Hi Everyone, I took a little break over the holiday, and have not posted in a few days but big up to Lori and MIO for keeping content rolling....and speaking of Lori, I have a very special post today. It is an interview with Lori Lobenstein, founder of
FSF.If you have been reading our blog or using our forums and you wondered how did all of this FSF business get started and who is behind it, here is your chance to find out!
name, age, occupation, location?Lori Lobenstine, 39, Boston, founder, femalesneakerfiend.com, HS bball coach, youth worker and more…
What gave you the idea to start fsf?I got the idea from Bobbito Garcia, kind of. I loved his book, but there weren’t any women in it, not one. So I thought, that’s crazy, how’s that possible? He said he didn’t really know of any women that had a great knowledge of sneakers, which also surprised me. So I figured we female sneaker fiends needed a way to find each other, and be a visible presence in the sneaker world. That’s how FSF came to be! Since then I’ve learned a ton, met wonderful women—-and men—-from around the world, seriously grown my collection, and had way too much fun!
How did you envision fsf initially?I always imagined tons of folks talking to each other on the forums, which has really come true (approximately 10,000 members right now). When I started I was just talking to myself (which is embarrassing!), but I knew it’d grow. I’m really excited how much of an online community it has become.
I still have lots of visions that haven’t happened yet, but I’m confident. On the other hand, lots of things have happened that I never thought of, like doing a competition at Sneaker Pimps, writing for sneaker mags, and having such a kick-ass FSF crew making stuff happen! Shout outs to all y’all!
what was your initial definition of a female sneaker fiend?My definition of a female sneaker fiend has always been pretty open: if you’re a girl who loves her kicks, that’s you. I don’t care if you have 2 or 200, if you ball in them, go to the prom in them or sell them on ebay… A lot of girls shy away from the title, like, “well, I only have 20 pairs”, but to me it’s not about number, it’s about obsession!
What's the biggest contribution you feel FSF makes to the female
sneaker community?I think we’ve put it on the map. Anytime someone’s doing a sneaker article, and it’s all guys, someone will say to them, you have to go to FSF. And then we’ll point them to whoever they need to meet to make sure our stories get told. We’re telling sneaker companies to make smaller sizes, we’re telling sneaker mags to cut out the naked women, you know, we’re just trying to bring us together to be a force to be reckoned with. And I think we are!
I also think it’s been transformative for so many female sneakerheads who think they’re all alone. So many girls will write in that they didn’t know any other FSFs until they got on the website, and it’s real inspiring for them. So you can feel that on the site; it’s an online community in the real sense of the word community. Lots of love.
What’s the most interesting thing you have learned or discovered
through your involvement in FSF?Man, I had no idea all the things fiends go through to clean their sneakers! Call me lazy, but shaving pills off with razors, cleaning collections daily, all the do’s and don’ts, man I’ve heard some serious stories. I had no idea how much I neglected my babies!
How is FSF different today than when you started two years ago?Well, when I started it was just me. Now we got Shanan (eskayel) and others on the blog, E the Custom Queen holding down our myspace, N.E.R.D and her crew on the forums, Mellz and Rachel writing, Felicia on sneakerplay and hitting all the mom and pops, and so much more. I really feel like we have a team, which is real cool.
And then we just have a ton of folks on the site. We’re averaging about 1,000,000 page requests per month, about 40,000 a day, with 10,000 members on the forums. So it’s amazing to think of so many females all over the world getting online and finding us.
What do you have planned for the future of FSF?Well, first of all, the new website design should be up shortly, and I can’t wait!!!! From there, we’re aiming to jump forward on all sorts of fronts: events, merchandise, coverage, etc… Keep an eye out.
What was your first sneaker??I can’t even remember! But the first sneakers I fell in love with, and HAD TO HAVE, were the first nike hightops that I saw. They were canvas hightops, white with a black swoosh, and I was about nine. (We’re talking 70s here.) I had to figure out a way to talk my sister out of some of our joint allowance savings so I could pay my mom the difference over Chucks… I LOVED those sneakers!
How has basketball influenced your sneaker consumption?Well it’s funny, I grew up wearing hightops even before I started playing ball. I thought hightops made me look tougher! =) Anyways, I still love them, and just about all old-school sneaks that have a bball influence. (adidas forums, nike court forces, puma first rounds, etc)
Why did you feel it was important to start Fsf as a nonprofit?I wanted FSF to be about the fiends and about the love, not about profit. You can see my attention has been on highlighting the women’s game and creating change in the overall sneaker culture, not just on trying to make money off our obsession with kicks. That said, I think FSF is poised to shift our role in a variety of ways, since we now have the numbers, connections and personnel to push the envelope a bit.
Does having an identical twin make if extra important to stand out
with style?Here’s the thing: when we were growing up, my twin and I had to share clothes, but not sneakers. And we only wore second hand clothes, but got new sneakers once a year. See a pattern here? It’s amazing my sister didn’t end up fiending for kicks!
when choosing a pair of kicks to wear one day what is more important
to you? style or functionalityThe first thing I think of is weather, then even if the weather is good, I think of what I’m doing that day (walking my dog or biking to work = bad, coaching or youth work = good), then which ones I feel like wearing. (Based on comfort and style.) Then I have to find an outfit that matches. Sometimes in that process, I realize what I feel like wearing, and have to switch my sneaks to match that. Make sense? Seems normal to me! I usually end up wearing at least 3 different pairs in a day.
who do you admire most (living or dead)?I have so much admiration for my grandmothers and my parents, but you don’t know them. As for famous people, I have to give it up for June Jordan, my favorite writer, and Teresa Edwards, my favorite basketball player. I also greatly admire my dog, Herschel, who is brilliant in his own not-too-bright way. In the sneaker game I probably admire Woody from Sneaker Freaker the most, because I think his magazine and site are the closest to what I’m trying to do…just great content, flavor and sneakers!
What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you in connection with FSF?I get a lot of great porn sent to me everyday. If anybody’s interested in that, I’ll forward it to you!
to find out even more about Lori and her sneaker obsession see her article on the main FSF site
here.
