Some might find this hard to believe, but just two years after the first-ever Olympic marathon, Saucony was founded. 1898 was the year, and now 125 years later, "The Original Running Brand" is celebrating somewhat of a momentous milestone. Driven by running culture, self-expression and innovation, Saucony has propelled itself to the forefront of both the running and fashion landscapes, carrying with it a storied history of heritage.
In celebration of its 125th anniversary, The Sole Supplier took to Paris Fashion Week, where we would meet with some of the key brains behind the Saucony operation. One of these individuals is Jason Faustino - a Long Island, NY native who now resides in Boston, MA. As Senior Brand Manager and Lead of Collaborations at Saucony, Jason is one of the fundamental proponents behind collaboration partnerships, launch plans and product alignment. Additionally, as one of the original founders of New York's Extra Butter, Jason possesses a unique and educated take on the world of sneaker culture and much more.
"First of all, thanks for doing this, Jason. My first question to you, is who are you and what do you do?" "I'm Jason Faustino. I'm Senior Brand Manager for Saucony, and I oversee collaborations and energy product."
"What does your day-to-day work life look like in that role?" "It's crazy, I'm probably the one employee (if I'm giving myself credit) that straddles across product and marketing a lot. I view them very much the same, and I have a retail background, so I don't have a corporate look at things. I'm very much in the middle.
My day-to-day really depends on what's going on, but my primary focus is collaborations. Collaborations take a lot of time with the product, there are so many details around how the product gets made or even the marketing. It's never that we're just doing your average photoshoot, there's activation, there's a campaign, so most days I'm checking the new shoes coming in because then I need to take photos or send to collaboration partners or get the latest notes and revisions. Then I work with our incredible design and development team because they're the ones that contact the factory and make those changes to get all those nuances and details just right.
From there, I'm usually back with a partner, going over the next steps and what's needed from them. Even in the course of the day or an hour, I switch between a product role to a marketing role."
"You're a bit of a Jack of all trades then?" "Yeah, a little bit! I think it's mostly relationship based. I was a collaboration partner with Saucony in the past, so it now helps to be on the inside. Obviously, there's actually work too - there's emails, brand campaigns, sending PR teams the stuff I owe them from two weeks ago."
"I've learned about Saucony's archive, and I think they have the best product archive in the business."
"So I just wanted to touch on two things there about the retail background and being a collaboration partner. If my research is correct, you're one of the co-founders of New York's Extra Butter, so it's pretty fair to say you've got some skin in the game. What was it specifically about Saucony as a brand that attracted you to become part of things?" "Well, there are a few things. I started in retail, and I was just working on a sales floor like anyone else, and the first time I got involved with a brand was when Saucony visited the store and the sales rep was pulling shoes out of the bag, and he was asking for my opinion. I guess I handled myself well enough that they thought, 'maybe his opinion is worth including in more of these meetings.'
So why Saucony? Well, it really comes down to Eddie Joyce and every single person I've ever met with the brand over the 10-13 years I was in retail. I love the people - it's not just a saying. Saucony is made of good people.
The other thing selfishly as a sneaker fan or sneakerhead is over the years, I've learned about Saucony's archive, and I think they have the best product archive in the business. Even though it's primarily running, the styles are so crazy throughout the years. Yeah, they have their classics from like the '80s and on, but I love each era of Saucony. I knew if I ever worked for the brand in product or marketing, I'd be looking to get into that archive, and we're doing a lot of that now."
"Well, I guess that segways nicely into my next question. Let's talk about Saucony Originals. So you almost answered it there a little bit on your personal basis, but what do you think it is about these classic silhouettes that really appeal to the consumer?" "I mean I'm going to sound like I rehearsed this, but I didn't.. This is the best year to tell this part because it's about the heritage and the classics. Even a new consumer can look at this shoe and tell it's a classic, even though they don't know the history, and I think that's because when a brand has heritage, somehow you can feel it. In marketing it's intentional, but with Saucony, you can see it and feel it in the product too.
We make sure to tell stories about our heritage as well. Even though it's primarily running shoes that are designed for a runner to be their fastest, there's an aesthetic to running shoes that I think is appealing. Now for Originals, when you reinterpret these shoes with modern colourways and updated materials, they suddenly have a fashion element to them too. I think that's because the designs, in the beginning, were so strong.
"If enough partners are asking about bringing back a certain silhouette from our archive, why not let them tell the story as well?"
"We've had a look earlier at some of Saucony's upcoming collaborative works, and there are some really strong contenders, but what exactly is the process behind design and development for these collabs?" "Oh gosh. I'd say after we choose our partners, it's split about 50/50. So sometimes the partner will have a specific shoe in mind, and what's been great about Originals is if enough partners are asking (the same way I would) about bringing back a certain silhouette from our archive, why not let them tell the story as well? Sometimes they can do a fantastic job of the storytelling because they were also a fan of the brand, but they're telling it through their own lens."
"Touching on partners for a minute, what draws you to a partner and vice-versa?" "In terms of partners to us, it's always our heritage. I think they are people that will always respect brands that have authenticity and heritage, and seeing as Saucony is now celebrating its 125th anniversary, I think it's very cool for them to say, 'oh, we're working with this brand. They're 125 years old.'
What draws me? I love big brand names and people that would likely make a tonne of noise for the brand. But, I think very akin to exactly how Saucony is in most sneakers stores, we're a smaller brand that probably doesn't take up as much space in a store as the bigger labels, and the consumer that finds us and gravitates to us is looking for something different, something new, and when they wear it they're probably waiting for the one person in their day that also says 'oh I like those!'
It's like a community, a bit of an 'if you know, you know' type of vibe and for collaboration partners, it's the same thing. I'm looking for people that are a little bit under the radar, but the true target in my mind is someone who has the trajectory to be this way now, and in a few years really big. If you think about it, it's also natural for Saucony. If I were to name someone we all know, like a rapper or a celebrity, are they going to say yes to Saucony or yes to Nike and adidas? That's just me being honest. So why don't we instead find the future stars as they're on the rise, from a fashion standpoint, a music standpoint, culture - anything. Obviously, there's a humbleness in that with them in their beginnings and still learning and putting their blood sweat and tears into it because it's not transactional for them yet."
"So beginning to end, if you had to give a rough estimate, how long does it take for you to approach/be approached by one of these partners, get something in the pipeline and then have it ready to go on shelves?" "My favourite way to think about it is 'it's not speed dating - it's a long-term relationship.'" "My favourite way to think about it is 'it's not speed dating - it's a long-term relationship.' When we actually get a sample back, we're going to a fancy restaurant, but when the shoe is about to launch, we've practically moved in with each other by then. The real-time used to be like 12 to 15 months, but with things changing during covid, it's not as easy to work.
Even though you can connect on zoom and remotely, some of those decisions are best made in person because you need to touch, see and feel. I mean, 12 months would be a miracle. I'd say the average now is 15-18 months, maybe even longer. Covid delayed things by like two years, but in most cases, the shoe was already cooked, we just couldn't get it to us."
"While I can see a lot of what you do is your own thing and what you're passionate about, I'd imagine there is a certain degree of almost having to predict a trend. With the timeline extended, how much more difficult has that become?" "That's what is so key about picking the right partners. I'm always looking for people who are slightly ahead of the curve because I imagine whatever they're designing with us will be in that sweet spot too, whether that's slightly ahead or on-trend. Because of Gen-Z and the internet and all that stuff, trend cycles are too fast, and I'm not even sure when things are trends anymore. So if someone says, 'raw denim is on-trend right now,' when is it going to be out? And when it is 'out,' there's going to be so many people loyal to raw denim, so is it really gone?
Our collaboration partners live like this all the time and they are tapped in, and when you're tapped in, you're part of trends. It all just comes down to how you execute it."
"There's quite a lot of technology that goes on behind the scenes at Saucony, and you've got a seemingly endless list of processes that have been used. On a personal level, which section of innovation at Saucony stands out to you?" "I can't believe I speak on this because the way smarter people are the ones that actually do it, but I have to say my favourite people to work with are the engineers. So I go to Paris Fashion Week, ComplexCon, sneaker shows, they're going to consumer electronics shows and stuff like that, because they're on the search for the latest technology. I can't look at technology the same way they do because I look at it, and I'm like, 'why does 3D rendering have to do with what we do?'
When we were bringing back a certain model for later this year, we couldn't bring it back fast unless we found a vintage OG model and had them 3D print it. They recreate the tooling, the outsole and everything that costs a lot of money, but they're doing it super fast and getting those prototypes to fit perfectly. On the engineering side, it's fascinating because on the retail side, yes I worked with designers, and yes I worked with developers, but not the engineers. That's next level for me."
"We touched on it there with Grid Shadow II, but new year, new opportunities - what else does 2023 have in store for Saucony?" "Besides the 125th anniversary, it's definitely big news that we're bringing Spot-Bilt back. Just like most others, we've dabbled in sports over the years, and it was with Spot-Bilt that we saw ourselves involved in basketball."
"For the audience that wouldn't know, what exactly is Spot-Bilt?" "Spot-Bilt is another brand that at this point we could call a heritage basketball label. It was partnered with Saucony throughout the years, but at some point, it went out of business. This year the label decided to pick things back up again because there's an affinity for that. Obviously, retro basketball is happening, and maybe you could call that on-trend in the marketplace.
Instead of making our own basketball silhouettes, we have a beautiful archive through Spot-Bilt, so that's why we've brought it back. There are some unique storytelling points too. Like we didn't have the biggest names, but we had some athletes who were personalities back in the day, one being Xavier Mcdaniel, so we're bringing back his shoe.
"So, for my final question, what one pair of Sauconys would be your desert island pick?" "It's in our archive now, but it started everything for me. It's the ProGrid Triumph 4. So yes, it's what we're campaigning now, but when I was in those buying meetings for the first time as a younger adult who worked in retail, that was the newest for the brand and game-changing for the time.
It blew my mind at the time. It was the first time I had bought a running shoe because then I was still into my Jordans and other basketball shoes. I've been attached to it from 2007 till now, so I figure I could take that to a desert island and still be happy."
