What is notwoways?
In a climate of daily sneaker drops, East London based sneaker brand notwoways offers a refreshingly simple approach – one silhouette, with one new colourway released each season. The brand’s co-founders describe notwoways as “An upcoming sneaker brand. Affordable, on-trend and trying to make an impact”, and it’s hard to argue that they don’t deliver on all of those fronts.
Who owns notwoways?
Notwoways was founded by Callum McGinley and Rockwell Princely. Callum, aka Callux, is one of the biggest names on the UK YouTube scene with over 3.5m subscribers, while Head Designer, Rockwell is a UCA graduate whose past experience includes revamping Pull&Bear’s street division.
Affordability
With a retail price of around £100, the releases are certainly more affordable than a lot of their contemporaries. But the lower price point hasn’t stopped the brand from attracting high-profile customers including KSI, former NBA player Wilson Chandler, and footballers Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes.
Design
The Notwoways silhouette is instantly recognisable, with the sneaker’s design effortlessly fusing elements inspired by skate and technical shoes to help the sneaker stand out in the chunky footwear market.
Attention to detail is something that sets notwoways apart, with the brand constantly innovating with new materials and technology to keep each new release feeling fresh. The newest Moonless release, for example, comprised of overlaying panels of Nubuck leather and mesh, rope laces, and a sole unit made from phylon and rubber.
Photo by @RockwellPrincely
“We have a short turnaround so we look at both current and future trends. We have to be aware of what others are doing, looking at our competitors. I can’t say I’m looking at architecture or anything specific like that. I look at the brand’s name, and I look at the subtle details of that and what goes beyond it.”, says Rockwell in an interview with Culted.com.
There’s also a strong London emphasis on the design, with Callum adding that the brand is heavily inspired by “the streets of London, the road signs, what people wear in the shops and outside of the pub.”
Sustainability
In terms of impact, both Callum and Rockwell have had a strong focus on sustainability from inception and estimate that their sneakers are now around 70% sustainable.
As Rockwell explains in an interview with Hypebeast, “Personally, I’m fed up with brands that are using vegan leather uppers and a small recycled detail and they label it as 100 percent eco-friendly. It’s a bit dishonest. At the same time, vegan materials are often made with plastics that aren’t very durable, they’ll last a few months, so I find myself buying more of these pairs than you would a normal pair of shoes”.
Photo by @Callux
How quickly does notwoways sell out?
The brand’s debut colourway, Exuberance, sold out in just 63 seconds. Their second Moonless drop was bigger – just over 2,00 pairs – and sold out in three minutes. For their third drop, Subsolar, it took just 11 minutes for their 5,000-pair run to sell out completely. Their Moonless colourway, which launched in July, was also a sell-out.
Despite this, the affordable retail price has seen resell prices remain reasonable on StockX, with Asks at the time of writing ranging from £78 to £228.
notrwoways Apricity
