VANGUARD: The Creative Soccer Community | Daniel Buezo

From the streets of Brooklyn to the concrete pitches of Paris, Kids of Immigrants co-founder Daniel Buezo is building something bigger than just another brand. As the label continues its relationship with Nike Football, we sat down with Daniel to talk identity, representation, the power of community and why the beautiful game might just be the ultimate expression of everything Kids of Immigrants stands for.

For Kids of Immigrants (KOI), its evolving relationship with Nike represents something more than just a product. It's an opportunity to tell stories that have historically gone unheard, celebrate the beauty of different backgrounds and create something that the next generation can see themselves in.

Founded by Daniel Buezo and his creative partner, Kids of Immigrants has spent more than a decade challenging the conventions of streetwear. Where others championed exclusivity, they chose inclusivity. Where fashion might’ve celebrated rebellion, they wanted to make love the coolest thing in the world.

Now, with a new Nike Football collaboration centred around the iconic Tiempo, that philosophy finds a natural home in the world's game.

On location in Paris, as the campaign came together around us, we caught up with Daniel to explore the story behind the brand, the thinking behind the boots and the importance of creating opportunities for the next generation.

Before we get into the Nike collaboration, let's go right back to the beginning. You grew up in Brooklyn, New York. How much did that environment shape the person you are today?

I was born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn. During my teenage years, I lived between Brooklyn and New Jersey after my parents divorced. My parents are from Honduras. They migrated to New York in the mid-'80s. I grew up in, biasedly speaking, the best city in the world. But also the melting pot of the world. I grew up in a neighbourhood where it was normal to see people and cultures from everywhere. Being Honduran, there weren't necessarily that many of us around, so I assimilated into a lot of different cultures, not always my own.

A big part of what inspired me to start Kids of Immigrants was wanting to be proud of where I'm from. I think for first-generation kids and immigrants, that wasn't always something we wore proudly, especially with the way the media and news portrayed our cultures. We were proud, but it wasn't necessarily something we were shouting about.

That experience of growing up between different cultures feels fundamental to Kids of Immigrants. How much of your childhood still finds its way into what you're creating today?

Everything. It has everything to do with what I do now. All my references are a younger version of myself. Ultimately, Kids of Immigrants is a story about the child and the parents. Everything is inspired by my upbringing with my parents. The joy in it, the resilience, the struggle, the challenges. But overall, it was that dual upbringing. At home, I'm from Honduras. Outside, I'm from New York. That's a beautiful thing. I didn't necessarily see it that clearly growing up, but now I feel fortunate, blessed and lucky to have had that duality.

So how did Kids of Immigrants actually begin? What was the moment that turned those experiences into a brand?

I met my co-founder through one of my best friends, David Ali. He told me, "You should meet this guy." And he was right. The first day we met, we were basically best friends. He's the most creative person I've ever met. He came up with the name Kids of Immigrants, and I was like, "Yo, that's me." His parents are from Liberia. Mine are from Honduras. Even though our backgrounds were completely different, there were so many similarities and common experiences in our upbringing. When he said the name, I knew it was special. This was us. 

That was over ten years ago. Back then, it felt a little strange trying to figure out how to build a brand or movement around something like that. I actually went to school for social work. That's what I wanted to do with my life. Coming from where I'm from, I always felt like I wanted to say something or do something that could help somebody. Growing up, I lost a lot of friends to the streets. My own sister was in prison when I was 18. Those experiences made me want to figure out how to find purpose from the pain.

Love, community and empowerment have become such defining parts of Kids of Immigrants. As the brand has grown, how have you protected those values and made sure they remain authentic?

I feel like it's natural. When we started the brand, community wasn't such a keyword in marketing the way it is today. For me, it's about staying pure to the mission. When we say community, it's really just a sense of care. It's about genuinely caring for the people around you. We do our best to care for those around us and do what we can for them. That's something that comes naturally to us. It's more about the act of doing it. It's part of our lives. It's not an Instagram post or something performative. It's just who we are.

There's also such a distinctive visual identity to Kids of Immigrants. You can recognise something you've created almost immediately. How did you develop that creative language?

My co-founder is the designer, and he's very unconventional in the way he thinks and creates. We have a strong relationship where he believes in me and I believe in him. One of the things we said when we first started the brand was, "Yo, let's make love the coolest shit ever." At the time, streetwear and fashion felt very dark, very mean. There was this rebellious, fuck-you attitude. And that's cool, but it wasn't the brand we wanted to create. We wanted to stand in our own lane and do our own thing. That's why we use a lot of positive affirmations in our design language. We want to create something that doesn't just make you look good, but makes you feel good too.

Football has become an increasingly important part of the Kids of Immigrants universe. What is it about the game that connects so naturally with what your brand represents?

For me, football is the most synonymous thing with what we're trying to build. It's the aspirational version of Kids of Immigrants. I look at our brand as something global, representing kids and people from all over the world. Different styles, different cultures, different backgrounds, but with this common thread that brings everyone together. That's what Kids of Immigrants is.

If you look around this set, you'll see people of all different colours and backgrounds. We're all here because we share something. We're kids of immigrants. We believe in love, passion and the importance of representation. Football does that for the world. It brings people together from different cultures, helps them find common ground and allows them to celebrate what makes them different.

I think that's beautiful. You can look at different leagues and see how differently people play. The speed, the style, the approach. It's all influenced by where people come from. Then those different styles come together. That's why they call it the beautiful game.

What was your own relationship with football growing up? Were you playing, watching, supporting Honduras?

I didn't play sports growing up. I was on the block. I was outside. I'm an American kid who grew up in New York, so football wasn't what it is in the States today. My relationship with it was really through the World Cup and wanting to see Honduras make it.

When Honduras qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, it was an incredible moment. I had family members I hadn't spoken to in a long time, and that World Cup brought us together. It was a really proud moment. That's what football can do. I also watch sports from a competitive mindset. I'm inspired by how dedicated and determined players are, and what it takes for them to reach that level.

You've already established a relationship with Nike through previous collaborations, including the T90. What made Nike feel like the right partner for Kids of Immigrants?

Nike is my favourite brand in the world. To me, it's the best brand in the world, without a doubt. It's the brand I grew up with. Working with Nike is the dream. But I also feel like there's a natural way for Kids of Immigrants to speak to football. When you look at the players, particularly during a World Cup, and see who they're representing, so many of them are first-generation kids of immigrants. There's a natural connection between the sport and our story.

Our first Nike campaign was shot in New York. The T90 campaign was in LA. With this one, I wanted to work with Nike to tell the global Kids of Immigrants story. It's bigger than what you see in LA or New York. This diaspora, this melting pot of cultures, exists all around the world. Shooting in Paris was an opportunity to continue cultivating that community beyond the States.

I've been coming to Paris for a few years, and some of my closest friends are from here now. Some of the people who understand me the most are here. It reminds you that we're not alone out here.

This latest collaboration takes on the Tiempo, one of Nike Football's most iconic boots. What attracted you to that particular silhouette?

The Tiempo has so much history, but it's not necessarily the most hyped boot in Nike's line-up right now. And I like that. As Kids of Immigrants, I like the underdog. It's not that the Tiempo is undervalued. It has an incredible history. But it doesn't necessarily have the same shine as some of the other boots right now. I like that challenge.

The game has changed, what players wear has changed, and I thought it would be fun for us to become part of the energy that brings some of that excitement back. 

Nike has such a strong design heritage, particularly with a boot like the Tiempo. How much creative freedom did you have to bring the Kids of Immigrants identity into it?

That's why we work with Nike. We really get to do what we believe in. As big a corporation as it is, I feel like we have a true partnership where we're able to create what we want and what we believe in. This was also our first performance shoe. Our previous collaborations, the T90 and Air Max, were much more lifestyle-driven. This is a real performance boot, something designed to be worn on the pitch.  So the approach was a little different. We wanted it to pop. The yellow was something we really wanted to bring into the design. We wanted something loud, but with a level of warmth.

I look at the boot and I see a mango. It's this feeling of saying, "We're here," but doing it with warmth. There are also details in the sole inspired by the topography of Liberia and Honduras. We wanted to bring those places into the product itself.

The yellow and orange colourway is striking, especially when you consider what's currently being worn on the pitch. Where did those references come from?

Our first Sunder had some of that orange in it, so we pulled from that colour language. We didn't carry over the rest of the Sunder design. We just started working with the yellow and orange, figuring out how to create that pop of colour. I wanted something that would really stand out on the field. You don't see many yellow boots anymore. You see a lot of pinks and neons, but yellow felt fresh. It still has that same energy and vibrancy, but there's something warmer about it.

I can't wait to see it on the pitch.

Are there any smaller design details across the collection that people might not immediately notice, but carry a particular significance for you?

There are a few things on the Gato. When we started working with Nike, we wanted to take "Just Do It" and add "Together" to it. Every time you see Kids of Immigrants collaborating with Nike, you'll see "Together" after "Just Do It." Nike's slogan is so iconic, but adding that one word changes its meaning. It evolves into something that feels very Kids of Immigrants. That's hidden on the Gato. I don't think anyone has found it yet.

There's also a detail on the tongue inspired by my first Air Jordans, the Jordan 13s. They had this hologram, and we'd been trying to bring that into a Nike collaboration for years. We kept asking how we could do it, and finally, with this one, Nike said yes. So there's a green hologram on the tongue that says KOI. It's hidden away, but it's something really special to me.

Beyond the footwear, we're here in Paris watching the campaign come together. What was the creative thinking behind the film and the world you're building around this release?

A lot of the Kids of Immigrants story has always been centred around family. With this campaign, I wanted to introduce another layer. A level of competitiveness, confidence and aggression. It's about saying, "We're here, and we ain't going nowhere." We're not asking for permission to play.

The whole attitude was, "Fuck it, we ball." 

We're going to ball anyway. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks about us. It doesn't matter if they don't care about us, because we care about us. It's not necessarily a fuck-you attitude. It's a confidence. We're here. We're going to play. We're going to do our thing. 

And creatively, this is the first campaign we've done without dialogue or a voiceover. We're letting the ball do the talking. We're letting the people and the environment tell the story. The ball is the universal language.

There's a really powerful story of perseverance at the heart of the film too. Can you talk us through that? The film follows this kid who's practising and practising, trying to perfect a particular move. Eventually, he gets the opportunity to join a group of players. He gets onto the pitch, tries the move he's been working on, and he misses. But one of the older guys picks him up and encourages him to keep going.

For us, that was really important. It's not just "Just Do It." It's "Do It Again." And do it again. And do it again. It's about that persistence, consistency and practice. Those are things our parents taught us. That mentality of working hard, of keeping going, of not giving up.

It's something that's deeply connected to the immigrant experience, and we wanted that to come through in the film.

Finally, when you look at everything you've built, from starting Kids of Immigrants to creating global campaigns with Nike, what do you hope the next generation takes away from your story?

My dream is that everything we do inspires the next generation to dream bigger. To feel seen and represented. I think a big part of dreaming and using your imagination is that you have to be able to see what you want to become. I hope when people see these films and campaigns, when they see us in the inner city outside Paris telling these stories, they recognise themselves. Because if you look at our set, it's immigrants and kids of immigrants telling the stories of immigrants and kids of immigrants. I want us to continue being a vehicle for that sense of hope and determination.

For me, I'm doing everything I wanted to see when I was a kid. This is my dream. And I hope it helps other people dream and understand that anything is possible. It's very possible. Sometimes you see these big Nike campaigns and think, "That's amazing, but how could I ever do that?" I want people to understand that it's literally kids of immigrants creating this work and telling these stories. We're talented, we're skilled, but we're not some crew that thinks we're better than everybody else. There's a very human side to what we do. We just really value who we are and being able to share that with the world.

Kids of Immigrants, by kids of immigrants. It's not just a brand name for us. It's who we are every day.