was also asked to write for the issue,
contributing over 200 commentaries in the
Kicktionary portion of the magazine.
In April 2007 Chef took part in the filming of “Know
You Got Sole” A Sneaker Documentary by MTV’s Sean
“Ope” Williams. Chef will also be featured on
Connecticut Public Access Television in the coming
months. His work will also be showcased in “The Art
and Design of Hip-Hop” By Cey Adams, Creative
Director of Def Jam Recordings.
In May 2007 Chef’s new invention “The DeCreaseR”, a
patent pending sneaker accessory that stops sneaker
from creasing, was blogged on the world famous
fashion website
www.karmaloop.com. In June 2007 Chef
received yet another substantial piece of press from
the poplar fashion site when they published a 10
question full page interview complete with
hyperlinks to his site. Since then Chef’s
DeCreaseR
has been blogged about on countless sites. His
website for the amazing gadget
www.thedecreaser.com
has seen a 900% increase in traffic over the last 6
months and has jumped over 3,000,000 slots in that
time period.
Chef is currently working on a book which will be a
guide to painting custom sneakers. He is also
launching The DeCreaseR and hoping to expand the
product to a line of sneaker care products and
gadgets. |
