BEST SNEAKERS 2009

HESH REPHUN - LOS ANGELES
SPORTIE LA MEDIA / RAGING ARTISTS'S INCORPORATED

I'm not a high-top guy. Truth is, I didn’t own a pair of high-tops until this year. My collection is a cross-section of Onitsuka Tiger and Puma, with Royal Elastics and Creative Rec thrown into the mix, and one pair each of Adidas and Nike. This changed with perhaps the unlikeliest of sneakers - the LA Gear Star Shooter Hi - part of the updated Unstoppable Collection from '89-'90, released this year by LA Gear Originals.

It's a black patent leather deal with a gold accent and the famous LA Gear logo. What worked for me was that they look like they might be loud but once you put them on they just rock. They’re a statement but not hard to pull off, which means it's really about how well this shoe was designed. I generally wear them with the gold laces for a little extra somethin’ (black and white laces look great too). There’s not one single time I've worn these that someone didn't ask me about them.

You can’t get these just anywhere, so a couple of dudes offered to fight me for them. The coolest thing is that when people see them it opens this whole dialogue about LA Gear and what their memories are or their ideas about it; it used to be more of a women’s brand, but guys have totally dug on this new stuff and it's not in a kitschy, cheesy way but in a hip way.
I'm an old dude so you can dismiss me, but my 15 yr old son wears ‘em on the court and he's a serious ball player. If you can trot these out on the court and get respect (both in LA and in NY, mind you, which are not easy crowds to please), then you're onto something.