Chris Robinson comes from an Irish and African American background. As a child, he did not have everything he wanted, and most of the time he had less than most of us. Without a big family and someone to support him, Chris Robinson had to start working at an early age.
He was only 14 when he got his first salary and the first thing he bought was a pair of Nike. His taste for fashion developed since he was a child, the lack of possibilities then, determined the grown-up Chris to work hard in order to prove himself that no matter where you come from, there is always a chance for you.
“One of the most influential turning points in my life was as a child I was sitting in front of the local convenience store when I threw a rock into the street as a brand new Chevy Tahoe was passing by. The driver stopped, rolled down his window, cursed at me, and told me “This car cost $45,000 and you will never be able to afford something like this.” As I cried on my way home, I set goals to make sure I would prove that man wrong….”
Now, he has a huge collection of over 3000 pairs and he is a successful entrepreneur. In 2007 he opened his first shop but he had to close it in 2009. However, his dream did not vanish. Only a few years after, in 2011 he opens another store and soon the store will celebrate 10 years of amazing success.
Chris Robinson built an amazing community of over 130k followers on Instagram, where he regularly shares snippets of his universe. Believe me, it’s worth following him on Instagram @sbcollector to see his neat and well-structured collection. One of the on-going goals of Chris is to change the way people look at sneakers. They need to understand that there is something more than just a pair of shoes and often they are entitled to be called art.
SB Collector is not an ordinary person who loves sneakers. There are other collectors, but what makes Chris Robinson stand out is his vision and unicity.
“Why I feel I stand out from a lot of other collectors is my love for Sample pairs, which are the pairs that the brands work on before releasing the actual shoe. These pairs tend to be different than the actual released version and can therefore be much more sought after and valuable in today’s market. Sometimes these shoes can get scrapped, and in some cases, I have the only pair in existence.”
Chris Robinson was inspired by Kanye West on his journey to becoming one of the most famous sneaker collectors in the world. His secret? Prove them wrong! No matter who tells you that you will never succeed, it is entirely up to you to become the person you always wanted to. Believe in yourself and how Chris would say:
“Love what you do, and you will never work a day in your life.