North side of Brisbane saw an awesome turn out with the King of creps opening up their doors last Thursday over at Westfield Chermside. JD Sports came through with the goods having the first hundred in the line up gifted with a $20 voucher once they walked in, greeted by the friendly and energetic staff that were ready to cater to your threads and sneaker needs.
To the ones that were late on the release of Jordan IV Breds nearly three weeks back, a neat stack were waiting for them behind the counter, having a couple heads rocking on feet walking out the door.
We were able to get a sneak peak of the store before they opened up shop, seeing The JD team dynamic hype up and get the good vibes rollin. Layout of the store made sure you knew you were in JD Sports. Features of new silhouettes, like that of the recently released Adidas Nite Jogger and Reebok RS-X Tech, exhibited in perspex displays and animated monitors made it a unique experience than your average sneaker store.
Massive front door real estate got you automatically ending up inside, finding your peripherals scanning round for the goods. And the DJ was spinnin’ all types of bangers making it known that JD Sports was in town.
If you’re ever around the area or Chermside is your local go to, make sure to come through, check the creps, sign up to the comp to WIN KICKS FOR A YEAR, and say Hi.
Kickstw has opened up another store location and this time it got the Royal Arcade Treatment. Located amongst the bustling lanes of Melbourne, just a couple flights up some stairs and you’ve hit Hype Motherload. With walls of the latest collaborations and releases up for grabs. But don’t forget the remarkable streetwear up for copping with brands like Supreme, Bape and more.
Once done with the 360 degrees of eye candy, check out Kickstw consignment options. with their fare consignment rates and quick sale turn around times, its bound to leave a smirk on your face.
For more details please see Kickstw Website and check out their Instagram for deals
Straight from the Paris Fashion Week catwalk to your feet! Li Ning’s highly successful street wear returns with a very familiar high end luxurious vibe.
One of the surprise non-Way Of Wades silhouettes to have splashed onto street wear consciousness is the Essence Ace series. This version comes back with the all too familiar blocky and deconstructed look, but with a very familiar luxurious leather design and breathable air knit mesh upper combo.
Li Ning has always been a brand I’ve kept my eye on. Not as globally recognized as your Nikes and your Adidas’, but they well and truly are a sportswear juggernaut in China. Every since they pried Dwyane Wade out of Jordan Brand and successfully launched the Way of Wades, they have been making a huge noise in the scene. I have always been impressed with their packaging, craftsmanship and their usage of premium materials in all their sneaker ranges.
Equally impressive is how this package was shipped and ordered from Sunlight Station. For the box nerds out there, the package came double boxed and bubble wrapped. Also included was a pair of Stance Socks! The socks were a very welcomed bonus gift!
Now back to the kicks.
The uppers is made of a cow split leather and breathable mesh combo. This provides a cool, comfortable and secure fit. The heel counter comes with a thick padding that provides a more stable yet comfortable hold on your heel that prevents foot slippages on quick stops.
The outer sole is made of durable rubber with a simple but grippy horizontal pattern. My only complaint was that there were some very minor traction issues during wet street conditions.
Now here is where the Essence Ace II really shines. The cushioning feels so much more responsive and bouncier than traditional EVA. I would say the ride feels like a more stable and non-squishy version of boost. EVA is not meant to perform like this. It’s usually a dense compound that require a ton of wears before it breaks in. Not in the case with these kicks, you’re good to go out of the box. Meanwhile, the segmented soles, while cosmetically appealing provides a functional and effortless transition on your heel to toe strides.
I will be taking these bad boys on my next holiday. They are comfortable enough to be worn for hours on end and versatile enough to slide into most streetwear fits. I’ve worn em for 8 hours straight for this review and I haven’t experienced the same foot fatigue when I wear my Airs and Boosts. Like I said in the beginning, you can’t go past the high end design cues it’s going for, but at the same time its got enough of that deconstructed street vibe to pull off that casual yet striking look. I’ve had a ton of sneakerheads doing double take head snaps thinking these were a Gucci Gang x Balenciaga collab.
If you want to stand out from the crowd and still consider comfort as king, the Li Ning PFW Essence ACE II AS is now locally available at Sunlight Station.
It’s come down to this. Today we saw the Toronto Raptors knock out the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals to take on the 2 time defending champions Golden State Warriors.
Who you got for this? Does it go to Game 7? Let us know
With all the hype Fortnite has been getting, they’ve gone up another level by releasing an limited-time mode called DOWNTOWN DROP. Now to celebrate this new mode EPIC GAMES has created a bundle that includes (NIKE SB x Jordan Brand). This bundle includes challenges and Unlockables
As seen in the video, there are multiple aspects of Jordan and NIKE on the characters.
Purchases dates for this bundle are unreleased yet but stay tuned to your gamer sources for more updates.
In the mean time what do you think of the outfits in the teaser?
Bespoke IND have mastered the Jordan 3 into a handcrafted couples pair for Beyonce and Jay-Z.
Rolled in an untreated python skin, supple calf suedes, deer skin and Australian Kangaroo, founder and creative director Damian Sim created these with accolades to acknowledge some of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s greatest achievements.
Jay-z’s appreciation shoe showing 4:44 on the tongue, a Roc-A-Fella Logo on the heel tab which also features their first born Blue Ivy’s name. Coming in darker hues of black, navy, grey and white.
Beyonce’s pair featuring a Beygood Logo on the tongue and the twins names on the heel tabs. The Python coming in a maroon, with tones of pink, sail and white covering the rest of the shoe.
These pairs were personally gifted in hand a few weeks ago, through friend DJ Clark Kent.
If you want a custom sneaker, get in touch with Bespoke IND and create that dream sneaker.
“I started out as a huge MJ and Jordan Brand fan. But back in 2003, I took a liking to a certain rookie that wore the number 23. I started collecting the Lebrons when the OG Air Zoom Generations came out. Coincidentally, designed by Nike’s powerhouse trio of Tinker Hatfield, Eric Avar and Aaron Cooper. Ever since then I thought Lebron James had an awesome and impressive performance signature line. The Lebron 7s are perhaps my favourite as they closely resemble the Jordan 11s.”
‘We want to see the newest things. That is because we want to see the future, even if only momentarily. It is the moment in which,even if we don’t completely understand what we have glimpsed, we are nonetheless touched by it. This is what we have come to call art.’
— Takashi Murakami
On a personal level Jeff, tell us about yourself?
Where do I start? I’m 33, born and bred here in Sydney. I’ve had pretty eclectic education. I spent some time studying Petroleum engineering, then Industrial Engineering before finishing a degree in Audio Engineering. I’ve painted or drawn for most of my life. Spent 5 years of my life playing in a deathcore band called ‘To The Grave.’ Sneaker wise, I guess the obsession started when I was a kid. My mum used to work for the executives of the Australasian branch of Reebok. We weren’t exactly a well off family but they took a liking to me, so they always used to gift me all sorts of sneakers and clothing. The OG Shaqnosis was the first pair I really fell in love with, I just thought those lines and that contrast was just too dope.
Adidas Shell Toe ‘Warhawk’
I actually fell totally out of the loop with sneakers while I was playing my band, I owned 1 pair of black Vans Authentics and would wear them till I needed to replace them with another pair of the same thing. After leaving the band, a trip over to Japan rekindled the obsession and since then my collection has grown to somewhere around 220 pairs, mostly Jordans, Air Max 1s, with a few other runners and some Adidas Yeezy releases.
Kyrie 4 ‘Slimy Normans’Kyrie 4 ‘Slimy Normans’
How did you get into this sneaker customs biz?
I’ve always been into having a creative outlet whether it was drawing, painting or music. I was always a pretty quiet, kept to myself sort of kid, so being creative helped fill the time. When I left my band and started getting back into sneakers, I started following a few different custom and sneakers art accounts on Instagram and started trying my hand at some of my own work. Initially, I was just doing simple edits in illustrator and photoshop until really started doing some research into what sneaker customising actually involved. I ordered a few paints and brushes and started out playing around on a pair of Air Jordan 7s. Obviously, that pair was a whole way less than average and will probably never see the light of day but I was hooked.
Nike Air Force 1 Phoenix/Dragon ‘Perfect Balance’ (Murakami inspired)
The first Sneakercon down in Melbourne was coming up and my nephew wanted to rock something different so I hit his triple white nmds with some navy Camo, not the most original idea but they actually ended up getting photographed and in the on foot round up article put out by Sneaker News so I was pretty stoked about that. After that I kept just doing simple pairs here and there for myself or friends before getting the chance to do a pair for Jerome Randle for the final Sydney Kings game that season.
Kobe 1 Protro ‘King’s Gold’ (Jerome Randle Sydney Kings Point Guard Customs)
Kobe 1 Protro ‘King’s Gold’ (Jerome Randle Sydney Kings Point Guard Customs)
After all that though, that thing that made me think that I should actually try and do something with this whole customising thing was winning the ‘Ace Of Customs’ competition in the second Sneakercon in Melbourne last year. Since then I’ve been grinding doing more work, I kept the relationship with Randle going and ended up doing a few more pairs for this past season and now I’m working to possibly making this whole art thing a full-time gig.
Air Max 1 ‘1983’ (Winning Entry to the Ace of Competitions)
Inspirations?
I draw inspiration from a few different places. Music, other artists like Takashi Murakami, anime and video games. Stylistically I guess character work is where I have the most fun but I like the challenge of creating a pair thinking “what would it look like if artist X collaborated with brand Y”, I’ve been working on how to do that with Basquiat but that’s still a work in progress.
El Sneaker Hefe doin’ Work
Future?
I guess the plan is to keep grinding and putting work out. I’m working on a website and looking to get working with some sporting teams. I’ll be hitting the rest of the Its More Than Just Sneakers events this year to get my name out there, hopefully I’ll be at some other event happening later this year too but I can’t say much else on those at them moment. I’ve had a few early chats some other local custom guys about a special collaboration we might be putting together later this year, that’ll be dope if and when it happens. Aside from that general world domination!!!
DC fans this morning got a taste of whats to come for Batwoman to premiere in Sept/Oct this year.
We got our first taste of Batwoman in the Arrowverse crossover back in December when she teamed up with The Green Arrow & The Flash to save the multiverse. Since then, The CW network has teased the possibility of a series to come. This was given the green light back in January 2019 with a full season order done earlier this month.
Batwoman stars our own Australian actress Ruby Rose as Kate Kane, cousin to Bruce Wayne/Batman. Will we get to see Batman in this series? See the official trailer from The CW with more information to come on the premiere date.
Check out Sneaker Freaker’s latest collaboration with AsicsTiger with the Gel Lyte III called the “Tiger Snake”.
The Tiger Snake is a venomous, aggressive, deadly and has a fearsome reputation as a predator. With its sandy belly and stripey black upper, the snake’s natural camouflage is perfect for hiding in plain sight.
The upper is a buttery beige cowhide with micro-perf toe panels. It has a suede stripes to add a subtle texture. On the medial side, pink reflective 3M to add a counterpoint to a blacked-out midsole laced with pink splatter. Solid gold text across the nubuck heel.
Sneaker Freaker produced a heavily customised box with illustrations from Alexander Heir. Screen printed by hand using fluoro ink infused with actual tiger snake venom.
The ONLY way to get the “Tiger Snake” with the crazy packaging is directly from the Sneaker Freaker web store.
You can register your interest NOW, and they will send you a purchase link as soon as pairs are available.
