Sneakers, Style & All That Jazz

We invited Simon Caspar — one of our favorite local music producers and vocalists — for a casual conversation about Lacoste’s new runway show collection.

What started as a quick exchange about one standout piece, the Gaitor Sneaker, quickly escalated into a discussion about technique versus style, and all that jazz.

At some point, Simon talks about how fairly easy it is to tell when something feels right — and how hard it is to actually get there. You can watch someone land the most technical trick imaginable, on a board or on skis, and still walk away feeling oddly untouched.

“Same in music,” he says. Perfect pitch. Clean control. And still, something’s missing. Then, every now and then, it clicks. The technique is there, but it doesn’t show off. What stays is the expression.

Somewhere along the way, it becomes clear it’s never just one thing. Intention matters — the energy behind it. But without technique, it doesn’t really hold. Or you never quite get it out.

We keep coming back to the same ideas. You repeat a movement until you stop thinking about it. You learn the rules well enough to forget them. That’s when things start to feel easy. And when they do, they usually look right too.

Style isn’t something you add.

It’s what’s left.