Man who started reselling trainers for £10 now on ‘six-figure salary and designs shoes for Stormzy’
A man who made his pocket money as a teenager by reselling trainers for £10 profit is now raking in a six-figure salary and selling shoes to Stormzy.
At 13, growing up in Ealing, Daniel Cordas began making money from on-selling sneakers. He would buy a pair of trainers for £20 and sell them on to someone else; often only for a small profit.
Another hobby he honed in his teenage years was painting, which at the time, he never could have imagined would fit into his future business.
But at 20, while studying business at university, Cordas began building his own collection of sneakers, which now exceeds 100 trainers and has a total value of over £10,000.
One of Cordas orders was for around 70 pairs of shoes and came to a grand total of £100,000
One pair in the collection were Off-White Jordans, which he bought at a retail price of £130 and after six months sold for £1,000.
After leaving uni at 21, and moving back to London, Cordas combined his love for art with his obsession for shoes and put brush to leather.
His intricate hand-painted shoe designs quickly attracted a following on Instagram, but he initially saw the shoe designs as more of a pastime than a viable career path.
After 10 months working on the Nike shop floor in Harrods, Cordas’ manager spotted his work on social media and they decided to try selling his work in the store.
Cordas has designed shoes for Billie Eilish, who wore his shoes on the Ellen DeGeneres Show
The successful trial saw Cordas quit his retail job to do a three month sneaker pop-up with Harrods, which was a stomping success.
He went solo not long after, setting up his own business which he has run for six years. Now aged 28, Daniel is earning six figures.
Daniel told MyLondon the success of his business was a dream come true. “I went from selling shoes online to owning my own business and having a million opportunities knocking at my door,” he said.
Cordas has designed shoes for Stormzy, Travis Scott, Floyd Mayweather and Billie Eilish, who wore his shoes on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
His average price is £250 to £1000 depending on the complexity of the painting and whether it’s a bespoke design. Each pair takes a couple of days to finish.
Daniel uses leather paint to ensure the artwork endures the test of time
One of his orders was for around 70 pairs of shoes and came to a grand total of £100,000.
Some customers ask him to paint clothing and bags too, with one celebrity, who Cordas could not name, having asked him to paint their Hermès Birkin handbag.
This job alone made Cordas £30,000.
“That’s one of the only times I’ve ever been nervous doing this job, I can’t afford to get that wrong,” admitted Daniel.
The designer, who now lives in Hillingdon with his girlfriend, said he was lucky to be able to make a living from doing something he loves.
“It makes me super happy doing this and it’s my job,” he said.
“It’s a hard thing to commercialise and there are a lot of talented artists out there. Some are more talented than me, but I have always had this drive to be successful and run my own business.”
You can get your chance to have your shoes designed by Daniel for free at the 1800 Tequila x Daniel Cordas collection drop in 15 Bateman Street, Soho on Saturday August 14 and Sunday August 15 between 11am and 7pm.
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