2009 - BEST OF THE BEST SNEAKERS

GARETH SKEWIS - LONDON
POINTER

First off, let me state that after careful thought, I decided to go with a double headbutt of blatant Pointer self promotion. As such, I expect to have strangers on the streets of London throw rotten fruit and veg at me when this comes out.

The below words are dedicated to Gary Warnett and his avid disdain of footwear without laces. Gary, this is going out to you! The Pointer Tanju is loved by some and hated by others. I would say it is pretty clear why it is a loafer. Now to answer the age-old question regarding loafers – are they gangster or not? I would say Mobb Deep circa 1994 would not be seen dead in these, but then I would say that a few Karl Lagerfeld types would rock the hell out of them. Now ask yourself this, who is more gangster? My money is on Lagerfeld every time.

The shoe is named after the man behind Palace Skateboards and the head of London’s infamous PWBC, my good friend Levent Tanju. The only man I know who can rock three-year-old Nike Tracksuit pants, a rollneck jumper with a Comme pink shirt over that, Trickers with no socks, a shiny baldhead and pull it off like he was born like that. He is also the man behind www.dontwatchthat.tv. For those of you out there with no sense of humor and who take life a little bit too seriously, do not click on the link. You will feel hurt and violated, I promise. For the rest of the rest of us ageing ex-skateboarding, shoe buying, modern culture commentators, go have a look and please feel free to fall off your chair laughing in the middle of your office at 4.20 each Wednesday.