New Kicks On The Blog - Online Magazine for the Sneaker Culture

Several factors had a large say in the creative direction of the market in 2008. Previous years have seen a free-for-all of colour and materials madness that in 2008, simply failed to sustain the interests of many kids.

The obvious exception was Busy P’s rainbow Nike Air Force 1 Low, which may go down in history as the end of the era of ‘clown colour’. Whether that’s indicative of a sudden maturation of an entire generation or a sober reflection of the bleak situation the world finds itself in is something we’ll get back to you about next year.

The move towards plainer, simpler and dare we say it, mundane shoes is a natural evolution that with a little luck, may spawn a move away from retro-ville. This conservative drift has had a huge bearing on the direction of collabs in particular. Since slapping down the skittles is no longer a guarantee of success, other features have become key including crafting a well constructed story (the Sneaker Freaker shark edition PUMA´s) and using premium materials to elevate product (Asics Gel Lyte III “Solebox”).

Other than that, the high tops got higher, the plimsolls got thinner and 80´s runners finally looked like they might be on the wane, just as adidas peeled off an alphabet’s worth of Adidas ZX collabs. On the bright side, several new models seemed to gain a little traction this year, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Hyperdunk et al can keep the momentum swinging. They say nothing stays the same and that has never been truer than this year!

With the year coming to a close, Sneaker Freaker invited 30+ musicians, shop owners, personalities, bloggers, and more to choose their personal “Best of the Best” sneaker released in 2008. All 30+ selections are available now online at Sneaker Freaker.
The “Best of the Best” feature will also be available in the upcoming Sneaker Freaker magazine that is set to drop in a couple of week.

You can find the whole article here.

Info/Image: SneakerFreaker.com

DJ A-Trak, one of the hardest working DJs in the game is getting on the blogging train and revamping his own, personal blog. To celebrate the launch of his new website, DJ A-Trak will be giving away five pairs of this extra dope and super limited Nike Air Max 90 “Fools Gold”. As many of you may already know, DJ A-Trak is a notorious sneaker head, so as you can see, these are definitely hot.

The shoe features a black and grey sole with yellow inside the air bubble, while the upper is doused in a fine blend of brown nubuck/suede, pink distressed leather and yellow/gold premium leather. There will only be 5 of these Nike Air Max 90´s given away, and in order to enter the contest you just need to send your name, adress (no P.O. Boxes). Shoe size and phone number to foolsgoldrecs@gmail.com. If you are one of the lucky winners you should be able to receive these by the holidays. Good luck!

Info/Image: DjAtrak.com

Only 100 pairs total, of the Nike Air Force 1 “Stash” dropped last Friday at Concepts in Boston and at NORT/Recon in NYC.

The Nike Air Force 1 “Stash” were incredibly exclusive. 18 of these beauties were available to those that picked them up in Boston and they were able to meet Stash himself, and get their pair autographed. You can imagine the types of lines you would see for this kind of crazy release.

You can find more detailed pictures here.

Info/Image: NiceKicks

Corgishoe from The Hundreds is selling his 2000 pair sneaker collection, all deadstock! If you are shopping for vintage Nike SB, Nike Air Max, Nike Air Jordans or basically anything else released in the past 17 years, check out Corgi’s blog by clicking here. Be sure to flip though the pages of sneakers for sale by clicking around the bottom-left corner of the blog.

Corgishoe will tell you how it works:

–PLEASE EMAIL AT corgishoe@thehundreds.com WITH YOUR OFFER. LOOKING FOR FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR BOTH OF US.

–DO NOT USE COMMENTS TO ASK ME “HOW MUCH FOR THESE” OR “IM INTERESTED IN THESE” . EMAIL DIRECTLY AND I WILL REPLY ASAP.

–I AM SELLING MY SHOES. I WILL BE UPDATING THIS BLOG DAILY. BUT PLEASE BE PATIENT SINCE I HAVE OVER 2000 DEADSTOCK PAIRS TO POST.

–IF YOU SEE MORE THAN 1 PAIR OF THE SAME SHOE IN THE SAME SIZE IT MEANS I HAVE DOUBLES OR MORE IN THAT SIZE.

–I AM NOT INTERESTED IN ANY TRADES EXCEPT FOR THE GLASSJAW BLAZER.

–YOU CAN ALSO CHECK MY AUCTONS ON eBay. THANKS

Info/Image: CorgiShoe

As head of the Nike Innovation Kitchen, you can imagine Chi McBride diving into a vault full of shoes some people would kill for and rolling around with a huge grin on his face. However, it would appear that he actually does something slightly more productive with the contents of the vaults he has access to.

This hybrid marries the DUNKLE and the Nike Air Force 1. Keeping true to the Nike Dunk’s original silhouette, McBride has kept the upper the same but added the chunky Nike Air Force 1 sole.

But before you get too excited, this shoe is 1 of 1. He made it for himself. Because he can. Don’t try and say you wouldn’t do the same.

You can find more detailed pictures here.

Info/Image: Vulcan The Krusader

In a project originally conceived approximately 5 years ago, the Nike Doernbecher Freestyle Program was a philanthropic initiate to help raise money for the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Its premise was to give free reign and creative control over chosen Nike models through a select few inspirational children. Unlike previous years, Nike hoped to create an even bigger splash and raise more funds by opening up the selection of shoes to include some of its most popular releases as well as adding a 6th model. The shoes include popular lifestyle models such as the Air Jordan I, Air Force 1, Free Mary Jane Slip-On as well a more technically-driven style in the Zoom Vomero+ 3. A 6th shoe also includes a commemorative anniversary Air Max 90. In a special charity event a few days ago, a handful of shoes each individually signed by Tiger Woods were auctioned off with all proceeds donated to the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. The shoes will be available at Niketown locations as well as Nike.com.

You can find more detailed pictures here.

Info/Image: HypeBeast.com

Custom artist MACHE (pronounced “Mosh”) has un-veiled his latest and greatest from the workshop. Heath Ledger’s role as the Joker has left many of us wondering if maybe one day a shoe company can come up with something as a memorandum. Well let MACHE show us the way with this brand new Nike Air Force 1 Low “Joker” custom which has a detailed portrait of the schizophrenic super villain. The colors blend in real well on the the Nike Air Force 1 canvas and these are really one of a kind customs.

You can find more detailed pictures here.

Info/Image: NiceKicks.com

There are a lot of sneaker websites out there. None, however, are quite like Crooked Tongues (http://www.crookedtongues.com) (CT). Not only do you get first dibs at seeing the newest sneakers, you also get a sneaker forum where you can discuss your sneakers with other sneaker fanatics, and interviews with people from Nike and other major sneaker producers. Everyone who knows sneakers best can be found on this site. Format sat down with the men who operate the site day to day, Gary Warnett and Charlie Morgan, who explained the structure behind the site.

You can find the whole interview here.

Info/Image: FormatMag.com