Due to my busy schedule, Jonathan has not yet made me the Beninese lunch we had planned on. I’m not going to forget to use my raincheck for this.

Shoe Material Design Guide. That was the title of the book Jonathan showed me at his desk on Rue de Cléry, in the Salomon Sportstyle showroom space. I kind of couldn’t believe it. Jonathan and I were both wearing the same shoes, the red second-iteration of the collab between Salomon and The Broken Arm called X-Alpages. Jonathan has done a lot of designs and colorways for Salomon Sportstyle, and you very well might be wearing something he created. But that is where the shoe-talk ends. We aren’t here to talk about “things.”

I shot an event at the Rue de Cléry space about this time last year, and that is where I met Jonathan. I’m shy and don’t do much interacting while I’m working, but somehow Jonathan and I started chatting. I don’t think we talked about shoes or fashion, really, which was refreshing during the ten days stretch that is Paris Fashion Week.

Jonathan is one of those people who is just so obviously “good” when you meet them. I don’t know how to qualify that, really. A kind demeanor? Or maybe “kind” or “interested” or some other adjective. I don’t think it needs to be clarified. Jonathan tells me that his mother, who came from an immigrant background, always told him to be open-minded. Maybe that’s it?

I met up with Jonathan four times for this story. I think this is a record. It wasn’t out of necessity, but out of my own desire to be around such a positive person. First time is at the Salmon space, as I mentioned before. We were not meant to meet there. We were meant to meet at his apartment, but when I showed up at the apartment, he said he was at Salomon. So, I rode to Salomon. When I got to Salomon, I checked my phone and he had texted that he was on his way back to his apartment to meet me. I stayed put and waited for him to return.

The second meeting was at a breakfast event hosted by Salomon, near the Marais. Just a quick photo in the cold and a “see ya later.” The THIRD time we met was in a torrential downpour, finally at his apartment in the 18th. He arrived with a giant bouquet of flowers which he had bought for his girlfriend. It was raining incredibly hard, and we were both soaked. He was, somehow, smiling. I was drowning. We went inside and he showed me around. He showed me his books. And he showed me his artifacts from Benin. Things I had only heard of before from my late friend, Nabile Quenum. This is when we were supposed to eat Beninese food, but my schedule was too packed.

One of the most interesting things Jonathan explained to me, was about his upbringing in the suburb of Val d’Oise, outside of Paris. “When you come from the suburbs, the only horizons they push you towards are garage (jobs), or construction or (…) commerce.” But Jonathan dreamed of being a designer. Originally, he wanted to design cars, and ended up studying to be an engineer, as it was one of the only options available where he lived. After graduating, he got a job at Foot Locker for the sole purpose of studying the consumer base, and this led to small custom designs for customers which he did on his own, until the demand grew.

Now you’re wearing his designs. Or your friend is.

The system was set to keep him away from this job. A kid from the suburbs. An immigrant mother. There was a box that he was “meant” to be placed in, but that box wasn’t for him in the end. Jonathan’s box hinges on one side at the top. There’s some tissue paper inside, and when you pull it aside there are two mirrored objects. Jonathan made his own box, and people queue up for what he’s created inside.

Thanks, Jonathan.