Newcastle-based digital agency Orange Bus has worked with SoleHeaven to create a website which has won the Best Specialist Etailer honour at the prestigious Drapers 2008 awards.

The ceremony, held in London’s Mayfair, saw SoleHeaven beat well-established international companies such as Fig Leaves and Evans to win Gold.
 
The company, which was launched in April 2008, specialises in selling hard-to-find and exclusive sneakers to trainer-devotees and sells only online.

The site – www.soleheaven.com – sells trainers from all over the world and showcases them on 360° rotating DJ turntables and in YouTube videos.
 
It also provides specialist cleaning and trainer care advice, includes a forum for trainer fans to engage with each other and offers detailed product descriptions that only true dedicated trainer fans can.
 
Julian Leighton, director at Orange Bus, said: “As a sneaker fanatic I wanted to work with SoleHeaven the minute Dale contacted us.  His zest for the business and the products he sells are infectious, and his understanding of the industry is unsurpassed.
 
“We immediately started to research the marketplace to find out what customers wanted from an online sneaker store, as well as what would appeal to the growing trainer communities in the UK and beyond.”
 
SoleHeaven was established by Dale Parr, a former London city investment banker for Barclays Capital and Merrill Lynch, and former Ibizian DJ.
 
After a trip to New York City in November 2007, 28-year-old Mr Parr was inspired by the volume and variety of trainers on offer in the city and wanted to make them available to overseas markets.
 
Mr Parr said: “To be honest I am proud to call myself a bit of a trainer freak and have been interested in them ever since the age of 11 when I bought my first pair of Nike Air Pegasus.
 
“Having worked in investment banking for more than eight years I wanted to leave the number-crunching behind and pool all my resources into setting up my own business that tied into my passion for trainers.”
 
Judges at the Drapers ceremony, which was hosted by singer Mica Paris, included Loretta Robers, editor of Drapers; Leisa Barnett, Vogue; Peter Fitzgerald, Google UK; and and Simon Landoe, Paypal.
 
Lauretta Roberts, Editor of Drapers, said: "We were looking for a specialist site, which was more than just an online store and was a source of inspiration, information and interaction for the community it served; Soleheaven is all of those things."