Android Homme – Spring 2010 Collection
As you do, I met up with one of the guys from Android Homme at a boat party back on Boxing day during my trip to Hong Kong for Christmas.
Admittedly, I knew nothing about Android Homme before then, but all I knew was that his kicks were looking fresh! I think they were Propulsion 2’s but anyway, what caught my eye was the quality of the overall trainer.
I don’t know how these guys do it but, cracking the seemingly saturated sneaker market during a recession with a product made of the highest quality materials must have some people scratching their heads in bemusement.
Android Homme have indeed cracked this tough market and they also seem to be one of the pioneers of growing trend of “premium trainers” such as Dior, Louis Vuitton & Kris Van Assche. May I stress that even though Android Homme is a premium trainer it does come with a considerably more affordable price tag (£100 approx). This is particularly good news for me as I am still saving up for a pair of Kris Van Assche’s.
After much success from the release of Propulsion 2, there is now another limited edition colour available. The Propulsion 2 is now available in zinc metal and there are only 200 pairs available! As I expected, this release comes with all the “bells & whistles” such as pigskin lining, full grain leather and waxed laces.
This release is only available from their site here. Check out the images below including the original Propulsion 2’s (Black and White)
The 25 Coolest Sneaker Designs of 2009
You know the year is definitely coming to an end when articles and reviews start popping up on the ‘Best of 09′. At first when i saw that Bloomberg Business Week had rounded up The 25 Coolest Sneaker Designs of 2009 i was a bit skeptical of what decisions they had made, but then reading it and realising that they had in fact teamed up with Sneaker Freaker to do the review i was quite impressed.
Below I’ve picked out 5 sneakers from the list that i think are worthy of a ‘Best of ‘09′ accolade. You can check out the rest of the review here. Finally as a bonus Sneaker Freaker have rounded up the Best of the Best 2009 with comments from the likes of Crooked Tongues own Gary Warnett and sneakers fanatics like A-Track.
Saucony Shadow 6000 Varsity
Supra Skytop II
Louis Vuitton Kanye West Signatures
Adidas, Hypebeast, and Solebox Zeitfrei
Nike Air Yeezy
Finally A Pair Of Ugg Boots For Men?
Having written previously about Ugg boots, the Stylenerds have definitely been in opposition to this ever evolving trend. Uggs spread like wildfire in the female market with endless copies allowing access to the look on the high street and even spread to male early adopters.
The thing is, a lot of assumptions can be made before even trying something – as the saying goes, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ – so I felt compelled to try a pair of these things on, after hearing so many female wearers explain how comfy and warm they are.
Now, I have to admit. These things are impressive! The inner sole is lined with wool along with the rest of the boot inners making it feel very slipper-like; in fact, this is why they are often suggested to be worn without socks.
Anyhow, aside from now knowing they are ultra-comfy, it doesn’t take away the issue of Uggs being, on the whole, hideously ugg-ly.
Well, I think I may have found a solution – the recently introduced Men’s Classic Short Bomber in Chestnut. The boot comes in a classy chocolate coloured leather finish (as opposed to the suede-like outer usually associated with the boots) which makes them look a little more rugged and man like than the ‘outdoor slipper boots for women’ type we are more normally accustomed to.
I’m interested to hear people’s opinion on the matter, so leave some comments below – do you think these can be pulled off?
They currently retail at $160 plus $80 (about £150 in total) shipping internationally from the Ugg store. Stock is currently very light globally due to them being so new.
Click here to view them at the Official Ugg site.
The Boat Shoe Redesigned 2 – Vans Chukka Del Barco LX
After reading Moses’s recent post on The Boat Shoe Redesign, i remember a couple weeks back while i was scouring the net for some early Xmas gifts i stumbled across the latest Vans Chukka Del Barco LX Pack.
Released from Vans Vault as part of their winter collection these two colourways, Almond/Turtledove and Coffee/Turtledove (Turtledove? really, they couldn’t think of another colour along the lines of Brown), are ideal for the subtle winter palette. Although you might not want to wear them all the time, firstly even though its made from premium leather any type of material will takes it’s toll on the winter weather and secondly, as it’s going for £140 you wouldn’t want to ruin them for the first reason would you? But don’t let those reasons go against them as the detailing of the stitches and the custom Del Barco logo makes up for it.
Check the pics below and if you like, there available over at Flatspot (Note: Not many sizes left… so be quick)
The Boat Shoe Redesigned – Sperry X Band of Outsiders Chukka boot
In case you have been locked in a dark room all year, THE trend of the summer was of the Nautical Theme. The biggest feature of the nautical trend was the roll ups trousers and boat shoes. You can check out the Stylenerds on the nautical trend and rolls ups here or here.
Well its no longer the Summer and you might notice that your ankles will turn a shade of blue if you try to pull this look off during the winter months. Instead of blue ankles you can grab a pair of Sperry X Band of Outsiders Chukka boots!
Even though these are not 100% nautical they do carry some of the characteristics of the trend. Sperry became extremely popular during the summer for there unusually coloured boat shoes and Band of Outsiders is one of my favourite designers at the moment.
Stylenerds tip: Wear this with a pair of Standard fit raw selvedge denim jeans turned up
Sperry X Band of outsider Chukka boots are available from Crooked Tongues
Vans Era’s, Chukka Low’s… and Elms?
Speaking of Vans, they’ve just dropped three new collections…
I’m really liking the contrast of the two-tone colours on the California Collection of the Era’s. Incorporating premium materials in suede and canvas the sneakers come in six different colourways. The lower grade pastel colours will look really nice with a pair of shorts. If your Japanese is good then some of the colours are already available over at Flauge.
Usually concentrating on their most popular styles such as the Authentic’s, Era’s, Sk8-Hi & Chukkas I’m glad to see that there now moving there attention over to their other models. I’ve always liked the Chukkas, so seeing a low version of them is even better. It seems there playing around with simple colours with their Fall ‘09 Collection.
And finally the Eric Elms x Vans collaboration brings us a new model…Vans Elms (WOW… i wonder how long it took them to come up with that). Joking aside, I will probably purchase myself a pair of these as i just love the sleek, slim look of the sneakers. Eric Elms who is known for his work with Stussy and Supreme, has incorporated a mix of suede and canvas to the new model giving us three unique colourways, Tidepool, Burgundy & Black. Head on over to Flatspot where you can pick’em up for £65.
White Vans… So Fresh, So Clean
A few weeks back, a couple of us Stylenerds went out to celebrate a fellow friends ‘Born Day’… hours later, with numerous amounts of alcohol consumed, i somehow managed to stumble my way home. Waking up the next morning i gaze over to the end of my bed to find that my pristine white Vans era’s were… well, not pristine anymore!!! take a look at Fig 1. Astonishing, i know!… i still cant recall how they ended up like that. So instead of going out to buy me some brand new ones, i thought I’d have a go at ‘trying’ to clean them.
Right… so i armed myself with the following ammo… Vanish Prewash Spay Oxi Action Intelligence Plus, Vanish Stain Remover Oxi Action Intelligence Crystal White Plus, White Spirit, Kiwi Select Sport Whitener, a large plastic bowl/bucket, a hard bristle brush, a pillow case and a washing machine.
1. I delaced the sneakers and applied the Vanish Prewash Spray onto them all. As i waited for the foam to soak into the material i prepared the washing machine with the Vanish Stain Remover.
2. Once the foam wasn’t visible anymore i put the laces and the sneakers into a pillow case, tied it up securely (not to tight as you have to allow room for the sneakers to move) and threw them in the wash.
3. As you can see from Fig 2 the laces had completely whitened, although not much could be said for the sneakers. They were cleaner but you still wouldn’t rock them yet. Once dried i then applied the white spirit to the sneakers and using some elbow grease with the brush i started to scrub against the harder, heavier stains, which you can see in Fig 3. I left them to dry over night.
4. The next day i filled up the large bowl with hot water and poured in a small measurement of the Vanish Stain Remover. I left the sneakers to soak in the bowl overnight again.
5. As you can see in Fig 4, once dry the sneakers turned out pretty clean. Even though they had a couple of light stains, they were barely noticible so you could start to wear them from now, knowing that they will eventually get dirty again. But to me that wasn’t good enough…
6. I applied two coats of the Kiwi Sport Whitener, let them dry… and Voila!, you have Fig 5.
So after a little trial and error, i would suggest starting from step 3, as you need to get the heavier oily stains out of the trainers first before their allowed to soak into the material.
Hit up the comments if you have any other tips and tricks of your own that you want to share.
Fig 1
Fig 2
Fig 3
Fig 4
Fig 5
