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Firstname: Alun (aka llywarch)

Age: OLD

Location: Cymru, Wales

1/ What was you first pair of sneakers? Any nice story to tell about them?

My first pair of trainers would have been a white leather pair of Brooks for Christmas 1971 (or where they Tesco’s own?).

The first pairs I can remember having interest in where black leather pairs of Gola (with yellow stripe/lines), Patrick’s (all black):

and then Adidas (Kicks or similar). I can remember cleaning them and polishing them after every time I wore them. I used to study them, stare at the lines, the stitching and how they where built. I’d hold them up to a side view. The side view was best!

It wasn’t long before Adidas became my firm favourites, I can remember always insisting on Adidas from then on. It has probably always been Adidas ever since, even though I do own others.

Growing up in the 70’s, Nike was a new brand, which was mostly worn by the middle-class kids from the ‘posh’ end of town. Wearing Nike in my estate would be grounds for a good kicking! Adidas, and Puma to a lesser extent, were the footwear of choice. Anything else was regarded as “naff”.

2/ How would you generally describe your relation with sneakers? Would you consider yourself as “addicted”?

Addicted? Yes.

I’m always wearing trainers. Don’t like wearing shoes, they don’t give me the same satisfaction. Sitting here in my living room, I’ve a couple of pair next to the fire place (CT Londons and Solebox Berlins at the mo) just so I can look at them. I’ve always a couple of pairs in view, even though her indoors would prefer me to put them away, but she understands my needs… lol!

3/ According to you, what are the ingredients for a good shoe?

A good shape, that has to be aesthetically pleasing. The quality and build is also important and finally, not too many colours.

4/ How do you feel towards the so-called “sneaker-scene”? How did it evolve over the years?

The clothing and music that seem to be part of the “scene” doesn’t always excite me. It’s probably more to do with my age and background than anything else…… actually, age mainly!

I think the “scene” has become a lot more mainstream over the years, which isn’t all bad.

I’ve noticed a lot more people tend to be into it for not necessarily the ‘love’ of trainers. More of a status thing. All in all though, most changes have been forward looking and positive.

Like myself I think the “scene” has become a lot more embracing of different influences. I’ve certainly become more open minded.

If you’d have asked me 10 years ago if I’d wear Nike, I’d probably have laughed at you. I now own several pairs. If you’d have asked me if I’d wear non-trefoil adi, I’d have taken offense to you… lol! I now think some of the best Adidas trainers are from the 90’s.

A big influence on me over the past decade has been Crookedtongues, its forum and all the people I have met on there.

Discovering there where other like minded trainer geeks out there and not only in the UK, was comforting. It did also confirmed to me that wherever we’re from, we really are all the same.

5/ What is the sneaker brand you’re giving most interest in at the moment & why?

Adidas’ new-hybrid models are keeping me very interested at the moment. A certain Mr Law in the USA is working wonders with re-interpreting old adidas. The ObyO range is also keeping me interested. Again some great re-interpretations.

As to non Adidas, I’m seeing a slow tricle of quality re-issues from Reebok, Nike looks like they’re bringing out a great ‘woven’ range in 2010, also not a brand, as such, but I’m always interested and excited to see new collabs with Solebox, so keep up the good work Hikmet et al!

6/ Which shoe that you’ve bought was the hardest to get & how did it occur?

I’m a bit lazy when it comes to tracking down pairs. I have a few that I would love to own, but I never spending lots of time tracking pairs down.

I believe in a lot of luck…. and a lot of kindness and good will from friends lol!!

7/ What is your current sneakers top 5 (shoes you either already have or would wish to)?

Asics Gel Lyte III Solebox (uk9 anybody?)

Adidas Greeley Mid

Adidas Tokio Lo

Adidas London CT

Adidas SS80 CT

8/ Putting sneakers aside, what are your main interests/passions? How do you spend your time? Anything you’d like to make us discover?

Anything you’d like to make us discover?

Clothing, music, images, history, languages and blogging are my other passions, which I’ve managed to combine into these:

apllywarch.blogspot.com/

llywarch.blogspot.com/

Thanks Al!

The Solebox collaborations with NB has a really special place in my collection.

It’s been a  long long time since i haven’t had such a pleasure lacing a new pair of shoes and i was very proud wearing the M1500MSB  !

Firstname: Quincy/ Q/ Kwinz

Age: 34

Children: No, just a bunch of cats

Job: Freelance illustrator/ Supervisor @ Vans Outlet Store Netherlands

Location: The Netherlands

1/ What was you first pair of sneakers? Any nice story to tell about them?

As i can recall my very first pair were Puma Clydes white leather with blue formstripe, that when i was around 8 or so (totally wore them to the ground).

In my youth i was not into trainers really but after getting into skateboarding at the age of 13 i gradually was getting into skate-shoes which revolved more around their function less for appearance.

Bashed my feet quite a few times during skateboarding so i wanted to get some more cushioned shoes when i wasn’t on the board and so it happened i bought my first Nike Air Max which was the Nike Air Max 94 in the purple punch colorway when i was 19 in 1996.

Terribly messed them up doing graffiti, threw them out after a while and still regret it. A nice memory i recall vividly is that in my town which was pretty little, there were 2 sportstores which carried the Converse Chuck Taylors, Adidas Superstars, Puma Suedes etc for quite some years until in 1991 when i passed by one of those stores and saw this shoe that i hadn’t seen before as far as shape and technology. It resembled an ice-hockey skate in my eyes and i was strangely attracted to them, i asked the clerk what they were and he expalined they were the Nike Air Jordan VI in the black/infrared colorway. At that moment i decided i wanted this shoe because it was so different than anything else i had seen but the price was too high. But in 2000 when doing an internship in Amsterdam i stumbled upon the retroes of these in the Footlocker for a cheap price so i tried them on and when looking in the mirror decided they were too ‘flat’ (this was around the era of the chunky skate-shoes like DC, Duffs, Etnies) and passed on them. But luckily i happened to come by the 2000 retro last year, so i’m united with my childhood-obsession haha.

2/ How would you generally describe your relation with sneakers? Would you consider yourself as “addicted”?

There was a time i just bought anything that just had the smallest appeal which could be a graphic on the insole or a small logo on a shoe. Went a bit overboard with it back then.

But to this day i still love trainers though i notice a shift to more dressier trainers instead of the crazy-colored combinations (some good retroes excluded like the ZX8000 in aqua-yellow also a childhood affection of love).

Nowadays i’ve managed to control it with a golden rule “2 pairs out, 1 pair in”.

Plus when you get older you get pickier with every shoe that gets released, you pull out the magnifying-glass and start analyzing a shoe shape-wise/colors/materials/price-quality ratio.

For me after visiting sneaker-forums for the first time, a whole new world opened up meeting like-minded individuals who had/have more infinite knowledge and teaching about the history of brands and their models.

I’d like to say i’m having an above-average interest in trainers that some people may find obsessive or addicted.

3/ According to you, what are the ingredients for a good shoe?

Ingredients are quite simple in no particular order: shape, colorway, materials, build and price.

These ingredients can duel it out when a shoe calls for its attention. Mostly you see the colors first, if i like what i see i look at the shape then materials/build and ofcourse when everything is taken into account look at the price to see whether i see it fit to pay X amount of euros for them.

So even if the shape is awesome but the colorway isn’t my thing i’ll pass.

In these times it’s good to be more critical about shoes because some major companies are churning out the ugliest colors and shapes on shoes and still get away with it. I do know that the trainer-afficionados-crowd isn’t as big as the main public so there’s a market for those shoes and for people who don’t really don’t care about all that and only want a certain brand of shoes that’s fine.

But being critical about them and expressing it through sneaker-forums i hope some of that feedback reaches the companies and there’s a (idle) hope that they take things into account when developing a next shoe/colorway.

4/ How do you feel towards the so-called “sneaker-scene”? How did your feeling evolve over the years?

Through the forums i regularly visit i’ve met a lot of nice people in different countries who share the same passion. It makes it easier for travel haha.

I’ve entered the ’sneaker-scene’ around 2000-2001 and it was still an unknown thing so everyone who visited those forums came there for the same reason and had an understanding of what it involved.

Nowadays due to mainly pop-culture where artists manifest themselves as ’sneakerheads’ it gets a bit out of control. Some of them are truly collectors who appreciate the shoes but the side-effect of it is, is that it gets picked by kids/fans who only see the facade and only want certain models that only this or that artist endorses while there are many more and even better models out there.

Plus they don’t know how to lace and wear the shoes. It might sound shallow but a shoe has to be perfectly laced because it shows a certain respect for the shoe and its shape and you want to make it look as fresh as possible. Kids strangling a shoe it’s the absolute horror, it totally ruins the shoe.

But what i see nowadays is that the whole sneaker-fad is winding down because those who were into ’sneakers’ for the moment went to another fad. Also the market gets flooded with too much crap that doesn’t appeal but luckily certain companies are releasing simpler/basic colorways which don’t appeal to those who were into the aforementioned fad.

Before the internet people were more about visiting towns and hunting down shops to find certain gems they were after, it still exists to this day but due to the internet it appears to be much easier to buy your grail which results in online rape-prices because suddenly everyone wants a certain shoe they didn’t even take a glance at when that shoe originally was released.

Also thanks to the internet hype is being build much more easier which has its effect on quantities and prices.

Don’t get me wrong i love the internet for its archives on older shoes, resources and information on upcoming releases but the hype i can live without.

5/ What is the sneaker brand you’re giving most interest in at the moment & why?

Adidas is doing big things at the moment. They’ve done the AZX-program which had a huge impact with some very nice models with solid materials and colorways. They’re also going full force with their Originals-line releasing some very well-built retroes from their archives like the TRX, ZX8000, Superstar 80s and Campus 80s. Also they’re not afraid to go in different directions with the ObyO program partnered with the likes of Kazuki who did some very interesting stuff for adidas.

Vans is also pushing the envelope in their Vault and Syndicate line as well. Nice focus on shapes, colorways and materials.

6/ Which shoe that you’ve bought was the hardest to get & how did it occur?

That has to be the Air Jordan XIII in the flint-grey colorway. When it first came out i was totally hooked on the model and that colorway, already having the white-red ones. I was too late to pick them up for a regular price and after the sales hit they went so fast it wasn’t funny.

So after searching for them for 3 years i happened to stumble across them in a shop in Germany for 150 Deutsch Marks. I instantly bought them without thinking only to enjoy them for 3 months because that’s when my feet decided to grow a centimeter or two. I got to wear and enjoy them which was the important thing. Still have them to this day.

7/ What is your current sneakers top 5 (shoes you either already have or would wish to)?

In no particular order: Nike Air Huarache Light ultramarine, Air Jordan VI black/infrared, Air Jordan VII black/red, Adidas Superstar 80s, Air Max 94 purple-punch.

8/ Putting sneakers aside, what are your main interests/passions? How do you spend your time? Anything you’d like to make us discover?

I’m trying to draw/paint when i have the time available, also photography is peaking my interest (did a lot of photography when in art-school but that watered down because i wanted to focus more on learning to draw). I also love to travel, watch a movie or two, visiting concerts and just hang out with nice people.

Thanks Q!

AC

If you are heading to Berlin: 21st of January at Solebox.
You are more than welcome to join us to celebrate the launch of All Gone 2009.
This will be the first preview of the book, worldwide !

Can´t wait to see the book…

Julien Pham (Shoes Up Magazine)

A.) Name the best 3 restaurants / imbiss (basically food place) in town:
1. Pré Verre in the 5eme arrondissement - “Bistronomic” food, French cuisine with Asian touch. Suckling pig with cabbage… My sister works there, that helps
2. Song Heng, rue Volta in the 3ème - oldest Asian area of Paris / Oldest building in town / only 20 sits / one of the best bo bun in Paris = my “cantine”
3. Schwartz’s Deli, rue des Ecouffes in the 4eme - pastrami + cheesecake

B.) Name the 3 places that everyone should have been to while they are in town:
1. Parc des Princes - PSG Stadium
2. L’Imprimerie gallery and Beaubourg just closeby
3. La Seine docksides

C.) What are the 3 best things about Paris:
1. August in Paris, empty city/shorter skirts/easy to fool tourists
2. Quote from Futura : “If I smell a boulangerie, I have to go walk in. Sometimes I buy a baguette, I don’t even want it, I buy it just ot break off the ends”
3. PSG (Andy: “Really?!”)

Jay (BKRW.com)

A.) Name the best 3 restaurants / imbiss (basically food place) in town:
1. Chez nenesse RUE DE POITOU great little traditionnel small french restaurant. oeuf/mayo, blanquette de veau…
japanese
2. marché des enfants rouge: inside an indoor food market next to RUE DE BRETAGNE go deep inside and you will find one of the traditionnal japanese good restaurant.
brunch organic
3. ROSE BAKERY 2 (30 rue debelleyme)

B.) Name the 3 places that everyone should have been to while they are in town:
1. Parisian CHINATOWN 13th District
2. Beaubourg Centre Georges Pompidou (always great art exhibition)
3. BKRW Space, 68 rue des archives.

C.) What are the 3 best things about Paris:
1. Girls
2. Food
3. Velib

Want some milk?

After seeing the ’see through phone screens’ this seems to be next thing that is coming. Don’t really know what the benefits are but visually definitely a step forward.

Posted by Toyah!