Sells Designer Interview
Ahead of the Carling Cup final SoccerBible caught up with the man responsible for Ben Foster's gloves - Sells designer Dave Baxter. Goalkeepers are the last line of defence, and of all the players on the pitch, play the most crucial role as they always need to be at the top of their game. We chatted to Dave to get an insight into the workings and process for creating a product that simply has to deliver 100% of the time...
SB: What is the ultimate challenge when you embark on designing a new glove?
DB: Keeping our team of professionals happy! Goalkeepers are different and in my experience are perfectionists who demand top performance from their gloves. For Sells our research and development of materials is vital; we aim to produce the 'ultimate' glove each season by combining new technologies and innovative design.
SB: How long is a glove in development for?
DB: Our glove development generally takes between 18 months and 2 years development time. We tend to launch a new glove series every 2 years. Sometimes this can be shorter if our customers request SMU models with minor changes.
SB: What happens on day 1 when designing a glove?
DB: First step is materials research, and I brief our latex factory and glove manufacturer in Europe to select new and exclusive latexes in what I refer to as our 'Aqua Planning' process. It is vital that our latexes are the best as our products are always performance driven. Once the latexes are selected, I look at new lining materials and cuts.
 |
As Sells is now a global brand we have a requirement to produce gloves for all weather conditions and surfaces - cold, hot, dry ,wet , astroturf, 3G; whatever the conditions as a specialist we must have a suitable glove. It is also always important to review how the current models have performed; are there elements we keep or do we change the entire model? If changes are made it must be for performance reasons not just cosmetic reasons. |
SB: Do you have any particular materials or colours in mind when initially concepting a glove?
DB: As we are a performance first brand any colour is ok as long as it is white! Latex in its purest natural form is white and by colouring the latex gripping characteristics are lost. That is why Sells professional gloves are always white - I am happy to include colours to the backhand of the glove but never to the palm! Colours have a psychological effect on players and feedback from our endorsees always brings us back to white.
As Sells is now a global brand we have a requirement to produce gloves for all weather conditions and surfaces - cold, hot, dry, wet, astroturf, 3G; whatever the conditions we have a suitable glove. Materials will be incorporated into our gloves to match the various playing conditions. With constant innovation from football manufacturers it is also important that we match our latexes to the materials used in ball construction. The gripping characteristics of our gloves must be matched carefully to the outer materials.
|
SB: Are there many prototypes? DB: We probably test 2 or 3 prototypes before we are ready to finalise the glove. As well as grip, the fit of a glove is vital and before we test our new latexes we perform fit tests with our team of professional and amateur goalkeepers to ensure our glove cuts are perfect. This is the stage where we make the most changes to our gloves. The fit and comfort of the glove are vital to the goalkeeper. We then test further prototypes with our new exclusive latexes until we are happy with the end product.Next stage is adding branding and final graphic details. |
 |
SB: Do you take the gloves to the pro's for testing?
DB: We are fortunate at Sells to have a large number of professionals to help us in the development process. Sometimes it is not just the top goalkeepers that give us the most
useful feedback. Many parks players and children have contributed to the Sells glove developments over the years. Product testing is a very important part of our range building and our endorsees are heavily involved.
 |
|
Dean Kiely and Ben Foster have been involved in a PR day at the National Space Centre where our NASA inspired Outlast material glove was launched.
SB: Did anything unusual or surprising happen at any of the test sessions?
DB: Nothing unusual really, but I am always pleased by the time I am given by the players who can happily talk about gloves for hours!
|
SB: Are you a keeper yourself and do you try out the products? |
 |
including Southall, Seaman, Grobbelaar and Schmeichel so I've certainly tried and tested many gloves over the last 25 years!
SB: Anything special planned for the brands 10 year anniversary in 2011?
DB: It's an incredible achievement that the Sells brand has reached 10 years given the highly competitive nature of this industry. We will strive to maintain our position as the 'World's Number One' through product innovation and an excellent service to our endorsees.
A new Wrap and Total Contact series will be introduced this year and a special 10th anniversary limited edition model of the Sells Wrap will also be available. We are proud that the iconic Sells Wrap is seen as the benchmark glove in the industry and after 10 years it is still going strong!
