With the FIFA World Cup mere months away we thought it timely to start tracking what football themed gear the big brands have in store for us. Apart from the high-tech on-field apparel, each World Cup sparks a flurry of sneaker and fashion projects all vying to capitalize on the ever-growing popularity of the World Game. Drawing on the cream of the world’s art and design community expect to see some premium proddy that will have you looking sharper than Les Murray! We'll be keeping tabs on the various collections as they are unveiled, so keep checking back to see what’s causing the latest buzz on and off the pitch. Ole!
Steve Van Doren was in town recently as part of the annual Vans Warped Tour. From helping his father Jim Van Doren (founder of Vans) in the showrooms as a toddler to managing retail stores in his teens, Steve proved that he had a natural flair for marketing and PR that money can't buy. It might have something to do with his penchant for feeding fast food to the masses. After all, nothing breaks the ice like a waffle on a stick! We caught up with Steve just before Bowlarama went down to find out why Vans still seems like a family company.
Lindy Darrell is one of the foremost NIKE vintage collectors in the world. With a hankering for nylon Nike runners from the ‘70s, and track and field SMUs in particular, he has a knack of uncovering super rare ‘barn find’ sneakers in the strangest of places. As a side project, Lindy and his buddy Jeff have been producing insane custom vintage sneakers. Removing the old soles and replacing the fragile foam with new EVA gives the old beaters a new lease on life. As he says, ‘you can run a marathon in them!’ Intrigued by these oddball Franken-creations, we asked Lindy to show us how it’s done!
In a Sneaker Freaker first, we sent our new roving reporter Brad Graham off to Dallas to cover the NBA's annual All Star Weekend event. After a grueling 14-hour flight direct from Sydney to Los Angeles and armed with his media pass, camera and notepad, Brad got up close and personal with a host of NBA's hottest players, rubbing shoulders with the big wigs of the game. Throwing down some pretty solid paparazzi flare, thanks to exclusive court side views and access, Brad recounts the daily events as they unfolded, drops knowledge on who wore what and spots a celebrity or two in the mix. Read on to find out more!!!
The first year of business is the toughest. From finding your feet to creating a reputation, it’s easy for a dream to be brought back to reality. Luckily for Cim Froeling, her plan has remained solid since day one – her store No Boys Allowed in The Hague (Netherlands) sells only the best sneakers for ladies, pure and simple. Whilst many stores on her street have closed this year, Cim remains positive despite holding down the only female sneaker store on the planet! We hit her up to find out why the ladies are so hard to please and how she keeps all the (NBA) balls in the air!
When it comes to classic skate shoes, names like the Cab, half Cab, full Cab, Yellow Cab, the Rap, Kostons, Dunks, even the Jordan 1 come to mind. But every so often you realise a sneaky shoe has crept under the radar. Consider the éS Accel. First released in 1995, this humble and unobtrusive skate shoe has never been out of the shops since, which is a remarkable and possibly unique achievement. The Accel might visually be a tad on the boring side, but even we had to admit, it still looks rather fetching in black suede with a gum sole all these years later. Say bonjour to Mr Pierre André Senizergues, CEO of Etnies and éS as we discuss his 30 years of skateboarding.
Love it or loath it, Valentine's Day is here again! Whether you're jonesing for a little extra something something from your better half, or in the business of self-pleasure, there's a swag of product to get your pink bits booming! Nike leads the way once again with over 14 different designs and styles to contend with, while adidas take it to the next level with their cutting edge apparel line on offer. We've sifted through the whole she-bang to feature only the best product on sale this February 14th, so if you're still stumped as to what to cop your lady-love this Valentine's Day, flick through the extensive lookbook here and get ready to let that money clip loose!
Tony Hallam is about as vintage a skater as you’re likely to get (we don’t think he’ll mind us saying that). with a remarkable collection of skate memorabilia including stickers, photos, magazines and a mind-blowing 800+ boards, the guy is also a serious collector. How serious? When he offered to bring in some shoes for us to photograph, he even asked if we wanted to see the original plastic shopping bags from back in the day! He remains one of the few elder statesmen of the sport – Thanks to gnarly dudes like Tony Hallam, history has survived to tell this tale...
Just when you think you’ve seen it all before, along comes a nifty new idea that has you eating your words like alphabet spaghetti on toast. Introducing U-Lace, an ingeniously simple new lacing system that makes complicated lace-ups a thing of the past!
If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then what does a sneaker a day do to your spirits? This ain't no joke, this is serious! Meet Bling Bling Dave - a humble lad with a lot of shine. His mission in life is to rock a new pair of kicks for each day of the year, and yes, he's well on the way! What makes Dave's sneaker collection impressive is not his pledge to cop 365 kicks - it's the fact that this down to earth dude doesn't give a toss about being too cool for school. Don't expect any limited edition, one-of-one blah-zi-blah in his crate, this is pure GR sneaker goodness at its finest.
You might not know Ollie Teeba by face, but no doubt you've heard his beats and production work as the DJ for the UK's successful hip hop group The Herbaliser. On top of that, he's an OG B-Boy from back in the roughneck days! Ollie has accumulated a delectable collection of vintage Puma and adidas sneakers (or trainers in his words), so delicious you're bound to lose some sleep tonight! Favouring the tactile nature of classic suede sneakers, Ollie is prepared to go to war with the UK's damp climate in order to rock his pride, which is why his crate of kicks is still so crisp. We took some time to hit the 808 with Teeba and find out just why he can't get enough of the old school sneakers!
Jarrett Reynolds is the Global Design Director of NSW Apparel. He’s also a mad cat lover and a reminder that not everyone at Nike is in the shoe game – there are clever people wherever you look. Jarrett’s chief talent is to make ridunkulous jackets such as the Flywire Windrunner and the beautiful Laser Runner, which we are just nuts about. How did he get there? What good is night school?
You’ll have to find out...
Celebrating its sixth year on the block, the biannual H-Town Sneaker Summit recently held its giant winter bash, drawing sneaker freaks from all walks of life to what has grown to become the largest and longest running event of its kind in the entire South West. Local boutiques, brands, collectors, connoisseurs, industry pillars and regular joe punters all came together to revel in all sides of sneaker culture. Special guests of honour this year included our old pal Levi Maestro from the hit internet show Maestro Knows, sneaker scientist Bobbito Garcia, Bun B of the legendary UGK, and Greg Street. Peep the pics here!
When it comes to streetwear remixing pop culture, the Star Wars franchise has long been a prototypical source of creative amusement and visual inspiration. From hairy Wookies to Stormtrooper helmets and Yoda's new-age psychobabble, George Lucas' knack for creating legends is cinematically unparalleled, as was his ability to cash in by creating myriad merchandise variations. Check out the whole collection here!
Nike iD has been around for a while now, and with every major brand offering a custom sneaker program in 2009, they clearly felt the pressure to up the ante. Available only from the New York Mercer St Nike store, iD Bespoke definitely raises the bar, and then some. As the name suggests, it's a much more personal service, with the well educated Nike iD staff discussing your iDeas and starting with loose sketches, before working through 82 different colours and materials til the end result is tantalisingly revealed. There's no hurried computer simulation at any point and the possibilities, while not exactly infinite, are definitely expanded far beyond the iD online system we have all become accustomed to.
READ THIS SPECIAL REPORT FROM THE SNEAKER FREAKER CRIME LAB! As a renowned couch spud (and a sneaker fan), I have noted with interest that the humble sneaker has left vital clues in many an episode of CSI. but how to separate fact from fiction? What role does the sneaker play in the forensic sciences? Aficionados may understandably muse over the merits of the speckled or gum sole, but the folks in the crime lab are more interested in the print shoes leave behind. As it happens, shoe prints are incredibly important clues often left at crime scenes.
Ben Pruess is one charmed dude. A pro-snowboarder since the age of 16, he literally flew with the greatest of ease, before landing in the snow-biz in various roles. His claim to fame now is his lofty position at adidas as Vice Prez of Originals, which seems like a job for a pretty smart operator. Sit back as Ben fills in the gaps and reminds us all that art is art and business is business. Take heed young steeds!
After mashing the Air Max with the Huarache and Current models and using Flywire tech to create the Maxim, Nike's latest innovation is the Torch BW. Torch is actually a 'lightweight, moisture-managing, 3-layer textile' which when used on sneakers, means the upper is sonic welded and free from stitching. Torch also creates a svelte, super light, ultra-modern aesthetic that vanishes the vintage veneer of the original big window and also fits with Nike's Considered principles by being more efficient to make. We caught up with Jesse Leyva from Nike to shine a little light on Torch! As seen in Issue 17 of Sneaker Freaker
UK artist Benedict Radcliffe has been making a name for himself of late with his fantastic full-scale wire sculptures of auto vehicles and his experimental bicycle designs. Recently Nike commissioned him to create a whopping 3.5 meter long giant Air Max sculpture for the Dizzee Rascal Air Max 90 launch at Nike Sportswear’s 1948 space in London. Constructed entirely from bent wire rods we just had to get in touch with the man himself to find out full the story behind this blue behemoth and his other amazing creations.
Melbourne artist Emma Sulzer has made a career out of the unlikely art of tapestry, bringing a fresh sense of credibility to an artform you thought only your nana loved. Here's a selection of uncannily accurate tapestry 3-D sneakers that she made stitch-by-stitch for a recent show in her hometown. With each sneaker taking around 40 hours of solid work to complete, we knew we had to hit up the nimble fingered weaver to knock out her own spectacular version of our New Balance Skippy. Crikey - look at that little beauty!
If you’re a G-Shock junkie then chances are you’ve heard of Sjors. His G-Peopleland website is the ‘A to G’ of G-shocks… his passion and knowledge for these unique timepieces makes him an authority on their every facet. With G-shocks very much in the limelight this year on the back of Casio’s monster ‘Shock the World’ promotion we decided to check in with Sjors for a guided tour of his amazing collection which at the time of writing was - pushing on 500!
When you think of budget priced sneakers, Hush Puppies and Velcro-strapped clompers come to mind, not Patrick Ewings and Jordans! It seems too good to be true, but as Manolo Prado (el cheapo bastardo extraordinaire) tells us, there’s a million and one bargains out there, you just have to have your thrifty game on lock. This guy is so cheap, he’ll wait three years to pull the trigger – all so he doesn’t have to break a fifty! We needed to get schooled in his tight-ass ways, so we hit up the scrooge to see just how low he goes.
Celebrating 60 years in business, Clarks have banded together a host of VIP artists, designers and celebrities to customise and personalise the brand’s signature Desert Boot. With each shoe up for auction at www.clarks.nl and www.clarks.be, all proceeds will go towards War Child - a relief and development agency dedicated to providing immediate, effective and sustainable aid to children affected by war. We were lucky enough to get a closer look at all twenty shoes currently on sale, from artists such as DJ Mr. Wix, fashion-illustrator Piet Paris and image-stylist Dyanne Beekman co-operated. Have a peek and if you're down for the cause, make sure to put your bid in at Clarks today!
Continuing on with our roll-call of stores taking part in the Pump20 anniversary project, we dropped in for a quick chat with Pol from Barcelona boutique 24 Kilates . Marrying a cosy midnight black suede upper with transparent panels that reveal the shoe's inner workings makes for an interesting marriage of wearability and technical fandanglery. We asked Pol about the inspiration for their design and how it fits in with the whole Spanish sneaker vibe.
