Due to my background in footwear design and heritage in English footwear, I am intrigued by the custom footwear market. I am not just talking about doodling on an upper to make it look a little bit whackier than its other kin – not that there is anything wrong with that and I fully recognise that is a skill of its own… when done properly…  I am going to look at deconstructed custom sneakers.

First, let me explain a little bit about both, custom deconstructed sneaker and the drawn on shoe that I mentioned just now. A drawn on sneaker is exactly that, drawn on… what ever the application, for example paintbrush with waterproof paints, permanent pens that don’t smudge, coloured in stitch rows and sketched on outsoles and so on, more often than not the shoe is not taken apart. … Read More »

Every mens heritage brand has got a Tricker, when I say Tricker I of course mean a classic Brogue / Derby / 3 eye Gibson / Oxford / Etc…. with a modern refreshing tweak. As you may have guessed I am calling it a Tricker as a derivitive of the hand made footwear brand Tricker’s. This resurgance in classic English heritage footwear has been (in my opinion) displayed excellently in their collaboration with Junya Watanabe, in particular this navy Wingtip beauty. Showing everyone else how the original should be moved on. White flat laces and highly polished navy leather starkly contrasted by the white sports outsole. Maintaining the classic brogue punching and neat gentlemans silhouette with a bold red lining for that extra detail. Dabbling in Ath’leisure but still heavily planted with its Trickers roots, the balance is perfect for casual … Read More »