Dionies, athletic footwear and apparel offer a brand-new take on the future of sportswear and open a unique market in fashion. Its footwear is supported by a constructive design for fashion and stability, 100% handcrafted in Italy.
The Story of Us
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1984
In 1984, Dionies was just a sketch on paper. Dionies pronounced [dahy-oh-nees], is the concept of young Xavier Grimes who in 1984 chose a name that he defined as "Great Success". He would soon learn of the Greek origin of the name, derived from the name of the God of Wine, Dionysus.
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Fascinated with the latest brands of sport shoes, he would constantly draw shoes and study the descriptions associated with each shoe and the material they were made of, so to incorporate those ideas into his own design. The shoe designs became a living being that consumed him to learn more about the process of shoe design and manufacturing. He began learning what a heel cap and toe cap was, and how to label the different parts of the shoe with various descriptions so the design could explain itself without him having to say a word. |
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With no access to a computer, or the Internet during this time, he did extensive research on how to manufacture his shoe design to introduce them to the world. But with limited resources, all he could do to keep his vision alive was to continue sketching shoes, which he sketched over thirty designs over the course of twenty years. Inspired by the rise of FUBU, in 1994, Xavier brought life into Dionies as he self-funded a short line of t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, and baseball caps, which he was able to put in a local store on consignment. He was also successful at providing a local up-coming rap artist named Young Lad with merchandise to help push the product. |
1994 Introductory Line |
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During this time, his entire concept behind selling Dionies was direct mail via mail order catalog. Keep in mind, there was no Internet. So he set out to purchase a bulk mailing list, P.O. Box, started a company, obtained a 1-800 number, and created what he considered to be a brochure - or a catalog to send to rural America to capture an audience that had no access to a mall, shopping center, or Internet. He figured the nearest shopping mall, or shopping center for rural America was maybe 20 miles. And the next big thing to ordering sports apparel was the East Bay catalog. He set out to sale the small inventory of Dionies apparel, in hopes of capturing a market that was already dominated by big brands, but by taken the direct approach. He wanted to do what other major brands weren't doing, at least he thought. |
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With limited resources available during this time, he set out to make his dream come true and follow behind the footsteps of other known brands, but with a market already saturated, Dionies was shelved for several years until now. With the advancement of modern technology, and the access to moreresources than ever before, Xavier re-introduces Dionies.
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