Share This:

Matt Webster is a former employee of both size? and Nike. Originally from Cambridge, his career in sportswear has taken him all over Europe. He’s spent time in Sheffield, Manchester and Amsterdam, and is now based in Lausanne, Switzerland, working for the International Olympic Committee.

“I’m pretty busy at the moment,” says Matt. “Tokyo 2020 is just around the corner!” Fortunately for us, Matt isn’t ever too busy to talk sneakers – they’re a true passion for him, something which his long career in sportswear is testament to.

Matt worked in various branding, buying and marketing roles at size? for six years before heading to Nike HQ in multiple directorial positions for seven years. It goes without saying that this is someone who knows their stuff when it comes to sneakers and is well versed in the history of the size? and Nike’s relationship.

“I have such strong, fond memories of those early days at size?,” Matt recalls. “I was working with such an awesome set of people: Wayneo, Marshy, Sam, Mike, Lev – they’re all still my close mates now. It was before sneaker culture had really hit the mainstream.

We’re talking about a time where we’d reissue an iconic silhouette online – like the Air Max Light in 2006, for example. We’d go for lunch and come back absolutely stoked to find we’d sold 58 pairs! It was pre-hype – different times.”

Matt credits this period in his career at size? as the time that his passion for kicks truly began. “It’s where I learnt my craft,” he says. “We all loved what we did so much, and we got to be super creative.

I was running the size? website and marketing, which was such an incredible opportunity. But more importantly, I also got involved with designing some of the Nike size? exclusives – including some of the 10th Anniversary Pack, which was obviously huge.”

Matt and his team’s 10th Anniversary Pack consisted of three shoes: the Air Mariah, the Lunar Mariah and the new Lunar Air 180.

The process of designing them was a moment in Matt’s career that he remembers with enormous enthusiasm. “It was so cool to see the samples come through, and even better when it dropped,” Matt tells us proudly. “This was also back when minimum orders were only 250 and retailer exclusives still existed, so our 10th Anniversary pack was a properly limited drop. It was amazing.”

A decade later, Matt’s anticipation for the Air Max 95 ‘20 for 20’ is unmistakeable. “I have so many memories bound up in the Air Max 95 silhouette. For me personally, it means Manchester – for my days at size? and for the breadth of colourways, you saw across the city. It was definitely the ‘Manny’ Air shoe, but it kind of reminds me of my time at Nike in Amsterdam too.

Looking at the forthcoming shoe, Matt is truly impressed. “There’s been so many dope Nike size? exclusives that you really need the panelling of an AM95 to capture them all properly!

What better way to celebrate twenty years of size? and twenty years of friendship between two companies that shaped my life. I think the Air Max 95 ‘20 for 20’ is perfect.”

Share This: