DMZ fans made the journey to Amsterdam this weekend for an incredible lineup and what I’m sure was an amazing night. Unfortunately I couldn’t go, but…
Yesterday Chelsea, @wearshortshorts tweeted us this pic:
We have no idea who wrote it, but thanks for the love Amsterdam!
I went to Amsterdam last week and of course made a trip to The Hague to visit No Boys Allowed and catch up with Cim.
So, here’s some pics!
Thanks for these Cim!
Nike WMNS Air Max ’97 ‘White/Glass Blue’
I’ve wanted these for a while now and luckily there was a pair for me waiting in the store. They’re such a fresh shoe for Summer and will look so good when the sun’s shining and the shorts come out! I love them! The glass blue sole, air unit and branding make this pure white ’97 stand out for miles.. There really isn’t too much that needs to be said about these as they totally speak for themselves!
To top it all off, I was lucky enough to have a NBA tee thrown in for me!
Thanks so much for everything Cim, I look forward to seeing you next time in London!
If you’re heading over that way (or live near by) take yourselves down to No Boys Allowed and say hi from me!
To kick off my contribution to Big Eyes, I’ma throw down a selection of my favourite kicks from my collection. Believe me when I say this was a hard task, as like any good mother, I love all my children equally; however I’ve managed to pick out a selection of six for your viewing pleasure.
Here goes…
Alife x Reebok Ventilator
These beauties dropped in Summer ’08, and formed part of a sweet collab between NYC street wear giants Alife and Reebok, which also featured Freestyle High and Pro Legacy Mid models in black and grey colourways respectively. The contrast between the pure white of the uppers and the black speckles of the laces and midsole really set these off for me and they feature a mesh panel in the side which make these a perfect light and airy summer shoe.
My favourite aspect of these were the free speckled laces they came with, perfect for refreshing the colourway when I get bored of plain white!
New Balance H574 Urban Outdoor Collection Limited Edition
Also dropping in ’08, this mid model of the H574 have to be one of my personal favourite cops. The uppers are a mixture of black nubuck leather and suede, with panels of fake horsehair, and if that wasn’t enough they also feature a sick speckled midsole. As you’re about to find out below, I definitely have a penchant for speckles on kicks!
Here’s a closeup of the horse hair, definitely super unique and the best part of these beasts for me.
Jordan VI Retro ‘Oreo’
This black and white colourway of the classic Jordan VI silhouette first dropped in 1999, however these retros came from the Spring 2010 release and tie for my favourite pair of Jordan’s I own. These VI’s are super fresh and clean looking featuring a white textured leather and black nubuck upper brought together perfectly by the speckled midsole.
Even the lace locks have speckles on!
Jordan Spizike (GS) Miami Vice
These babies were released in Spring 2010 and were made solely for those with little feet. Comprising of a mashup of the Jordan 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 9s, and 20s that Spike Lee promoted, Spizikes were originally nicknamed the “retro Frakenstein”; however I think they’re one of the strongest and boldest Jordan models. This colourway in particular is mad dope, the cool grey base with turquoise and pink highlights is complimented with elephant print panels on the toe and heel and best of all a speckled midsole. With so much going on colour and texture wise this shoe could really have flopped, but the end result is incredible. It’s no wonder that these badboys were and still are a highly desirable and sought after release and one of my personal favourites!
NikeiDs of the Original Parra Amsterdam Air Max 1 Hyperstrike
In 2005, Dutch graphic designer and illustrator Parra designed an Air Max silhouette to represent Amsterdam and settled for a design inspired by the Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn. Unfortunately shortly after the first production run, the supermarket changed it’s logo thus making the design redundant. The original design was eventually released as a hyperstrike and distributed to Parra’s friends and family. The colourway was so sick that naturally I had to have these iDs which recreate the magic.
These are the originals:
Nike Air Max 90 Infrared 2010
Last but not least, are my AM90 Infrareds! Universally acknowledged as pretty much the best AM90 colourway of all-time, these are as good as it gets. In my eyes this colourway is perfection, and I had to pick up 2 pairs of these when they dropped in 2010.
So there we have it, hope you enjoyed a little insight into the mind and collection of this sneaker freakette…
Tash
Twitter: @tash_mas
Instagram: tash_mas
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Thought I’d keep you all in suspense at what part 2 of this amazing interview would be like.. so, here it is!
Staple everyday pair in your collection and why?
Again, the Chuck Taylor. They are easy to wear, available in a
plethora of colourways and materials, and many of the special make ups
now come with Lunarlon foam sockliner for extra comfort. The Fragment
Design versions get a lot of daily wear.
Is there a particular style that you keep re-buying? eg: Mine is the
AM90 and AM1.
Overall it’s Converse Chuck Taylor, and in recent times it’s the Nike
All Court. I love the simple aesthetic, and so far since its
reintroduction, most of the released versions are nice. The New
Balance 1300JP’s which are available every 5 years are a must. I have
also been buying quite some Nike SB Koston 1′s lately.
Beaters or best for raves?
Black Chuck Taylor, available everywhere in the world.
Grails?
The aforementioned Nike Airborne, and a make up which didn’t exist so
we created it ourselves: The Patta x Nike Air Max 1 in black ballistic
nylon. We had the honour to make those for our 5th year anniversary.
Also, a cool detail not a lot of people might know about is that the
sockliner graphic is taken from the previous Dutch currency called the
guilder, which we all miss. I redid the 5 guilder coin-graphic to
represent our 5 year existence.
Furthest you’ve ever gone to get a pair?
I am the lazy and spoiled type. I rather pay more than travel and lay
in front of a store for a pair of shoes, so unfortunately I don’t
really have any cool or crazy stories about that.
Latest purchase?
Nike SB Koston 1 in anthracite. I don’t skate as much as I want to or
used to, but when I do, I’m still as picky as I was 20 years ago, from
the board set-up on down to the shoes. These are easily one of the
best skateboarding shoes ever in all departments: They’re light,
comfortable, durable, slim shaped, great grip, great board feel AND
they look good. Almost sounds like I’m on Nike SB’s payroll, but
they’re really that nice.
Best sneaker experience?
I am probably going to sound old and cliche saying this, but just the
pre-internet days as a whole. Travelling, hunting, seeing and finding
regional stuff by chance. Everything is just a few clicks away now,
which is a gift and a curse. Winning an auction isn’t exciting in my
book.
Worst sneaker experience?
Accidentally stepping in dog poo. Owners please have some class and
act like you been there before, clean that shit up man.
Favourite sneaker stores?
All the independent sneaker stores worldwide still holding it down,
especially those tiny unknown ones hidden in the backstreets of Japan.
They always have my type of gems vacuum sealed and stashed in the
back.
Any new releases you’ve got your eye on?
Yes, but if I tell you now I’ll have to kill you. Or myself.
Have you got any sneaker related stories that have happened when
you’ve been dj’ing at a party?
Not really entertaining stories… People taking pictures of my shoes,
or wanting to buy them off my feet. I don’t know, I never been THAT
excessively enthusiastic about obtaining a pair of sneakers. It’s all
good though. One time a girl with a super nice white North Face parka
and white on white Air Force 1 Hi’s pulled out a big black marker for
me to sign them. I felt honoured and bad!
How do you think the sneaker scene differs between London and Amsterdam?
I’d say size, no pun intended. London is bigger than Amsterdam, so
naturally there is a bigger scene, with more knowledgable people, but
also more bellends. Furthermore, every city has it’s own variety and
favourite models. In Amsterdam it’s mostly Air Max 1′s, 90′s and any
type of Jordan’s, while in London I see a lot more adidas and Air Max
95. I haven’t been to London in a minute though, might be different
now.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Thank you for having me! Stay in tune with all things Patta via
patta.nl, you can also grab my “Classic Rap” mixtape and other goodies
for free in the blog-section. A special salute to the London crew:
GWar, Crooked, Spine, WeAreHQ, Footpatrol and a big big shout out to
Nando’s. Cheers!
I’m sure you all know about Patta.. one of the most well respected sneaker stores in Europe. Unfortunately we couldn’t head out to Amsterdam and chat to him in person, but we were lucky enough to grab an email interview with the designer and Media Director, Lee..
Name/Age/Occupation?
My name is Lee, born in 1975 and I am media director and designer at
Patta. I also still dabble a little bit in DJ’ing and music
production.
First sneakers you ever bought?
The first pair of sneakers I ever bought with my own money were the
Nike Air Max 1 when they first dropped. They looked so futuristic and
beautiful then, and they still do. The Air bubble and colourblocking
really set them apart from every other shoe at that time, it was
really cool and exciting to own a pair. I bought the varsity
blue/neutral grey women’s colourway. As an added bonus they were also 10
guilders cheaper than the mens colourway.
Is there a particular sneaker that sticks out from your youth?
I had all types of adidas, Puma, but never really cared about them.
They would get beat with the quickness, thrown away and replaced. The
Nike Air Epic and New Balance 1300 were greatly desired from the other
side of the store window, but way out of reach due to the hefty
price tag. The first pair of shoes I specifically requested for from my
parents were the Nike Airborne.
Did you own them?
Eventually I did. And I was caring and really cherished those because
I thought they looked so good, plus they were kind of expensive for a
kids shoe. That shoe had all the goodness I still like today: Blue
hairy nap suede, grey mesh toe-box, nylon panels, golden swoosh,
perforated 3M accents. I think they only produced them in grade school
sizing. Unfortunately I do not own a deadstock pair of those for
nostalgia sakes, but if anybody does, hit me up!
What’s your favourite pair of sneakers of all time and why?
I have been through many phases shoe-wise: Runners, tennis,
basketball, ACG, crazy extravagant colours, high end, sober functional
stuff, but the one model that always sticks around due to it’s sheer
simplicity and cleanness is definitely the Converse Chuck Taylor.
Do you have a pair of kicks in your collection that you don’t wear
very often and why?
I have two. Nike used to release city series’, and my friend Piet Parra
(Rockwell Clothing) was commissioned to color up a shoe to represent
the city of Amsterdam. He applied the house colours from a Dutch
supermarket chain called Albert Heijn, which were orange, blue and
white. However, during the development process of the shoe, the
supermarket changed up their styling and colours, rendering the initial
idea kind of pointless. So instead, an alternative colourway was
produced for retail, while the initial colourway became a hyperstrike
friends & family type of affair. It’s one of the first big projects we
were all involved with in the beginning days of Patta, so that pair
holds a special place. I wear them on rare occasions.
The Nike SB Zoom FC ”Fret Click” is another pair with a little story. Back in the early 90′s me and my close group of skateboard friends used to run wild wherever we went. We called ourselves the “Fret Click”, “Fret” derived from “Friends”. Style was very important to us: The way we would skate, the way we would dress, the brands we would sport, the music we listened to. Basically just a bunch of young self-centered snobs having fun, oblivious to the fact that we were influencing others. In honor of the infamous click and our dear friend Mike de Geus, a superb skater and member who passed away, Nike SB offered to make a tribute shoe. It’s a very simple shoe: White leather upper atop a gum bottom. The tongue label has a golden silhouette of Mike doing a huge ollie, “Fret Click” embroidered on the back. They’re a constant reminder of our brotherhood and golden glory days of fun, carefree living.
Staple everyday pair in your collection and why?
Again, the Chuck Taylor. They are easy to wear, available in a
plethora of colourways and materials, and many of the special make ups
now come with Lunarlon foam sockliner for extra comfort. The Fragment
Design versions get a lot of daily wear.
Is there a particular style that you keep re-buying? eg: Mine is the AM90 and AM1.
Overall it’s Converse Chuck Taylor, and in recent times it’s the Nike
All Court. I love the simple aesthetic, and so far since its
reintroduction, most of the released versions are nice.
The New Balance 1300JP’s which are available every 5 years are a must. I have
also been buying quite some Nike SB Koston 1′s lately.
Keep checking back for the next part of this amazing interview!
Amsterdam’s Patta release some pretty hot 5 panels and snap backs just in time for christmas, the 5 panels appear in 2 smart colourways, I’m a suckah for Beige and Navy. The snap backs, 2 Black and 1 Navy feature 3 different logos on the front panel. Nice!
