Doin' it in the Park: Kevin Couliau in Verona

Running a shop in 2016, in the era of online stores and shopping cathedrals, requires a number of qualifications I'm not aware of. I've never been. But there is one thing I know: you need passion.

It's the first thing I reckoned when I walked into the new Double Clutch store, a little oasis dedicated to basketball situated in a small area in downtown Verona. The space, organized over two different floors, hosts all the big brands of the basketball world, and the guys at Double Clutch are very serious about it: "We are not a streetwear shop, or sneakers. We sell everything that is basketball related".

Amongst shelves and hangers there's dedicated spaces for Nike – with all its lines for individual athletes, as LeBron James and Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant and Kyrie Irving –, Jordan, Adidas, Under Armour, And1 and Stance, official supplier of the NBA stockings and creator of some wonderful models.

The new chapter of Double Clutch's story began in late August, but for the official opening Luca and Francesco have patiently waited to be able to count on an exceptional guest: Kevin Couliau, a French photographer and co-author with Bobbito Garcia of the award-winning documentary “Doin 'it in the Park”, dedicated to the reality of the pick-up basketball in New York City.

“It was very simple, the guys at Double Clutch contacted me on Facebook and I liked their idea, and even though it was not easy in the end we managed to organize everything!”, Couliau said.

The exhibition comprising of twenty pictures of Couliau, strictly dedicated to outdoor basketball, acted as a catalyst, attracting a considerable number of fans and onlookers, thanks to whom prints and t-shirt dedicated to the event went sold out in record time.

"My summer has been pretty hectic," continued Couliau. "I spent most of the month of August in Africa following Giants of Africa, a project of the Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujiri who within a month organized camp in Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Botswana, educating and training both very young kids some of the most intriguing prospects of the continent. More recently I was in Toronto, and do not deny that the aim would be to move there. Without of course stop photographing baskets from around the world! In the yard there is also a photo book, a more elaborate project to those already published and contains everything that is in Asphalt Chronicles", he concluded.

Photos of Kevin Couliau's photos won't be an isolated case in Double Clutch's history. The same space, in fact, will showcase other satellite events, which aim to provide the store with added value and bring together under one roof, for an evening, boys and girls that first of all share one thing: passion.