Nike Air Jordan – Rare Air
With the flurry of hype over the latest Jordan retros, the AJ IV “Breds” we thought we’d crack the box on a pick up from a few years back, the “Rare Airs”, which combine (in our opinion 😉 ) the best Jordan’s ever, the 4’s, 5’s and 6’s into an unlikely mash of colour and textures yet like a perfect storm seems to just work.
High fives to those that did score a pair and condolences to those that camped out, missed out then overpaid on ebay!
Mmm...sneakers! Nom nom nom
The Artisan gallery is currently hosting two great exhibits for the price of one at one great price… FREE!
The main event is a broad cross section of sneaker styles, purposes and colours; some iconic, some WTF but most dialing in some form of wow factor. The display is set to a rough time line of major sneaker related events through out their history. Individual items are also numbered and are available for look up via a Supercheap Auto oil/air filter, paint code booklet on a chain deal. Some random facts are also included which made for hushed gallery library voices to be broken with honks of chuckling.
As a bonus, a side feature of the exhibit includes the Converse Blank Canvas Project where plain Chuck Taylor Cons were given to local artists to customise or convert. Some pieces were outlandish and featured a lot of intricate work while others seem like they were thrown together during morning tea at a Westfield arts and crafts kids minding stand. However, my favourite pieces weren’t artist pieces but the anatomy of a Chuck and the history of Converse wall (even if there weren’t any of the ERX series!).
Our buds over at Sneaker Freaker provided a fair portion of the exhibits and information so if you’ve been around the traps you may have seen quite a few of the items before but its still worth a look to see them all in the one place (and pick up a free copy of Sneaker Freaker mag 😉 ).
Even if you only have even a passing interest in funky footwear and 20min to spare after you’ve stuffed yourself at Harajuku Gyoza then its definitely worth a look.
The exhibit runs till August 16, 2012.
More Sneaker exhibit photos here
Paris 2011 part #3 – Shopping
Nike - Paris
Ah Paris, one of the well known fashion and shopping capitals of the world… if you’re the type to frequent Rodeo Drive and the like, otherwise you have to venture further out to find outlet malls like La Vallée Village.
We only had one day of shopping so we decided to keep it central and stick to the “must-see’s” which meant we gave the hoity-toity malls a miss and looked for boutique sneaker and toy stores instead 😉
Les Halles metro station was the closest stop to most of these shops and conveniently part of the Forum des Halles shopping center which has a sunken open air section and the rest completely underground. Stores vary from high end brands to small boutiques. The few selling sneakers were more along the dressier side of things, coupled with the ever wallet punishing Euro, they were even less appealing. There’s a McDonald’s which is always a welcome sign… for free WiFi 😀
Entering the mall was fine via the metro station but exiting? Well that wasn’t quite so easy. It wasn’t till we were outside that we realised the whole thing was underground and from what we could see there was only one set of escalators out (that’s if we weren’t having another travel brain fart, which was highly likely with fatigue and jetlag clawing at our heels).
Fountain monument... thing
Up on the surface, there’s a small nature area with a fountain structure, no doubt with some historical significance like many random relics around the city… oh look Footlocker! It definitely doesn’t have the same presence here as it does in London but this store was quite large with a dedicated boutique styled store attached, specialising in basketball related apparel and sneakers – which wouldn’t look out of place in LA or NYC. The punishing Euro once again left us breezing passed a lot of items but coming across some unique pieces like a Yankees bomber jacket in hot pink with multiple team patches or a Yankees New Era cap in an illusive army green and orange colourway were too hard to resist 😉
Couple doors down there’s Skechers and Dr. Martins, if you didn’t get enough of them in London.
Unknown sneaker store
Opium
A short walk down some narrow cobbled Carnaby styled streets sees a handful of small sportswear and street wear styled shops, many sport Diesel logos on the front, whether or not they’re all authentic is another thing. A few notable spots, Zoom flight sports – mostly lower end sports based model sneakers coupled with Diesel products and a signless sneaker store next door to Joe Allens which had an ok selection of Nikes and Vans. However THE store most heads will be here for is Opium, a store almost solely dedicated to the Jordan brand. There are a few “dressier” Nikes but predominantly Jordans, a couple region exclusive colourways like these J1’s in Torquoise and many were no longer in production so it was a fine opportunity to see some classic history in the flesh. There were also a bunch of boxes stacked to the ceiling in the back corner, possibly new stock, possibly deadstock but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to even ask ):
Shinzo
SBPro
Espace Kiliwatch
Heading north west along Rue Etienne Marcel will lead you to Shinzo, SBPro and Espace Kiliwatch. Shinzo is probably the pick of the bunch for the slightly limited releases but take notice if there is any “cleaning” going on. Turns out if there is, you’ll be told they’re “closed for cleaning” and ushered out even if you had already been browsing for a good couple minutes. I however have a sneaking suspicion that it was just more French hospitality since we didn’t look like we were going to buy anything since their prices are hardly favorable. SBPro tries terribly to latch on to Nike’s SB skateboarding range, even to the extent of incorporating a Tick like symbol in their logo, they do however have a decent selection of skate related brands and products. Espace Kiliwatch is more like City Beach or Universal with a broader selection of casual brands and styles.
artoyz
Last stop in this area was Artoyz, the Giant Robot of Paris. As much as we love Kidrobot, it was refreshing to see fewer pieces from them. Instead there is a nice selection of toys and apparel from local (city and regional) artists and what can only be described as a Posca marker vending machine! Definitely has to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately prices again were bordering on cringe worthy.
Nike - Paris
Nike - Paris
Adidas - Paris
With a couple hours to spare we decided to make a pass on Paris’ Rodeo Drive, Av. Des Champs Elysees. If you’re like us and can’t fathom how someone could charge, let alone spend $100 on a ratty thin t-shirt then the only points of interest will be the Adidas and Nike flagship stores. Both encompass more than ample real estate for their location and both come complete with eye catching quirks, Adidas with its Trefoil live photo wall (your photo is taken webcam style and then displayed along with other customers from the day) and Nike with a Bill Bowerman (original co-founder) collage of button pins featuring Nike and sub brand logos to form a mural. In true French fashion, the Adidas store also has a separate section for its “designer” range which wouldn’t look out of place in Jay Kay‘s waredrobe 😉 Other than those few points, most of the range and styles are almost identical to those found in London.
Toyota
Toyota
While you’re here, check out the Toyota showroom, most notably for its open wheeled F1 style concept car and wall mounted Yaris. Across the road is the Louis Vuitton store, perfect op to add some photographic proof to that knock off bag purchase :p
Louis Vuitton
And we’re done! As they say, a quick game is a good game and we were out of there! Next and final stop, Beijing!
Travel tip: To get to Paris’ airport – Charles de Gaulle aka CDG, find a RER station and purchase a ticket from one of the machines.
Paris 2011 part #1 – Arrival
Paris 2011 part #2 – Sight Seeing
SBM on Sneaker Freaker
The Supafest festival saw varying deals of talent on stage and in the crowd but one thing for sure was there was no lacking in the feet department, sneakers that is.
Our trainspotting eye caught a few pairs of the latest freshness about to hit our shores on some performing feet.
Supafest Brisbane 2011 photos here
Check out the Sneaker Freaker Supafest article here
For all your sneaker news and chit chat hit up Sneaker Freaker.
Supafest 2011 – Brisbane
With the rain clouds looming above, it looked set to become another Future Music Festival but in a stroke of luck, the girls (and guys) that just had their “hair done-did” didnt have to fret short of a couple sprinkles through out the day.
On the performance side it was what was to be expected, if you grew up listening to 80s and 90s hiphop you will be forgiven if you were a little underwhelmed. If however your version of “ol skool” is Nelly’s first album then you more than likely had the “time of your life”!
Supafest 2011 Brisbane photos here
———————-
A little something extra for the sneakerheads out there, a few artists were definitely brought their A game on the day.
The Game rockin the Bordeaux J7’s – released that day
Nelly sporting JP5’s – supposedly released some time this month
couple from Nelly’s St Lunatics support
and Busta Rhymes with his usual Goa/Foam Dome fare
Nike Air Jordan Spiz’ike 2010
Direct from Footlocker NYC after our recent trip there. AU readers, sorry but no news on the horizon about these hitting local stores just yet!
