Serrant sat down with FN to discuss the tenth anniversary of the brand’s Clean 90 sneaker.

Eight months after officially joining Axel Arigato as chief executive officer, Frédéric Serrant is just getting started.

In January, Serrant took over the role from cofounder Albin Johansson, who stepped back from the top job one year after his fellow founder Max Svärdh moved away from day-to-day involvement in the business.

Serrant spent the last 16 years at Adidas, most recently as managing director of its APAC business. While at the German athletic company, he also held roles like senior vice president and general manager of Southeast Asia, vice president and general manager of Brazil and Chile, and sales director.

In his first extended interview as CEO, Serrant sat down with FN to discuss the tenth anniversary of the brand’s Clean 90 sneaker, which was designed by Svärdh in 2016. Still made in Portugal, the silhouette has barely changed over the years. And for Serrant, that staying power comes down to Svärdh’s vision for the shoe, which was not to design based on trends.

“Max designed the sneaker to be above the trends, right, and also something that would be relevant every day, every year,” the CEO said. And he’s seeing the style continue to gain traction.

“If you look at the numbers over the last three to four years, Clean 90 has been gaining share in our business,” Serrant explained. “And the way I’m looking at it today is as the bigger players, the volume players, try to create the core trend for next year, which is looking like a court-inspired minimal shoe .

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