The New York Times caught up with Flavio Girolami and Peter Poopat a couple days ago. You might not know those names and I don't think anyone would really blame you for that. They're two dudes who float below the radar as they quietly dominate the minimal sneaker world with their brand. You might have heard of it. Common Projects? Yeah. Thought so.
Girolami and Poopat are so quiet about their footwear dominance that this past July when Poopat was vacationing in Ibiza, he met an executive and just told him he had a company that makes shoes, not trying to flex or anything despite the obvious chance to. Only after being pressured did he say that his company was, in fact, Common Projects. The guy's reaction was to tell Poopat's son that his father was his personal hero and that he owned 50 pairs. Considering this was all taking place in Ibiza, 50 pairs doesn't seem all that crazy. But that little anecdote more or less sums up CP's low-key nature as a brand that doesn't advertise and scarcely even updates its Instagram, a particular note the NYT makes sure to include as it would normally be a gigantic fucking red flag for any brand in 2015. That's some next-level self-control and radio silence in a time when we're expected to promote literally everything we do. Ironically enough, Common Projects almost immediately updated their account after this story went live, which is completely hilarious on some "oh right, we should probably do that" shit.
Even as larger companies try to capitalize on the minimal footwear trend and competitors endlessly rip off the original CP look, the company remains the best seller of the bunch with $10 million in revenue despite just six employees on the payroll between its two offices in New York and Italy. Is there any doubt that Common Projects is the the best footwear brand in the world? Nope. Didn't think so. Be sure to read the entire profile to find out more nuggets regarding the elusive company, like, for example, its drunken genesis.
