Image via New Balance
Kacey Lynch is almost home.
The founder of Bricks & Wood recently returned from Paris Fashion Week where not only did he take in the weeklong event, but he also put his own stamp on it. He hosted a pop-up at Paperboy to celebrate his second sneaker collaboration with New Balance in three years, a take on the 9060 inspired by his grandmother’s home. It was the first time the brand had activated outside of the United States. Lynch called it a huge learning experience.
“It just taught us that it’s always worth a try. Whether it feels good or not, that risk is always worth it, especially when it’s not a risk that can break you. Whether we succeeded in Paris or not, it wouldn’t have broken us as a company,” says Lynch. “We were going up against big fashion houses, bigger brands, and bigger events, but if you ask anybody in Paris you’d hear our name as well. We really left a footprint.”
Lynch will host the third and final stop of his three-city pop-up tour this Saturday at his own Space(s) boutique in South Central Los Angeles, a fitting finale to his mini world tour, before the pair receives a global launch on Jan. 30. But right now, he’s still on the East Coast, sitting at a round table in the center of t.a., a women’s clothing boutique in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. In a few hours, the doors will open to kick off his second pop-up. The tagline for the project, “Nothing Changed but the Address” is plastered across the front windows of the space in white lettering. On Jan. 23, Bricks & Wood made New York City its temporary home.
“The idea was to give each target audience a genuine opportunity to get the shoes. Last time it was so small and so niche. We wanted to take that global approach this time,” says Lynch.
Exclusive merch available at the Bricks & Wood x New Balance 9060 pop-up in Paris. Image via New Balance
Bricks & Wood’s 9060, which New Balance in-house designer Yue Wu of “Refined Future” 2002R fame helped bring to life, perfectly illustrates the theme Lynch sought out to execute. Green hits on the sole act as the front lawn. The use of grey and off-white suede across the upper are meant to resemble the home itself. Fuzzy cream laces nod to the comforting nature of a grandparent’s home. Suede panels on the back heel can be peeled back like curtains to reveal hidden co-branding. And the baby blue liner was used because of the blue sky peaking through the background in a photo of the home Lynch provided. He was even able to shoot his grandmother on the front porch of the home that inspired the project for the official campaign.
But Lynch’s last few months aren’t all about sneakers. Back in September, he opened his first brick-and-mortar location Space(s) in South Central LA. In December, he released Bricks & Wood’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection that featured experimental cut and sew offerings from the brand like a boxy Gabardine twill blazer and a reversible ripstop vest covered in camo. The brand is writing its next chapter. And Lynch is having fun again.
“I feel like now I’m making the things that I was always inspired to make, the things I saw in stores like, ‘Dang, I wish Bricks & Wood could make this,’” says Lynch.
A few hours before Bricks & Wood’s New York pop-up kicked off, we got a chance sit down with Lynch to discuss his 9060 collab, the resurgence of brick-and-mortar retail in streetwear, seeing Virgil Abloh’s influence all over Paris Fashion Week, and more.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Tell me a little bit about the story behind the shoe.
It kind of goes a lot of ways with this shoe. For starters, we try to figure out the story before we figure out the product. Once we came up with it, New Balance presented us with the 9060. We had some other options, but something about that silhouette felt retro and innovative at the same time. So, with the story I wanted to take a step back to where I’m from, South Central, and then also look at where we were at that present time. At that time, traveling was a big part of my day-to-day, gathering inspiration and just seeing the world from a different lens.
The first shoe we did specifically for South Central. We didn’t take the global approach. So, for the second one, it was like, ‘Okay, how do I still tell my true narrative, but also find that balance of where I’m at now, which is bigger than South Central. The colorway came from my grandmother’s house and that was that foundational element of the storytelling. This is who I am no matter what. This is where I’m from. These are my foundational morals. These are the things that shaped me. The idea of “Nothing Changed but the Address” was no matter where you are in the world, these things are the foundation of who you are. You still carry a certain presence and representation of people no matter what room you’re in, no matter what country you’re in.
Did the idea for the three-city pop-up spark from the whole travel theme or was that already planned?
The idea is that we’re doing a tour. It’s like going on tour with the shoe. We had a couple more cities we wanted to add to it, but we couldn’t really squeeze it all in. So, we did LA of course, home base. New York because I used to live in New York, but it’s also our second biggest target audience. And then Paris came from the idea of when I was traveling last year. I was actually with the New Balance team and got a chance to get introduced to a lot of partners, a lot of people. Those things helped shape my relationship with the Parisian audience and have a footprint out there. It showed me it was possible. And then doing it with a partner like New Balance just helped bridge that gap. The idea was to give each target audience a genuine opportunity to get the shoes. Last time it was so small and so niche. We wanted to take that global approach this time.
This is your second project with New Balance. How would you say that relationship has grown?
The first one was so small and I think that it took someone like me and Curtis [Taylor Jr.] to go have a meeting with them to realize how small we kept it and how much we missed out on. By the time this one came around we weren’t leaving anything behind. We’re not the hype company. I want it to be accessible. I’m not into the sneaker world to the point where I want the resale value to be super high. I want people to wear the shoe. New Balance took a global approach on a smaller business, which is pretty rare. They just gave us more opportunities to use all their resources in terms of the distribution, access points, marketing, all those things. We just went as far as we possibly could. We’re definitely very appreciative of the NB partnership.
Do you have a vision for how you want that to grow moving forward?
I think this one was such a risk for a lot of us that we’re trying to digest this one first. But yeah, I think we see New Balance in our future. There’s an opportunity for it to be a third, fourth, fifth one, that’s the goal. We don’t do one-off projects. Everything is meant to have longevity. That’s the goal. And we made that very clear from the jump. But we also understand there’s business, schedules, and things that can be conflicting. We’re just going to take our time and say, ‘Hey, we’re ready. We’re here.’ I think proving ourselves with this one helps us get a third one. The domino effect goes from there.
How was Paris?
Paris, man. [Laughs.] How can I describe Paris? I don’t want to say ‘amazing’ because that’s an easy thing to say. Paris was fulfilling. We’ve never done a pop-up outside of LA, let alone the country. And it was during Paris Fashion Week. And on top of that, the day we did the pop-up there was a strike a block away. We were in the middle of a full public strike where there was no public transportation and we still managed to have a line outside. We had four hours to sell as many shoes as we possibly could.
It was my whole team’s first time in Paris except for myself and Curtis. So, just to see them be as present as they are back home in Paris was super exciting. Paris taught us a lot. It just taught us that it’s always worth a try. Whether it feels good or not, that risk is always worth it, especially when it’s not a risk that can break you. Whether we succeeded in Paris or not, it wouldn’t have broken us as a company. We knew it was a trial. We’d learn from it either way. It showed us if we can do something during Paris Fashion Week, we can do something anywhere. I can’t say it’s going to be as successful, but I think it’s always worth the attempt to try an idea that we all stand by.
It was just a learning curve, man. It’s just something that we really are using as a template and understanding our name can hold some weight. People definitely know New Balance, but there has to be some level of relevance for people to want to come and line up during the strike in 30 degree weather and rain to come get our shoes. It just showed us that it makes sense in places outside of LA. There’s that option to expand.
Could we see a Bricks & Wood showroom in Paris in the future? A runway show?
I was thinking about that. The only thing we didn’t do was have a showroom. We had a four-hour pop-up. I was there for 10 days for a four-hour pop-up. It showed me if I had that extra touch on Paris, whether it was a presentation or something else, I think that would’ve completed the full traditional Paris Fashion Week experience. Knowing that I can probably do that as well in the future, it’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about.
What did you see during your time in Paris that impressed you?
I only did one show. I did go to the LV show again.
How’d you feel about that? I feel like that’s a polarizing thing right now?
I think it’s dope because it’s like the prime example of how anything is possible. Who would’ve thought someone like KidSuper would be designing a runway show for Vuitton? But who would’ve thought someone like Virgil would be a career director of Vuitton?
My highlight was seeing the foundation that Virgil built. It felt like he still had a presence. It doesn’t feel like he’s gone. And I think that’s the craziest part about Virgil. I’ve had my own history with him, but I’ve always respected his process and even more so now where I’m able to see it firsthand like, ‘Dang, he really opened up the doors for a lot of people. His imprint is all over Paris and fashion in general every day.’ And it doesn’t feel like it’s going to just die down. I feel like it’s going to still be there because KidSuper doesn’t get that without Virgil. It’s such a domino effect. Not only did he kick down the door, but he took it off the hinges.
You know at the first show after he had after he passed it said, ‘Virgil was here,’ he still feels present. Whether it’s his peers, the youth, they’re still riding for Virgil and they’re still representing him whether they see it or not. But if you take a step back and look it’s like, ‘Oh, Virgil did this.’ He really had cats skating outside of Louis Vuitton, right outside the main office, and was giving them decks. He had certain rappers or artists going to Louis V shows when technically that’s not a thing if you’re not the highest of the highest. He really created space and I think that was the most inspiring thing for me. I’ll say at least 80 percent of what’s still going on in fashion, it’s because of his presence that he had on the people during those times and the work that he put in.
Tell me about your scooter trip from the pop-up to the LV show.
[Laughs.] So Paperboy, which is where we did the pop-up, is right by the Republic where the main part of the strike was happening. It was crazy, bro. It wasn’t nothing bad was happening. It was just loud music and sirens and horns. So, I’m calling four Ubers, not realizing how close the protest was, and of course they’re calling me trying to tell me they can’t get to me. But I don’t speak French, so I don’t know what they’re saying. So I go outside to the corner and I look and I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s like really a protest.’ The streets are shut down. They were not joking. So, there’s a lime scooter right across the street. I had a whole different outfit for the [LV] show planned. I had my blazer on. But the blazer was too light to wear and ride on the scooter. I’d get too cold. So, I ended up wearing the puffer and some gloves. It was raining and all that. I had to swag-rifice some pieces just so I could make it to the show on time. I got there literally in like 12 minutes. It was dope. And I just parked it up, walked in, took the scooter back, made it right in time for the pop-up. It was perfect. [Laughs.]
Can you talk about the growth of the Bricks & Wood when it comes to designs you’re pushing, new silhouettes you want to experiment with, and where you want to take it?
Our goal is always to expand. We didn’t want to just give you hoodies and sweatsuits and beanies forever. I’ve always wanted to dabble in cut and sew. So with the blazer particularly, that was unique because the reference came from a couture level brand, not in terms of the fit itself, but just the idea of doing a blazer at all. We had never touched anything close to that in terms of formality from our collections. So for us, we want to give you the things that drew you to us like a graphic tee or a hoodie, but we still want to make sure that we’re finding that balance of growing too. I think that’s what this fall collection shows, that risk to be like, ‘Okay, y’all been getting this for the last five years. If we go this route, how do you react? Are you growing with us as an audience the way we are growing?’ It’s just trying to find that balance between us and the audience.
We’re still going to give you our iteration of streetwear because, at the end of the day, that’s who we are. That’s where I’m from. That’s what got me here. I’ll never lose sight of that. But at the same time, I’m almost a 30-year-old man. I can’t sit there and say that I’m wearing graphic tees every day. It’s just having our audience grow with us in the same breath. you know? So far, it’s been received well and I think going to Paris and traveling has helped the audience digest it a lot easier because they see the different elements that we’re in as well.
Do you think that’s necessary for streetwear brands to do right now in order to resonate in the space?
I’ve always seen it as both. I’ve always wanted to give both. I think where the industry is now, people want instant things. It’s about instant gratification. But it gets to a point where that quickness dies out and we end up back in the retro. It happens every 15, 20 years, right? At this point, you can do the T-shirt thing and that’s fine, but once that teenager turns 25, he’s going to wish that he had bought the size up or that he didn’t buy the graphic T-shirt that he doesn’t wear anymore. He’s going to wish he bought the item that had less logos, So, we’re trying to find the balance of both. We try to create this idea of instant where it will make sense later on. It might only last for a year or two right now, but in 10 years you’re going to wish you had it back.
Is there a certain piece you’ve made that you’re super proud of?
I think the blazer, for sure. Or the pants that matched the blazer. I feel like now I’m making the things that I was always inspired to make, the things I saw in stores like, ‘Dang, I wish Bricks & Wood could make this,’ or ‘I wish I could afford the manufacturers to make things like this.’ It was the littlest of things that I didn’t know. A pleat. A welt pocket. I didn’t know certain terms. I didn’t understand why certain things were so expensive. Now that I’m able to make my own versions of that, I’m able to see where it’s going.
There’s probably like eight brands that I really, really support and spend my money on. And now, I can genuinely wear my own clothes. That feels really good and I hope that someone can wear Bricks and Wood as their uniform the same way that we are starting to.
It’s cool to hear you say how you’re growing and learning in real time like that.
I’m very transparent about my process. I don’t know everything at all. I can keep learning. I keep having fun with it. If I knew it all, there’s a lot of things I wouldn’t be doing or taking the time to do. I learn from every experience and I treat all this as my playground. We’re just trying things out, taking a little risk here and there.
Image via New Balance
And you also have the shop now too. Why did now feel like the right time for that?
We opened up the shop on Sept. 30. That timing felt good because we were just in a slow point where the Fall/Winter collection wasn’t ready just yet, but Spring was already pretty much sold through. We had just got a warehouse. So, we just had this extra space downstairs. Something just hit me like, ‘This might be time.’ I kept seeing the gap in the brand at that point. We have the warehouse. We have all the inventory. We are at our office. And now we just have space. The word ‘space’ just kept repeating in my head. When it came down to it, I knew it was right because it reminded me why I started a brand in the first place. I started a brand not because of design ideas or graphics, not even clothing. I started a brand because I wanted to open up a store because shops I went in when I was a teenager helped shape my interest in streetwear and fashion. Seeing cool buildouts, meeting cool people, that’s what sparked everything. I saw a gap and I was able to pay homage to my younger self in a way. That’s when I was like, ‘Okay, this reminds me of why I’m doing what I’m doing.’
Everything I’ve been doing has been online drops, maybe a pop-up here and there. It kind of felt very stagnant in a way. I started to lose touch of my interest. So, now we can do a sneaker drop and drop it in my own store, or we could do an inline drop and people can come try the stuff on. That’s what I always wanted to do. It reminded me why I do what I do. I always wanted to open up a shop within my community where I grew up, South Central. I did that.
I feel like you’re starting to see a lot of brands go back to brick and mortar, have the community be part of it.
I think people just realized. If you asked me when I was growing up, streetwear felt fun. Everybody was peers. Everybody was having fun with each other. Everyone seemed like they had a genuine friendship. When you do it online, you might be making more money or money quicker, but you’re losing a lot of the personable things that made the industry what it is. I started a brand because of how I was treated when I walked into a physical shop and how I felt when I walked into that shop.
Even trade shows are back. Not every brand’s going back, but they’re having them again. I think people just miss that shaking hands experience. For me, I couldn’t keep doing a digital-only thing. If I kept doing it that way, I promise you I’d quit. It’ll make what I do not fun whatsoever.
Any final thoughts?
Shoutout to New Balance. Shoutout to Paperboy. Shoutout to my team. Shoutout to t.a. as well. We’re just super appreciative of being in this position and the help that we’ve been able to get throughout this process. We just take it day by day, bro. No high expectations. No low expectations. We are just going to build.