Franklin Boateng aka King Of Trainers (KOT) is an English entrepreneur, business/social media expert and consultant, passionate about sneakers. With nearly 120K followers on Instagram, he offers content related to street culture and highlights members of the community. Several months ago, KOT unveiled a collaboration with the Italian brand ELLESSE. Delayed due to the health crisis, this capsule collection gets a release date.
King Of Trainers is originally from Tottenham, North London. Born to Ghanaian parents, Franklin is one of many ambitious young black men pushing the boundaries of social entrepreneurship.
In 2010, he founded one of the first successful social networking sites, www.fabsnetwork.com which is now defunct. Several companies contacted KOT for advice on acquiring an audience on social networks, which launched his career as a maestro in this field. Thanks to his popularity, the social influencer has been able to address social issues and advocate for injustices faced by the black community. In fact, it was Franklin who created the hashtag « TottenhamRiots » during the 2011 riots, and his tweets were picked up by many media outlets, leading to a BBC interview. KOT has since been asked to tweet/twog live at events and has worked with other major channels.
Always investing more for the community, in 2014 he founded « The Drop of the Year Awards », the first awards platform for trainers, with live shows held in 2017 and 2018. To take it a step further, he launched www.footwearjobs.co.uk, a site for those interested in pursuing a career in the footwear industry. He also consulted on the first British feature documentary about sneaker culture, « Sole Seekers », which premiered in London in June 2018. Franklin has also delivered a TEDx talk « A Social Media Mind ».
King Of Trainers regularly speaks on social media and as a father, strongly believes in educating young people on the responsible use of these communication platforms. He also organizes and consults on cultural experiences.
The passionate and popular King Of Trainers had the pleasure of collaborating with the sportswear brand ELLESSE to design an exclusive capsule.
It consists of a pair of sneakers and textile pieces referencing the 80s and 90s. Franklin Boateng explains his inspiration in this video shot with his mom :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQmopj8arJ0&t=13s. This collection pays tribute to a part of the history of Wimbledon that has marked KOT : the 1st victory of Boris Becker in 1985, then his defeat in 1995. KOT explains the happiness he felt when the german tennisman won in 1985 and the great disappointment of his defeat in 1995. Mrs. Boateng had bought the brands that the tennis player wore to please her children, Franklin and his sister. Both in 1985 to celebrate the victory and in 1995 to relieve the defeat. King Of Trainer also honors his mother with this collection inspired by these children’s memories that remain engraved for life in the memory.
The apparel collection revolves around a key piece : a sky blue and navy blue tracksuit reminiscent of that of the young Boris Becker when he became champion in 1985. The jacket is two-toned with ELLESSE branding, while the pants are navy blue. The capsule also includes a tennis polo shirt and a sky blue short-sleeved short/t-shirt set with navy blue accents.
On the sneaker side, King Of Trainers chose to reinterpret the Tanker silhouette, a retro tennis shoe originally released in the 80s. Continuing on the same inspiration, this pair is dressed in 2 shades of blue and has the particularity to adopt a mismatched look. The left foot consists of a sky blue suede upper and the right foot in navy blue suede. The famous years « 1985 » and « 1995 » adorn the tongue and heel of each foot, respectively. To affirm the design, the soles are also presented in color matching the upper. As a small nod to Mr. Becker’s victory and his trophy, a second set of gold laces is included in the box specially designed for the occasion.
The KOT x Ellesse collection will be released on July 30, 2022 in London’s Offspring Selfridges store. Prices are set at $180 (£150) for the sneakers, $90 (£75) for the tracksuit jacket and $60 (£50) for the pants, $54 (£45) for the polo shirt, $36 (£30) for the tennis tee and $42 (£35) for the shorts. Let’s go !
King Of Trainers is organizing a Friends & Family event to celebrate the launch of this collaboration on Thursday, July 28th, 2022. Enjoy !
