In 1982, Jeff Spicoli brought checkerboard Vans beyond the SoCal surf-skate culture and onto the big screen in one of my all-time favorite films, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. (The story goes that Sean Penn had bought shortly before filming began and convinced director Amy Heckerling to let him wear them in the movie.) To celebrate the movie's release, Steve Van Doren, son of the Vans founder Paul Van Doren, made a limited run of special Fast Times slip-ons made to give away at the premiere. Those special pairs have become a holy grail of shoe collectors and now Vans has reissued them. Awesome. Totally awesome. From Vans:
Borrowing details from the original Classic Slip-On and offering modernized comfort with upgraded Ortholite® sockliners, Anaheim Factory Classic Slip-On 98 DX also includes throwback details like the iconic Vans checkerboard print, higher glossed foxing tape, printed sidewalls, and sturdy canvas and textile uppers to complete the look.
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Sure, when the rubes glance at your feet, all they see are five-pointed stars. But when YOU gaze in the direction of the underworld... HAIL SATAN!
Provenance unknown; posted by u/black_rose_ to r/coolguides. Read the rest
In this episode of Trenton & Heath, master cobbler Heath Potter resurrects a totally thrashed pair of Ferragamo loafers. You may think that 26 minutes is a long time to watch someone restore a pair of shoes, but just allow yourself to be enveloped by the artisinality of it all. The time will fly by and perhaps, like me, you will leave the experience deeply regretting having donated that pair of beat-up wingtips in the back of your closet.
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In Winter Haven, Florida, this gentleman rolled right into a Walmart, loaded up his cart with a TV, flowers, and other goods, and glided right out the door without paying.
"Back to the Future’s McFly he’s not! But his Hover Shoes, Voyagers, Moto Kicks, Space Shoes or whatever you want to call them makes him our first futuristic thief!” the Winter Haven Police Department police posted on Facebook.
(<a href="https://www.wfla.com/news/polk-county/police-futuristic-thief-steals-television-flowers-from-winter-haven-walmart/">WFLA, thanks UPSO!)
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Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ) is a supporter of the
Berea Animal Rescue Friends shelter in Berea, Ohio. As part of the NFL's My Cause My Cleats program in which players wear custom shoes at big games to spotlight their favorite charities, Nike tricked out OBJ's cleats as a tribute to the animal shelter. From
Hypebeast:
In line with the canine inspirations, ear flaps have been placed on two sides of each foot, hanging from the upper collars. On the medial side, “OBJ” is embroidered in gold, complemented by round tonal laces at the center. The lateral side features the Swoosh logo as well as the number “13,” while the black toe cap references a dog’s nose.
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I needed new shoes for cycling. These Shimano SH-RP1 cycling shoes are great.
Fairly lightweight, and certainly durable enough for spinning class, I'll be using these Shimano shoes 3-4x a week. They are stiff enough and the velcro straps cinch them down tight.
There are some interesting vent holes cut in the sole that my old pair did not have. I do not really notice much airflow, but maybe when on my roadbike.
I needed to buy a set of SPD clips to make them truly useful. I could have taken the old ones off my last pair, but they are not currently with me.
SHIMANO SH-RP1 Cycling Shoe via Amazon Read the rest
MSCHF told CBS that it customized a pair of Nike Air Max 97 sneakers by attaching a crucifix as a shoelace charm, and adding to the soles "holy water from the River Jordan, which was blessed by a priest in Brooklyn." The resulting "Jesus Shoes" are available for purchase at shoe speculating site StockX for $4000:
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In Hong Kong, a boycott has begun of skateboard lifestyle brand Vans after the company pulled the above design from their annual Vans Custom Culture competition. In the contest, the public is invited to submit their designs in competition for a cash prize and having their shoe design manufactured. This particular design is themed around the current anti-government protests in Hong Kong and it was apparently doing quite well in the competition. From CNN:
The design, attributed to a Canada-based user named Naomiso, features a red bauhinia, the flower on Hong Kong's flag, and one of the yellow umbrellas synonymous with the city's 2014 pro-democracy protests. Illustrations on the sneaker's side depict a crowd of protesters wearing gas masks, goggles and hard hats.
On Saturday, with over a week of voting still to go, the submission was removed from the competition website. In a statement posted on Facebook in Chinese and English, the brand said that "a small number of artistic submissions have been removed ... to uphold the purpose of Custom Culture."
"As a brand that is open to everyone, we have never taken a political position and therefore review designs to ensure they are in line with our company's long-held values of respect and tolerance, as well as with our clearly communicated guidelines for this competition," the statement said, without referring specifically to the protest-themed design.
The statement drew condemnation on social media from Hong Kong protest supporters, where a number of posts were accompanied by the hashtag #boycottVans.
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To honor MCA, the great Adam Yauch, the remaining Beastie Boys have partnered with Adidas to release a vegan shoe.
VegNews:
This week, shoe brand Adidas released the Adidas Skateboarding x Beastie Boys Americana vegan sneaker to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Beastie Boys’ album Paul’s Boutique. The iconic rap group’s member Adam Horovitz (known professionally as “Ad-Rock”) and Mike Diamond (known as “Mike D”) collaborated on the design of the shoe and made it vegan in honor of longtime veganAdam Yauch—the third Beastie Boys member who died in 2012 from cancer. The shoe features a vegan canvas upper, cotton jersey liner, gum sole, Adidas’ classic three-striped pattern, and a Beastie Boys logo on the tongue. A portion of sales of the new shoes will be donated to PEACE Sisters and Little Kids Rock, organizations that work to empower young women.
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K-Swiss and esports organization Immortals is releasing sneakers designed for playing videogames.
Bloomberg reports that the "performance" version of the sneaker, called the Grandmaster, "will include the ability to quickly kick the shoes off hands-free. That should help provide comfort during long matches."
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In 1986, Puma gave new meaning to the word sneakernet with the introduction of its RS-Computer running shoe that integrated a digital pedometer in the heel that could interface with your Apple IIe or Commodore 64 computer. See vintage video below. Now the RS-Computer is back with contemporary technology. I just wouldn't recommend wearing them through airport security. From Hypebeast:
Updating the 33-year-old trainer for today, PUMA’s updated version no longer requires a 16-pin cord. It can be charged via USB and can now connect wirelessly to your mobile phone via Bluetooth. Other updated features include a miniature 3-axis accelerometer, an extended memory that records 30 days worth of running data, LED indicators, and a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery.
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Archaeologists at an excavation site for London's Thames Tideway Tunnel (the "super sewer") dug up a 500-year-old skeleton who died with his boots on. Based on the location of the find, the boots, and other signs, the fellow may have been a fisherman or sailor. From National Geographic:
"It’s extremely rare to find any boots from the late 15th century, let alone a skeleton still wearing them," says Beth Richardson of the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). "And these are very unusual boots for the period—thigh boots, with the tops turned down. They would have been expensive, and how this man came to own them is a mystery. Were they secondhand? Did he steal them? We don't know."..
The position of the body—face down, right arm over the head, left arm bent back on itself—suggests that the man wasn’t deliberately buried. It’s also unlikely that he would have been laid to rest in leather boots, which were expensive and highly prized.
In light of those clues, archaeologists believe the man died accidentally and his body was never recovered, although the cause of death is unclear. Perhaps he fell into the river and couldn't swim. Or possibly he became trapped in the tidal mud and drowned...
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Surrealist art/fashion duo Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran (aka Fecal Matter) designed these deeply bizarre "skin shoes" as part of a Photoshopped image for a Vogue profile on their work last year. After the manipulated photo caused a stir, the artists have now made the shoes real and (sort of) walkable. From Vogue:
Each part was made out of silicon that was shaped and molded to match Dalton’s leg. Skin hue, dents, moles, the arch of the foot, and even the hair mimics Dalton’s actual leg. (“There are little hairs!” she says.) The duo worked with the artist Sarah Sitkin, who specializes in creating replicas of bodies and body parts...
The shoe is like when you are going to Chanel to get a wedding dress. You get the fittings and the customizations. For even me to get the shoe, I have to stand and each of my legs have to be perfectly molded,” says Dalton, while Bhaskaran adds, “It is like creating a custom art piece that is wearable.” The shoes, like anything Chanel, come with a hefty price: The starting rate for the thigh-high is $10,000.
Fecal Matter’s philosophy behind the footwear reflects what they think humans will eventually look like as a result of body modification, social media, and advances in technology.
View this post on Instagram Yes, they're walkable
A post shared by Fecal Matter (@matieresfecales) on Oct 26, 2018 at 2:01pm PDT
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Sculptor/filmmaker/installation artist Tom Sachs, perhaps best known for his incredible recreations/reimaginations of NASA missions in gallery spaces, has revealed his next sneaker designed in collaboration with Nike. According to Hypebeast, "the Tom Sachs x Nike Mars Yard Overshoe is slated to release at DSM London on Oct. 11 and roll out with a global release in the future, at a retail price of £390 (around $511 USD)." From an interview in Vogue:
As an artist and collaborator of many other artists and companies, what appeals to you about collaborating with Nike?
There’s a huge community with Nike, and I think probably the biggest thing that inspires me is that we have these shared ideals of: work first. It’s not just about winning the marathon, it’s about training for it. It’s not about finishing the sculpture, it’s the act of making things. For me, the advantage of being in the studio is I can make something one at a time, 19th-century-style. Nike doesn’t have that advantage, but has the ability to build thousands of products. As a result you have to make different kinds of decisions, and that process is very inspiring and challenging for me. I only do things that are interesting and keep me on my toes . . . . It’s a really major achievement, the shoe. I’m very, very proud of it. It’s something that I started working on in 2007 and just came to life this year. It’s something I didn’t know for sure if it was ever going really happen.
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Would you spend $530 on a pair of sneakers that were described like this?
Crumply, hold-it-all-together tape details a distressed leather sneaker in a retro low profile with a signature sidewall star and a grungy rubber cupsole.
Yeah, neither would I, and neither would these folks (aka "the internet"):
Once available at Nordstrom online, these held-together-with-tape sneakers by Italian luxury brand Golden Goose are currently sold out (or removed??). Not to worry, they have plenty of other filthy, overpriced shoes to choose from. Read the rest
Limited to two motors and $600, mechanical engineering students from the University of California, Davis designed and built this shoe-tying machine. I particularly appreciate how the robot uses the same technique as I do: the bunny ears method.
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