CANVVS is a startup dedicated to promoting creators within custom sneaker and sports shoe culture. CANVVS has over 180 founding creators to seed the marketplace in 78 cities worldwide. In addition to high-impact brand activations, CANVVS has a brick-and-mortar store in London.  

CANVVS’s new custom sneaker marketplace is the next phase in their mission to connect talented creators directly with buyers and major shoe brands. With the marketplace, they aim to establish a framework for responsible customization that benefits everyone. 

By launching its marketplace on the Nautical Commerce headless platform, CANVVS:

• Provides users with a tailored front-end experience while operating on a tried-and-tested back-end system. 
• Creates a foundation for growth with multi-vendor capabilities that support unlimited creators, sneaker brands/manufacturers, and buyers.
• Furthers its mission to champion custom sneaker artists while gaining the trust of brands and buyers.

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The problem: Legitimizing personalization in sneaker culture

The custom sneaker industry is a blossoming after-market built on the backs of artists who have transformed their side hustles into a 6.5-billion-dollar industry. 

Despite the rising demand for sneaker art, custom sneaker creators face several challenges.

1. Securing supply

Sneaker artists use shoes as their canvas, but sourcing a steady, authentic supply at scale consumes valuable time they could otherwise spend creating. There are also risks around intellectual copyright infringement, which further complicates sourcing.

2. Getting buy-in from brands

Shoe brands hesitate to embrace custom creations, despite clear demand and the opportunities this after-market presents. 

A longtime champion and collector of sneaker art, CANVVS CEO Alex Murray recognizes how underserved sneaker creators are. He also sees a missed opportunity for brands that aren’t tapped into the after-market’s performance. In creating the CANVVS marketplace, he hopes to solve the supply problem and shift perceptions by introducing brands to an untapped potential of custom sneaker culture. 

“The illustration I've always given is graffiti on trains in 1980s New York. When they tried to stop the art form, it just fueled a movement. As soon as graffiti was rebranded to street art, it was suddenly very acceptable. In fact, it was collectible and incredibly valuable if the artist’s name was [for example] Banksy.”

The solution: A marketplace that creates a win-win for all parties

The CANVVS marketplace aspires to create a win-win situation for all parties. 

For creators, participating in CANVVS’ marketplace offers brand-sanctioned access to authentic sneaker supply at scale. Purchasing supply through CANVVS assures creators that brands recognize their third-party rights and that their canvas — the shoe itself — is authentic. Plus, the marketplace gives them access to a larger pool of buyers. Without needing to worry about finding customers and supply, creators can focus on creating. 

For shoe brands, the CANVVS marketplace unlocks access to the lucrative after-market. It also fosters marketplace trust by implementing mechanisms that protect patents, copyrights, and trademarks. The marketplace allows brands to have a sense of control and presence in an after-market that exists whether they participate or not. 

As Alex remarks, “We approach major manufacturers and bring them in as intrinsic partners, unlocking access to this increasingly influential group of global creators that brands want to access, collaborate, and work with. We ensure that authentic products are getting into the hands of artists and that the rights of third-party rights holders are recognized.”

For buyers, shopping on the CANVVS marketplace gives them access to a community of best-in-class creators. The CANVVS platform showcases the breadth and depth of artistry available for sneaker customization. 

Why CANVVS chose Nautical Commerce

When envisioning the CANVVS marketplace, Alex knew the platform needed unique functionality to successfully deliver on its two-fold mission: supporting and promoting creators and protecting brands. 

“It was important for us to work with a software partner that was building a product specific to the primary needs of the business we were building.”

Nautical fulfilled CANVVS’s needs for:

Strong multi-vendor capabilities

CANVVS supports 180 creators located in 78 cities globally, and the custom sneaker and sports shoe market is projected to expand from its present 6.5 billion valuation to 14 billion dollars by 2032. Anticipating rapid growth, Alex knew that the CANVVS marketplace needed strong multi-vendor capabilities from the start. 

Nautical’s multi-vendor foundation enables CANVVS to support an endless number of creators, brands, and buyers, providing all the necessary functionality for multi-vendor selling, checkout, payouts, product management, and analytics. 

Nautical Commerce is purpose-built to manage a multi-vendor ecosystem and scale efficiency as CANVVS grows.  

Headless offering

The CANVVS marketplace needed a technical foundation to handle the complex requirements of marketplaces. Alex also recognized that CANVVS needed a custom frontend to meet the nuanced needs of the creator community, third-party product providers, and rights holders.

“Working with Nautical in a headless capacity was the right thing for us because we could build in very specific functionality and features that make us distinctly different from anything that's been done before.”

While Nautical does offer a no-code storefront builder, for businesses with more complex needs, like CANVVS, the headless offering allows developers to design a custom marketplace without costly, high-risk R&D investment. The headless solution allows CANVVS to modify the backend to custom storefront specifications, without building foundational infrastructure from scratch. 

Strong vision and culture

It was important for CANVVS to work with a company that aligned with their vision and culture. After meeting the Nautical team, exploring the product, and understanding the team’s commitment to excellence, Alex felt confident that Nautical’s product and future roadmap were a strong foundation on which to build their business. Nautical Commerce’s startup mindset — moving quickly and listening to customers — is similar to that of CANVVS, making it a well-suited software for the job.

CANVVS’s vision for the future: Expansion

The CANVVS marketplace is launching soon, but Alex already has his eye on what’s next. He envisions a future where CANVVS supports more product options. The goal is for CANVVS to be a platform that enables creators to complement their custom sneakers with an entire collection of goods — from luxury bags to skate decks, and eventually host even more street culture artists. 

“We're building a version of [Etsy] for people in street culture. Tattoo artists, customizers, graphic designers, street artists, and creatives who have a bit more of an edge to their work. There are 9 million sellers currently on Etsy and 95 million active buyers. I don't think that's an unrealistic target for us to work towards over the next three to five years.”

Alex sees CANVVS’s potential as limitless. And by building the CANVVS marketplace on a platform as scalable and flexible as Nautical Commerce, Alex is positioned to revolutionize the way all street art is bought, sold, and appreciated.