VP of Design for Pony International, Kyle Pulli, captured it best when he said, “A paradigm shift is happening now and people are redefining what value is. Great design, where the brand is actually cool and it means something, is more valuable than just the flavor of the month.” And evidently Kyle is not alone in his thinking.
More after the jump!….
This transformation is taking place right before our eyes; as the days of American excess, mass production, and doing things purely motivated by profit are quickly coming to a close. The “younger” generations are at the forefront of this mental alteration—breaking down stereotypes and chipping away at this overindulgent way of thinking and living in the United States. The younger generations (X-ers, Y-ers, Y-Notters, and the like) are more conscious than any generation of recent past; evolving and constantly striving to do things motivated by the “right” reasons. Pony, as a result, will be the like-minded company to outfit these enlightened souls.
Obviously, the goal of any company or business is to make money and achieve success. But this does not mean that businesses, more specifically clothing and footwear manufacturers, must run their organizations with a stale, cookie-cutter mentality focused solely on formulas that, when solved, equate to large profits. Success can also be achieved by doing things properly: with care, intelligence, patience, and above all, flavor. Pony is a company fueled by this philosophy. With this drastic swing in priorities taking place in today’s society, Pony finds itself in a perfect situation, by planning to offer dope, quality goods at lower prices than similarly valued shoes manufactured by the competition.
Pulli explained, “A lot of other footwear companies focus the bulk of their resources on their statement-level (or highest priced) shoe, and neglect the rest of their lower priced models. We feel like if we can innovate in that area, where that hot spot is, and overbuild our footwear, our top-end shoe will definitely shine next to the take-downs from other companies sitting next to it on the shelf.”
Pony, as an organization, is certainly not new. Many probably remember seeing Pony’s cleats in the sporting goods store back during their soccer and little league days. This is because Pony was founded in 1972 and, as a brand, has been very well-known ever since—especially in the arena of performance footwear. Several changes in ownership and staff though, during the late 1990s through the better part of this decade, left the company hidden from public view and not functioning to its fullest potential. Then, in 2007, present ownership bought Pony International, LLC outright. Next, a very carefully chosen team was assembled and put in place to take over the renowned footwear firm that had seemed to have lost its momentum. Finally, Kyle Pulli was wooed from his post at Adidas and brought in as the creative lead and the overhaul was complete.
“Momentum can go both ways,” Kyle elaborated, “and internally, we had negative momentum. It literally took us the better part of six months to stop this negative momentum and to get the momentum started in a positive direction. At this point now, our momentum is headed full-force in the right direction.” As a high school student, growing up in Northern California, Kyle Pulli was both an exceptional artist and outstanding athlete. Those two passions as well as a keen interest in design directed him to Arizona State University.
“I went there for two reasons: one, to play baseball and, two, the university had a phenomenal industrial design program.” Within a year and a half, Kyle’s baseball career concluded. Yet his career as design student continued, and his life as a professional artist was hardly beginning.
Pulli ultimately graduated at the top of his class from ASU and was quickly rewarded with his dream position in Portland as a performance footwear designer with international heavyweight Adidas. Initially, he spent the bulk of his time designing football and baseball cleats for Adidas, but eventually, Pulli became known as the basketball guy for the company. He reflected, “I think the cleated sports are definitely more of a brand builder, and basketball is more of a money-maker.”
During his ten-year tenure at Adidas, Kyle worked closely with the NBA legends like Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, Chauncy Billups and Dwight Howard and elevated Adidas’ credibility and status in the arena of performance basketball shoes. Even though Pulli had a superb situation in the Pacific Northwest and had gained international recognition for his work at Adidas, the allure of moving south to San Diego and taking control of the creative reins of an organization with as much heritage as Pony was too great.
“I was really happy where I was at, but this situation was kind of like a hidden gem. The opportunity to come in and put your thumbprint on a brand and just start from scratch—it doesn’t come around often, if ever, for a designer,” he stated enthusiastically. Although, at the time, he had doubts about leaving a good thing, the chance to work with an all-star staff and resurrect a famed brand like Pony immediately erased any reservations that Pulli had. “If it had been another company with a different name that wasn’t recognizable, I probably wouldn’t have moved down here.”
For the past two years, the group at Pony has had its collective nose to the grindstone in preparation of their official, worldwide re-launch, slated for 2010. They have been redesigning, recreating, rethinking, researching and revising in order to release the tightest lifestyle and performance goods by Pony the world has seen. Not only has the squad at Pony been building internal chemistry in preparation for their global onslaught, they have also reached out and signed a number of big-name athletes to represent their brand as well. Of course, this process was also carefully thought out. Pulli mentioned that any company can throw money at an athlete to represent their brand, but Pony reached out to specific players who really embody the company’s philosophy and message.
MLB’s Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, the NBA’s Wilson Chandler of the New York Knicks, and the NFL’s Randy Moss of the New England Patriots are the familiar faces of Pony’s revival.
As this paradigm shift in today’s society takes hold, Kyle and company are hard at work preparing to make Pony International a globally recognized brand again. With creativity and flair, the team at Pony plans on rolling out quality footwear that will reestablish Pony as a part of the general public’s consciousness. Pulli explained that his squad’s first priority is to, “grow the brand the right way. Because I think when you focus on the right things and you focus on what’s right for the brand, everything will always work out—it has to. There are always ups and downs and to sustain, you have to have this solid foundation to build on.” Pony has just that. A gifted leader and an exceptional staff mean a solid foundation for Pony International’s future, one rooted in the ideals of a new American and world culture.
Text by: Jesse Shamshoian
