Drew White Steps Out From Behind the Scenes with a-Feeling and Saucony

Would you buy a product if you had no idea what it actually looked like? The concept of blind-box sneakers isn’t new; just look at what Nike is doing right now with the Kobe 4 Draft Pack or what they did with Virgil Abloh and Off-White on the 1-of-50 “Lot” Dunks. What is rare is buying a product that you literally have never seen before, but that’s exactly what Drew White wanted you to do with his debut independent footwear collaboration through his brand a-Feeling*.

You might not recognize the name Drew White, but you’ve most certainly seen products he has worked on. White started with Bodega, the famed sneaker retailer that recently shut down its iconic Boston location, over 13 years ago, and worked his way up the ladder within the company. He had a hand in numerous footwear collab projects, including the Bodega x New Balance 997S No Days Off, Bodega x Nike Dunk High Legend, and more.

He left Bodega in 2024 and began to go all-in on his brand a-Feeling, a label that he created in 2021, and now the first project from the New England-based brand, the a-Feeling x Saucony ProGrid Paramount, is almost here. In the lead-up to the global launch of the collab, Drew sat down with Sole Retriever to talk about his backstory, how he developed a-Feeling, the process of creating a footwear collab with Saucony, and the future of the label.

*If you were in Paris for Fashion Week in January 2026 and attended Saucony’s pop-up, you would have had a shot at seeing the shoe through a peephole.

From Bodega to Building His Own Platform

If you’ve been paying attention to the sneaker retail space in the 2020s, you’ll know that key players from decades past are either gone or now reduced to smaller roles. Unfortunately, Bodega falls into the latter. The shop was founded in 2006 and gained prominence in the international sneaker and streetwear community thanks not only to its product offerings but also the unique storefront it operated that was hidden inside a Bodega in Boston.

For Drew, his experience at Bodega shaped his design prowess through on-the-job training rather than traditional or formal design schooling. And while Bodega was the primary focus during his days with the company, he was still working on outside projects to flex his design muscle. “I didn't go to school for design. So I really learned it on the ground there and then, sort of teaching myself through helping friends with their business ventures. If a friend needed a logo or a poster or a flyer for an event, I would just take that stuff on and figure out how to do it.”

In a post-COVID world, Drew finally formed a-Feeling and took on freelance design projects, but never touched footwear. The goal was always for Drew to have his own label. “Once I gained the skillset and the confidence in design, I was like, ‘You know, I want to be able to do this for myself and figure out how to do it. I think early on I thought I was going to do graphic design as a service, but then I realized my passion for footwear, and the way that work kind of came to me a lot easier.”

Drew came out of the gate strong and helped design what many would put at the top of Sneaker of the Year lists for 2024, the Kids of Immigrants x Nike Air Max Sunder. “Once I stepped off of Bodega, that was the first opportunity. And that just helped give me more confidence in leaning into that line of work fully. I've always sat in a unique space where I'm in between the independent brand or creative and the corporate footwear partner, so I’ve been able to leverage that position to get different opportunities.” He would also help contribute to Larry June’s first adidas collab on the Adistar Control 5.

What Exactly is a-Feeling?

The brand a-Feeling may be on the cusp of launching its first footwear collab, but Drew founded the company back in 2021 for freelance design work. Drew comes from a non-technical background in the design world, which is exactly where the name of the label is rooted.

“I feel like so much of what I was doing was basing it on how I ultimately wanted people to feel when they saw the shoe,” said Drew. “And it's just something that I've always leaned on in terms of a terminology to describe my creative process, because sometimes I don't have like a technical reason why I use a certain color. People always ask me, ‘Why'd you do this?’ And I'm like, ‘It just felt right.’”

During our conversation, Drew mentioned that the tagline for the brand is essentially “it’s not that deep.” While yes, there are deeper meanings to be had through fashion and design choices, “Sometimes the reason is it felt right.”

Why Saucony Was the Right Partner

Because of Drew’s long tenure at Bodega, he was able to develop relationships with just about every major brand. After all, Bodega has collaborated with the likes of Nike, New Balance, and of course, Saucony.

Spearheading Saucony’s collaborative efforts is Jason Faustino, a name that at this point you should be familiar with, especially if you’ve been keeping up with our series of interviews with the label’s brand partners like Minted NY, 3sixteen, and Estudio Niksen. Be on the lookout for a conversation with Jason about everything Saucony is up to in the coming weeks.

Drew, like so many others, spoke highly of Jason and the team over at Saucony. “He [Jason] advocated for me so hard. I needed someone on the inside that knew what I was gonna push for. He’s supported me even outside of my footwear design stuff.”

There was obviously a bit of hesitation at first for Saucony to work with a brand that had zero track record of actually putting out projects on its own. Back in early 2025, when talks began between Drew and Jason for an a-Feeling x Saucony collab, Jason was pivotal in co-signing Drew’s brand-new venture to the larger Saucony organization, and of course, they trusted the process.

“Out of any brand partner that I’ve ever worked with, they were the most open to trying things,” said Drew. “Other brands will be like ‘Oh, we don’t really think that’s going to do well,’ but they’re [Saucony] the opposite, like ‘We’ll try it. We’ve never done that before, but let's see what happens.’”

Choosing the ProGrid Paramount

Retro bring-backs are commonplace in the footwear industry, especially today, but Saucony has been doing them right. The heritage label brought back the ProGrid Paramount at the start of the year via inline colorways, though the first relaunch was via a collab with Metagirl in September 2025. The silhouette was originally released in 2007 as a performance running shoe, but like many other mesh runners from this era, it’s been revived as a lifestyle staple.

Drew explained that right out of the gate, the ProGrid Paramount was his silhouette of choice. “The big draw for me was it not having the logo.” Interesting choice for Saucony, right? Most brands will want their most recognizable logo on the side of the shoe, a la Swoosh, Three Stripes, and in Saucony’s case, the River.

But according to Drew, the Saucony team did not have a pair of the ProGrid Paramount in its archives at the time and purchased one on eBay. The pair they bought did not have the river logo on the upper, and with little to no surviving archival data, they assumed the pair was released without the logo. Come to find out, it did have the river logo during its initial run, but the team decided to continue to release inline pairs without the logo. Drew did “add” it back via a hangtag included with the sneaker.

Selling the Shoe Blind

Most brand new labels would want to roll their product out for months, seeding influencers and media outlets and building up hype to gain recognition among sneakerheads. But Drew obviously went a different route. His a-Feeling Instagram account posted a blurred-out photo of the sneaker and sold the then-unknown Saucony sneaker on its website.

“Everything is made out to be a limited special release, and then you see it two to three months in advance on all the cool people. It’s this long-winded thing,” said Drew. “I wanted to come in with a whole different energy. I was trying to think of how I could take advantage of the “track record” of things I’ve done in the past.”

Saucony was adamant at one point in previewing the sneaker at Paris Fashion Week in January 2026, but with the help of Jason, he was able to come to a compromise. “I built a box with a peephole with the shoe in it. The only way you could get a glimpse is if you went up to it. You couldn’t take a photo.”

In total, Drew was able to sell over 200 pairs of sneakers, all just on the name backing the product. Pretty amazing for someone who has spent the majority of their career as a behind-the-scenes designer.

The Future of a-Feeling

Drew is located in Rhode Island, and with the New England area now lacking in selection for streetwear boutiques after the closure of Bodega (there’s really only Concepts and Sneaker Junkies), he hopes a-Feeling can help restore the scene. When asked where he sees the brand in five years, Drew said he hopes to have a booming store and that he wants to “put on for Rhode Island.”.

“There’ll be apparel. I’m working on opening a store next year under the name,” said Drew. “Gonna keep on the footwear stuff. We’ll probably do objects.”

a-Feeling x Saucony ProGrid Paramount Release Info

If you didn’t buy the a-Feeling x Saucony ProGrid Paramount when Drew dropped it without visuals, you can buy the shoe via a-Feeling once more on June 28, 2026. A global release will take place via Saucony and select retailers on July 2, 2026. Retail is set at $185. For release updates on a-Feeling’s debut footwear collab and more in the sneaker world, download the Sole Retriever mobile app.

Nicholas Vlahos

Sneakerhead from South Florida who turned his passion into a career. When not writing for Sole Retriever, I enjoy watching films and discovering music. Follow me on Letterboxd @nickvlah For tips, reviews, or any shoes in a size 13, email nick@soleretriever.com