KIDS OF IMMIGRANTSARE BUILT TO LAST

Being a kid from the boroughs, you weren’t just witnessing the culture, you were a part of its growth. While NikeTowns and Foot Lockers existed, most of us bought sneakers from mom-and-pop shops owned by folks that looked like us. The shoes were likely wrapped in plastic, and if you addressed the shopkeep in a common language, you were walking out with a discount point blank (or at least no tax).
 
It was hard not to be obsessed with fresh gear and kicks in NYC. And with that passion comes the responsibility of employment to feed the habit. Buezo worked retail as early as the age of thirteen, a job he secured thanks to his older sister; until the age of twenty-nine, he carried what he calls a “PhD in consumer psychology.”
 
His career in retail eventually let to working at Opening Ceremony in LA. There, he had access to stylists who helped guide the design, and eventually OC became one of the first retailers to carry the brand.

Kids Of Immigrants began in such an unorthodox way that many outsiders believed them to be a non-profit rather than a streetwear brand. This is just a result of their purpose-driven practices that were so unusual at the time. Fast forward eight years later and you won’t find a single company that doesn’t have social impact as a centerpiece of their marketing plans.
 
The foundational piece of Kids Of Immigrants is the “Support Your Friends” t-shirt that ended up being worn by a number of celebrities including Lil’ Wayne, Bad Bunny, and several other artists. It even caught the attention of Nike Los Angeles, who reached out to Buezo for potential marketing partnerships, though that didn’t come into fruition. Yet.
 
While that exposure was great, Buezo credits his immediate circle of friends for building a sustainable community paramount to growing a brand. Its appeal came from KOI’s ability to bring power to a word that at one point in history truly felt opposite.
 
The Kids Of Immigrants mission is exemplified by their booth at ComplexCon back in 2021. Typically a venue to show off what’s next and upcoming from within, Buezo and his team chose to highlight fellow immigrant-owned small businesses such as Black Billionaires Club, Pasadena Roots, Gente Unida, and more. It was through this “Support Your Friends” activation that truly convinced Nike to step in.

Onto the shoes: the Air Max Sunder. Buezo states that they dove into the vault and wanted to do a shoe was that never retroed before. The Sunder was among five finalists, specifically recalling that in its heyday, the Air Max Sunder was a true style choice as it wasn’t on the level of popularity of the Air Max 95 or the 97. Undeniably, the Sunder has less history compared to the all-time greats, but that’s what Kids Of Immigrants is doing now — creating history for a new generation.
 
The idea to redo the upper of the Air Max Sunder came from Buezo’s love of the Air Max Tn. They wanted to double down and go all-or-nothing with this first collaboration because above all, the goal was to make the statement that Kids Of Immigrants is not hiding whether you hate or love the shoe, that like the brand, the shoe is “outside” rather than “outdoor”.
 
Ridding the shoes of the mudguard and the armor plating and keeping only the midsole and zipper enclosure, the brand chose to execute their design with a new webbing that expressed the perfect blend of futuristic, contemporary, and nostalgic. While not directly related, an instant comparison can be made to the Air Max 120, an overlooked member of the Air Max running legacy remembered largely for its exterior webbing. The tiny Swoosh at the heel nods to the Air Max 95, a sneaker that Buezo would love to get the opportunity to work with in the future.

After the design, the Sunder was narrowed it down to four perfect colorways. They had actually intended to drop one shoe only, but because the process of elimination was so painstaking, they settled on dropping two of the final four. The color statement is a clear representation of early ACG styling, which Buezo was obsessed with during his youth to modern day.
 
He recalls specifically addressing these shades as “ACG Purple” or “ACG Blue” during the design process. Fortuitously, the two colorways represent the familiar “sunrise” and “sunset” colors that reflect how immigrant parents often worked sun-up to sun-down.
 
For immigrants, communication with family in the homeland was largely facilitated by phone cards. These are entirely obsolete thanks to advancing technology, but back then these pre-paid cards found at corner stores were the lifeline of communication with blood situated in a different part of the globe.
 
The added insert is an homage to an integral piece of keeping physically separate families united, and the emphasis of communication echoes with our favorite easter egg of the shoe. Underneath the zipper on the interior tongue, KOI swapped out the 6453 (which spells NIKE on a phone keypad) with 3062, which is the last four digits of the Kids Of Immigrants SMS texting app.