Comme Correct

If shark-jumping were an Olympic event, sneaker designers would take the gold medal.

Jordan Bragg — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:00:18 +0000

After winning that gold medal, they would commemorate the occasion by all collaborating with each other to make a gawdy, limited edition high top that would cause the internet to go apeshit. Watch for the fake version on e-bay.

I am using this forum to call for an immediate stop to the production of high-top sneakers with a velcro strap (or straps). They are officially 2009′s “I can’t turn my head on the internet without seeing this” trend, and with very few of these sneakers even released yet, I am very much over them already. As a general rule, when you see something on Kanye West, it’s probably not that cool to wear it yourself anymore, and you missed your chance. Not that Kanye isn’t well dressed, but he is an indicator that an annoying trend is on the way, and ten year old kids in the suburbs will soon be wearing it, paired it with a popped-collar pink polo shirt (see: shutter sunglasses at your local mall kiosk). Mr. West has velcro-strapped high tops coming out with two different brands in ’09, so I think that assures that the shark will not merely be jumped, but in fact pole-vaulted.

Android Homme

Supra

Android Homme

Reebok

Ato Matsumoto (in conjunction with K-West, seemingly the sumbitch responsible for this whole thing)

Louis Vuitton x Kanye West x Vomit

Nike x Kanye West

Get the point now?… What are those straps even doing? The laces weren’t doing a good enough job of keeping the shoes on our feet? With all these, will people be wearing them with the straps undone and dragging on the ground to get all dirty and shitty like they used to do with Air Force 1 highs? That’s too many questions, and not enough reasons to wear this crap. I was up on this trend so early anyway — I had the Deion Sanders Diamond-Turfs when I was like eight years old.

To the theatre, then back to the drawing board…

Jordan Bragg — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:07:37 +0000

As a writer (of sorts); I, like most others, dream of writing a riveting screenplay that makes you change the way you think about yourself and the world. I am also a lover of sports, and anything biographical. Therefore, the great film of the future that plays itself out in my head when I’m at my actual job is usually a Mike Tyson biopic. There is a depth to the man, and a tragedy to his story that is normally lost behind comedy. A sensitive soul that battles with a deadly mind and body. These are the things that I fantasized about saying when I was accepting my Pomme D’or, and my Oscar. I have a lot of time on my hands at work and school where I’m not paying attention to what I’m supposed to do, so I plan Oscar acceptance speeches in that time.

But it turns out I slept on that million dollar idea like you slept on the 70% off storewide coupon code for Karmaloop after Christmas (I got some Supras, though). Instead, James Toback will be accepting the Oscar I had awarded myself. Toback directed the documentary(!) Tyson, which he brought to Cannes and Sundance (imdb says the theatrical release will be “some time in 2009″). It features interview footage shot with Tyson in rehab, and appears poised to kick all manner of ass.

When planning my Tyson movie in my head, I imagined it to be impossible. How would I get Mike Tyson to approve it? Not that I’m sure he doesn’t want his story told, but it would have to be an honest depiction to be any good, and the truth about Mike Tyson is probably even uglier than we think. Never did I think he would let someone else try to tell his story (particularly a punk whiteboy from Canada), let alone tell it himself like he apparently has. And even if I got Kid Dynamite’s approval, no chance would a studio approve of a film about a man whose public image is usually suited only for hatred and mockery.

Someone perceived a real man behind the ear-biting rapist animal caricature that we have grown to laugh at, hate, and ridicule. Mike Tyson’s story plays out like a beautiful film, an ugly tragedy, and a heavyweight title fight (as often as not, fought against himself) all in one:

“A hard luck kid from a bad neighbourhood fights his way to the top, and becomes the youngest heavyweight boxing champion ever. Atop the world, there is nowhere to go but down. The violent, angry mind that makes him a hero and a champion as a competitor in the ring, makes him the devil outside it. The phenom as a youth loses it all in adulthood to his own crimes. Anything left of him is taken by drugs, and anything left of his money is taken by his manager.”

If it were a movie, and it didn’t have Mike Tyson’s name on it anywhere, the world would love it. And if it were a movie, he’d probably have to die at the end. To the surprise of many, himself included, Mike Tyson is still alive. In my now-mothballed film, I hoped to explain the formative events in the life of Mike Tyson that made him what he is; and conveyed that what he is, and what we believe him to be may not be the same thing. I still wish I could do that, but I know I couldn’t do as good a job of that as the man himself. I haven’t seen The Wrestler yet, and I’m still excited for it, but knowing this is coming at least satisfies me that I will see more than one good movie in 2009.

News via Newborn Rodeo

Vans Vault x Taka Hayashi Velocita LX

Jordan Bragg — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:25:37 +0000

I don’t own these yet, but I have every intention of doing so. Everyone and their dog, and their dog’s sneaker/streetwear website has reported on the Vans/Hayashi Fall ’09 collection since thursday. I feel fine about passing on the other two shoes (the No Quarter LX kind of look like something that ends up getting worn with an Ed Hardy T-shirt or something). I’ve only ever really been moderately impressed at best with past Vans/Hayashi stuff, but these jump out at me. They are in the spirit of a Vans shoe, but clearly are just that nice extra bit classier and better quality. The little details (leather laces, the patch on the tongue, the tab on the back, the laces threaded under that strip of leather) make this shoe. I can’t decide if I want the blue, the black, or both, or if I’ll be too cheap to get either one. I’ll have until summer to decide.

photos: Mashkulture.net