Am I crazy or are these ridiculously tight?
We call em the Uno Unos cuz if you know, you know
Stunt? Nike Ad? Both? Real? Fake? True? False?
www.JordanBrandClassic.com
Madison Square Garden • New York City • April 19, 2008
Interscope Recording Artist Wale
To Headline 2008 Jordan Brand Classic
Boyz II Men to Perform National Anthem at Madison Square Garden
NEW YORK, NY (April 15, 2008) – Jordan Brand, a division of Nike, Inc., announced today that Interscope/Allido recording artist Wale will be the headline performer during the 2008 Jordan Brand Classic. Wale, an emerging rapper from Washington, D.C. who is working with Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson, will be releasing his debut album later this year.
The Jordan Brand Classic will also include a special performance of the National Anthem by Arista Records recording group and four-time Grammy winners Boyz II Men. Boyz II Men is considered the most successful R&B male vocal group of all time and have sold more than 60 million albums. Their collaboration with Mariah Carey on “One Sweet Day” set the record for the longest period of time a single has remained at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, breaking their previous record for both “End of the Road” and “l’ll Make Love To You.”
“The Jordan Brand Classic will once again showcase the future stars in the game of basketball and the top names in the music industry,” said Cliff Torng, Director of Marketing for Jordan Brand. “We are excited to feature two top musical acts in Wale and Boyz II Men and we expect another electric atmosphere at Madison Square Garden, the World’s Most Famous Arena.”
The 2008 Jordan Brand Classic, presented by Foot Locker and Boost Mobile, will feature the nation’s top high school senior basketball players at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, April 19. This year’s event tripleheader will begin with an International Game at 4:00 p.m. followed by the Regional Game at 6:30 p.m., and the All-American Game at 9:00 p.m., televised nationally live on ESPN2. A portion of the proceeds will once again benefit the New York City-based charity, The Children’s Aid Society.
The event is also annually attended by some of sport and entertainment’s biggest stars, who have included Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, LL Cool J, Warren Sapp, Terrell Owens, Floyd Mayweather, Kanye West, Fat Joe, Ludacris, Ahmad Rashad and Vince Carter.
The 2008 Jordan Brand All-Americans include Al-Farouq Aminu (Norcross, GA/Wake Forest), William Buford (Toledo, OH/Ohio State), Ed Davis (Richmond, VA/UNC), Demar DeRozan (Compton, CA/Southern Cal), Michael Dunigan (Chicago, IL/Oregon), Devin Ebanks (Oakdale, CT/Indiana), Tyreke Evans (Aston, PA/Undecided), Drew Gordon (San Jose, CA/UCLA), JaMychal Green (Montgomery, AL/Alabama), Jrue Holiday (N. Hollywood, CA/UCLA), Scotty Hopson (Hopkinsville, KY/Undecided), Brandon Jennings (Mouth of Wilson, VA/Arizona), Malcolm Lee (Riverside, CA/UCLA), Greg Monroe (Harvey, LA/Georgetown), B.J. Mullens (Canal Winchester, OH/Ohio State), Delvon Roe (Lakewood, OH/Michigan State), Samardo Samuels (Newark, NJ/Louisville), Iman Shumpert (Oak Park, IL/Georgia Tech), Kemba Walker (New York, NY/Connecticut), Willie Warren (North Crowley, TX/Oklahoma), Wesley Witherspoon (Lilburn, GA/Undecided) and Tony Woods (Rome, GA/Wake Forest).
Recent Jordan Brand Classic All-Americans have included NBA stars Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Amarè Stoudemire, Dwight Howard and Kevin Durant as well as current NCAA standouts Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina), Derrick Rose (Memphis), Eric Gordon (Indiana), Jerryd Bayless (Arizona) and D.J. White (Indiana).
Tickets are now on sale at all Ticketmaster locations, the Madison Square Garden box office, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 212-307-7171. For more information, please visit the official web site, www.JordanBrandClassic.com.
Esaie over at Nike sent us a pair of these however, we got some samples with some white splatter on the black. I think the production version will be solid black like the pic above. More pics of the samples after the jump.
From Sneaker Freaker
One of the most interesting and unexpected drops of the year comes from the Nike ACG (All Condition Gear) stable, with their highly technical trail-blazer, the Wildedge GTX.
There’s been a few versions of this shoe floating around in 2007 but none that have quite hit the spot until this bio-hazard arrived in yellow and black. The chief beef has been that the swoosh on previous Wildedge models looked really crummy as an emboidery, but this GTX model puts it right with the Nike logo screen-printed onto the trademark Gore-tex and XCR (Extended Comfort Range) upper. The use of the mysterious waterproof XCR material means the shoe also has serious performance credentials – it’s a light-weight barrier against any wet treatment, so you can be confident the Wildedge will hold up against any bush battering put its way.
And with 0.44 sticky rubber used in the sole, it will also grip tighter than a wounded squirrel, which makes it perfect for both the urban adventurer and those deep in the rocky wilderness. And if comfort is a factor when dropping coin, the Wildedge is also worth every penny, with a full length phylon-encased airbag insole unit. The sheer versatility of the ACG design and the awesome colourway makes this shoe THE MUST HAVE SNEAKER OF THE YEAR.
It is now confirmed that this model will go into production so watch this space and we’ll remind you all when we get the release dates.
Style Code : 7169 7517
Read the article here
(more…)
I can’t help but think they didn’t listen to 100 MILES AND RUNNING, seeing they are from Maryland.
According to URB.com:
There’s another footwear line on the scene and it’s gonna be huge. So serious. 100 Styles and Running manages to combine comfort and quality using concepts/processes you won’t see with other lines, all without sacrificing an ounce of style.
This afternoon, I had the pleasure of meeting Ric Salazar aka Erth1 (helpin represent the line) and Evan Birenbaum (one of the founders). Aside from the fact that they’re incredibly down to earth and chill, the shoes were niccce (yes, totally worthy of the extra letters). Style+Quality is possible people, check it:
- Premium Washable/Treated Nubuck Leather (Yes, you can throw them in the washer and dryer if needed)
- Cutting-Edge Premium Waterproof Suede (Wear in the rain and watch the water bead off)
- Premium Full Grain Leathers and Materials (No short-cuts here)
- Pig Leather Lining, Custom Molded Sock Liner w/ “PRS – Pod Reaction System” Technology for added comfort (Comfort is priority)
- Laser Logo Detail on sockliner and tongue (Details, Details.)
- High Abrasion Rubber Cup Sole w/ Herringbone Tread (Extremely Durable)
- Wax Laces (For added protection)
- Classics styles and colors (For the office or club, gallery or shopping)
The line currently offers three styles for Spring/Summer08: The Abbot, The Colston and The Dylon- all versatile to fit your lifestyle, whatever it may be. You can find 100 Styles and Running at boutiques such as Bodega, Ubiq, American Rag, PHLI, True, Sportie LA, and American Rag.
For more info: http://www.100styles.com/
Went to the Nike’s Room 72, designed by Lynch / Eisinger
/ Design
Got way too sick, picked up a lot of heat
I read something about these
Side bar: How sick is it that my manager (A) has these shoes, (B) has a display case in his living room to house them?
Image courtesy of Carl Blakeslee
Carl Blakeslee, a former Senior Designer in the Nike ACG division from 1998 to 2005, reached out to us on MySpace, letting us know he was the original designer of the Nike Air Max Goadome and appreciated the song, “Nike Boots.” We hit him back asking for the story behind the Goadome. Here’s what he had to say:
Around June of 1999, well no, before that, was the official date the Goadome was conceived or i guess more accurately, born.
I was a senior designer at Nike in the ACG division at that time. ACG had been in a state of moderate decline during that period after losing some of our big money business to other divisions during a Nike “re-org” which always effected the smaller business categories within the Nike house.Nike politics pushed our leadership into a wild spin, not knowing or being able to visualize how to get some of those lost numbers back on the books. The other issue that probably assisted in the downward spin was that big Nike leadership (above the food chain from our division leaders) were seasonally busting our balls over why the “boot market” was growing and yet ACG numbers didn’t reflect this growth…”ACG” or better known as “those hippie hikers who climb mountains and shit” were not getting after the business. Enter Timberland. Our worst nightmare.
I’ll skip ahead a bit. As a designer I was being told by my leaders to just knock out a boot. No way, not me. Get someone else to do it. I’m an artist, not some knock-off boy.
I had to get out of town and think. We traveled to NYC to have a chat with Udi (training camp). Udi is a rad dude. He always has something to say. His words are written in my sketch book, “if you want to TAKE a category, you have to MAKE a category”. That’s some pretty damn profound shit. My take on that was, you have to create a reason for your customer to go there, not just make another product. We went out that night with Udi and a few of his boys; somewhere in the meatpacking district. Udi wanted to show me the consumer that spends $160 on a pair of
fly boots and the kind of “hiking” they do on the dance floor. Nice. That hurt Udi, but he was right.
From NYC it was onto Italy. I always liked Milan. As an art student studying design in Switzerland for a term, I would get on the train and go to Milan every weekend. Sometimes I would ride in an empty boxcar because all the seats were taken. I don’t know why that city is so special to me but it gave me energy and inspiration. Maybe it was all the models walking around, the amazing fashion, the scooters, the coffee, the food and the wine. It’s like paradise in a certain cosmo way. So I spent a few days in Milan and then went to Paris. Some of my friends played a joke on me and changed my room reservation to this shit hole next to a brothel in Pigialle. Dirty, shitty room. It was so bad that I didn’t want to lay in the bed, so i got some wine, bread and cheese and got crazy fucked up.
More corporate pressure had been piling up at Nike headquarters and I even got a phone call while in Milan from my boss. He TOLD me that I
needed to get on a plane and get to China ASAP. There was a new factory that i had to see…and “by the way, are those boots done yet? Hope so, cuz you are taking the designs to china to get those samples started”.
New factory? Cool! But now i needed some designs.
Back to the shit hole hotel room…
After a bottle of wine or two and some food I started to sketch out the “Pulse Collection” of boots and shoes intended to get after some of that
urban business. The Goadome came out of that pile of sketches which i attached for you. The idea was to take some of the heritage Nike sneaker design language that we all know very well and make it work on a boot. An athletic boot. One that fits like a sneaker, is light enough to run or dance in it and equally important, to look stylish and cool. An easy equation really, but we hadn’t done it yet at Nike in a form or silhouette that really felt boot-like and not like a sneaker trying to be a boot. My whole motivation for this direction was from time spent with Udi and hanging around in NYC, seeing how important the Timbs were and how it would not be a smart move to try and knock them off the shelf. Rather, I wanted to provide an alternative or better yet, a second pair of boots at the register. Timbs and Goas should both be in my boy’s closet. Not one or the other. It’s not an option to pick one. You gotta have both.
This new factory “Stella” in China made the first samples for me and they continue to make the modern Goa’s and most of the other casual or lifestyle product for Nike. This factory is not like any other. Jack and Buddy (owner and manager) are, to this day, very close friends of mine and I could not have made these boots without their help. Jack has an amazing eye for good shoes and Buddy knows the world of trends, music, art, fashion and knows how to help create and build brands at the factory level.
Finally, we had some great looking samples and what I thought at the time was some great design work. It was totally appropriate and linked to
Nike’s core values. We created a collection of boots that were different, had a point of view and a solid reason to exist. Phil agreed. We showed him the designs in a private meeting in his office. There were no more roadblocks from management after that meeting.
DC and Baltimore were the first cities to truly embrace the Goa, so big props to them them for having the courage to bring something new to the market.
The name “Goa” came from the music I was listening to that night in the ghetto Paris ghetto hotel. “Dome” comes from one of the sneakers that
inspired the design, the original ACG Lavadome. Hence the Goadome.
I mean…really? This has happened in the history of sneakers before, as far back as PF Flyers v. Converse. Even more recently, the Bapesta went toe to toe with the Air Force 1, but at least Bape took the sneaker game to the next level. This is a straight up jack move. Like they tryna set me up for a 211, gats held sideways screaming break yo’self.
Basically, Fila took a perennial classic, the Prada America’s Cup, one of the best pair of sneakers I’ve ever worn and with a pricetag of $295 and chopped it down to an “affordable” $90 pricetag. They removed the premium leather, slapped on a Fila logo and probably removed the steel shaft from the sole of the shoe, one of the America’s Cup’s greatest features.
What’s more is that Fila enlisted the services not of a respectable artist like Pharrell or Kanye (that would almost be worse), but rather ringtone rapper Hurricane Chris. Not only did FIla not get a top tier ringtone rapper like Soulja Boy or T-Pain, but they got a dude whose hit song is called “A Bay Bay.” Not even “A Bay Say” or “Juan Too Thray”. What’s more is that the commercial is absolutely horrible. It looks like something from O-Town or something. See for yourself…
In January 2007, the global Fila brand was acquired by Fila Korea, Ltd. from Sports Brands International, becoming South Korea’s largest sportswear company. Fila Korea currently holds the rights to the worldwide use of footwear and apparel brands of the parent firm. I heard Hurricane Chris is big along the 38th parallel. Just call him Hurrikorean Chris.
