LRA: How many shoes have you bought to date?
Ben: It's safe to say that I've bought roughly 50,000 pairs of shoes.
LRA: What's the most you've ever purchased at one time?
LRA: What shoes were they?
Ben: The Nike SB Dunks. You could even ask someone who hates on me and they'll be the first to admit that Ben Baller bought out every single skate and surf shop in town. I started the hype on the SB Dunk in 2002.
LRA: What's the most expensive shoe that you've sold?
Ben: It was the Methamphibian Sole Rebel shoe which sold for $33,100.
LRA: Any shoes in specific?
Ben: [Converse Chuck Taylor's] have always been in, but they're coming back and they have a broad appeal. You'll see everyone from OGs to skaters to punkers, all the way to folks in the Hamptons rockin' Chucks. It's definitely a historic shoe. Vans right now is also killin' it and that's what I f*ck with. I'll be helping design some Vans pretty soon and also be on the lookout for Mister Cartoon's Vans shoes as well as a set from the designer Marc Jacobs and Undefeated. Their shoes are on some real classic trip and I've heard that Gucci even wants to get in on the action.
LRA: Nike has run the game for a while so in your personal opinion what's the next big thing that consumers should look for and where is the shoe game headed for?
Ben: Customs are dead right now and I don't see basketball shoes coming back in for a long time either and sneakers are all the hype and you're right, Nike has been in the game for a while but now you should be on the lookout for Vans and Converse. As for me, the future is Vans.
LRA: What's with all the bling?
Ben: That's just another creative outlet that I'm into. Along with my cousins, we've started a custom jewelry facility called Icee Fresh Jewels. It's a company that specializes in unique and hard to make jewelry, and just like the shoe game, I'm about to change up the jewelry biz and introduce a line of jewelry that's going take people back and make them look twice. These are just some examples of custom pieces that I've made.
LRA: Have you created any significant pieces for any celebs?
Ben: I've made a few, but right now I can only mention the double "Game" piece that the rapper The Game rocks, as well as the "I95" piece worn by Fat Joe.
LRA: Nice. Do you have any special thanks or shout-outs?
Ben: Yes. I definitely have to thank Methamphibian (Peter Kim). We started this custom game back in the day and the two of us created some of the hottest trends that are still around. I also have to thank AMC (Air Max Crew) which is comprised of myself, DJ AM and DJ Homicide.
LRA: Where can readers see more of Ben Baller?
Ben: You can visit my myspace page. I have a site, benballer.com, but right now my myspace page is getting so many hits that I'll hold off to complete my own site. I keep it updated constantly so check me out at www.myspace.com/djbenballer.