The first thing Alex Zono did when he heard he was receiving a Brooks collaboration was… go running. And it’s not surprising – the Cape Town local’s design output features a cap which can be clocked on runners across the globe, emblazoned with the phrase: ‘I DIG RUNNING’. But Zono’s eponymous label goes beyond just one recognisable piece, with his joyful design language telling stories across technicolour tops, vivid Booty Shorts, bold socks, and now, two colourways of the Brooks Ghost Trail 1.
On the day that Zono launched his debut sneaker collaboration, we sat down with him to talk running in South Africa, big French mountains, and why asking questions is so important.
Let’s kick this off with a congrats. Moving from small, considered apparel collections to a global footwear collaboration with a brand like Brooks is a huge step. How important is it to you to represent your city and country?
What's exciting is being able to show the world that South Africa has some cool designers. I hope this colab helps the world find more exciting designers and runners that are all coming from South Africa. Or make them come visit.
The more I can help showcase that South Africa is a force and we are all doing some epic stuff – not only me – the better.
How has your local running landscape influenced your approach to storytelling and community compared to major global hubs like London and New York, where you're launching community activations with Knees Up and Extra Butter?
Running isn’t really a new sport or a new concept. It’s kinda been going on for a very long time, and I think you can really feel that in South Africa.
We have a race that turns 100 next year. It’s historic, it gets broadcast on television. But it’s more than just the race itself. The people taking part, the groups of people watching, the families that come out to support – it’s become a celebration, something that you do every year with your family and friends. Every family has its own way of celebrating. Some people go out and support on the side of the road, some watch it on TV, but you do it because that’s what you do every year. There is a unison to it.
And I think that’s what I love about running. It’s become something much bigger than the sport or the act of exercising. It’s about people and the celebration of others’ success. When you watch runners on TV or on the street, you don’t know every person who is running past. Not a chance. Yet that doesn’t mean you aren’t going to cheer for them as hard. No – you’re still going to scream and cry and follow their journey. That’s the beautiful part of South African running. It’s not necessarily about the show, or the times, or even whether you have a friend running the race. You’re watching because it’s part of your life. It’s something you’ve grown up with, and something you come back to every year. I think there’s something really beautiful in that.
What role did your testing trip to Chamonix play in shaping the final visual identity of your Ghost Trail 1 duo, especially when translating raw alpine environments into performance footwear?
I was just in awe of how big the mountains can be. I’d never seen mountains like that, or been that high before, or run for five days in a row with a group of friends. The whole trip was full of firsts.
I was so lucky to have great friends with me who joined in, flew all the way to run around a mountain and create some amazing, really memorable and joyful memories from the whole run.
Bringing the colours of those mountains into the shoe, including the reds from all the Swiss flags, the clouds, the butterfly motifs, feels almost like I’ve created my own souvenir from the trip. Whenever I look at the shoe, the first thing I think about is the stories we shared out there with my crew. I’m so glad I got to do that, and now I have this by-product of the experience that will always serve as a little memento of that run.
How did you balance your brand philosophy – of running being an intimate daily ritual, rather than a clinical performance exercise – with Brooks' technical standards on a silhouette like the Ghost Trail 1?
The funny thing is, not that much. Shoes already have a personality of their own. Almost like cars, they each have a little quirk, a little moment that makes you fall in love with them.
Yes, Brooks shoes are technical and bring a level of performance to your run, but their main goal is still to get you outside. To help make your run as easy as possible. What really helped with that was the model we chose. The Ghost Trail is a road-to-trail shoe. Isn’t that epic? It means you can pretty much go wherever you want on your run. You have this perfect Mustang under your feet that can cruise on the road, but also has the 4x4 capabilities to take you wherever you go through some muddy and more technical sections.
What did you learn about your design ethos through this process that you want to carry into future projects?
How much I like butterflies, and how much I like asking questions.
I’d never made a shoe before, or even designed one. It was an entirely new world for me, and one that was slightly intimidating. I mean, it’s a shoe. I think having your own shoe is probably everyone’s dream at some point.
I don’t have all the answers, and that’s what made having Brooks there so important. I could ask questions about shoes, about colours, about materials, and really try to understand how everything works. And then you can start asking the slightly more unexpected questions. Like, ‘Hey, would Anna and Josh be excited to be in the video?’
I really want to keep asking more questions. Because you never really know what the answer is going to be, and sometimes the answer takes you somewhere you never expected to go.
Walk us through the storytelling behind the two distinct colour palettes.
Shoe One is really a nod to the ‘I DIG RUNNING’ OG trucker hat. That hat is what helped me get the brand going, which allowed me to work on this shoe in the first place, so I really wanted to give it a little nod in the design. The colours and the motifs, like the butterflies and the red highlights, all come from that hat. Even the multicoloured sole is a little reference to it.
The second shoe is really inspired by climbing a mountain. It’s about the journey of going from grass, to slate, to mud, and eventually reaching your final goal of the clouds. You can see the clouds on the sockliner, so it’s almost like the whole shoe takes you through that journey from the ground all the way up to the top.
What’s next for you and your brand?
We’re heading back to Arizona to help Cher and Pace Team runner Carla Molinaro with her Javelina 100-mile race. It’s going to be pretty epic.
I’ve also got a load of races coming up, so lots and lots of mountains. I’m pretty excited to be able to run in my own shoe!
Keep running with all of this year’s marathon-winning supershoes, here!
