3.26.2008

There's Beauty in the Break Down

The breakdown of the sneaker that is. [Who saw that coming?] Well what we have here is a classic boutique worthy sneaker. Without knowing anything of this particular shoe, any sneaker connoisseur would say "Wait...Jordan didn’t release the retro 11 in yellow...but they should have this is DOPE!" Well...that's what I said any way. Presenting: GOURMET FOOTWEAR. Gourmet is a sneaker/apparel company from Italy that has truly broken down sneaker culture to the bare basics. Many of Gourmet's samples come from Air Jordan silhouettes, but usually come with fire that the Jordan brand would never think to release. Whens the last time you saw a monochrome sneaker with a white midsole and thought "fire"? LA gears in the 5th grade, I know, me too. The Jordan brand hasn't made any remarks about/towards the Jordan-inspired footwear company and given what happened to Mike23 recently, I bet they would have already bucked if they were going to. In my opinion, Gourmet is bringing the fire that the Jordan brand invented and refining it. By the way, with these shoes retailing about $150, you don't have to worry about being drowned out with shouts of "fake" and "bootleg."

Gourmet brings me to my next point: The breakdown. It seems as though the market has become saturated with loud and live sneakers, even pro-keds is releasing a purple on pink color way. It's getting ridiculous. Now don't get me wrong, I am still GLADLY rocking my AP Team Lava designed Court Force Lows, but it looks like A bathing Ape opened the doors for street wear and now needs to step down from it's thrown. All-over print is done, dressing like a spilled bag of skittles is done and companies like Gourmet and Pointer Footwear are taking over this street wear scene. The sneaker is being broken down into bare essentials, and ill [solid] color ways. Embrace it, or get the fuck out. I guess what I'm dancing around, trying to say here is...death to Soulja Boy's wardrobe and all other bape heads. Thank you.