Boots in the morning 👞 🌞brand new sneakers in the evening 👟🌛😎 (Pris avec Instagram à La ptite maison dans la grande ville)

As the two last major news/posts on my tumblr have been Fashion’s Night Out (FNO) and the Supra Falcon, let’s mix both subjects with this one: while the (high) fashion world will be celebrating in order to help their industry struggle against the economic crisis, skateboarding industry will be celebrated too with Supra organizing for the second time in a row a party at its NYC flagship store.
This year they will use the occasion to launch the new Royal Collection with rapper Q-Tip, FOOL’S GOLD records DJ Nick Catchdubs, singer CC Sheffield and socialite/model Cory Kennedy.
Can’t wait to see the official pictures!

Some more Supra Falcon pictures.
I’m dying to put my hands on them!

I’ve been on holidays for almost two weeks now, and even if I manage to catch up with daily news about fashion, skateboarding and streetwear, I don’t have time to post here as much and as quickly as I’d like to.
I mean, I started this post with the very same information (I’ve just added some more “official” pictures that popped up those past two days) 13 days ago!!

Actually, I started writing the day the first pictures of the Nike SB Challenge Court appeared on the internet.
A simple but innovative formula that will probably be a future hit within and outside the Nike Skateboarding family: a retooling of the original Nike Challenge Court tennis sneakers worn by John McEnroe in 1984, faithful to the original, with the addition of a few technical details to adapt it to nowadays skaters’ needs. Among these additions are a reinforced upper and LUNARLON insole.
What’s so innovative? Nike SB had gotten us accustomed to adapting its skate shoes from its basketball shoes history, legacy and lineage (what a better model to illustrate it than the Nike Dunk?), but this time it’s a tennis model that’s doing the cross-over.
Simple and innovative, just like Gino Iannucci’s skating, the pro rider linked to the shoe even if it’s not a pro model/signature shoe.
That’s what’s explained in a way by the quick promo spot below, showing Gino shredding around NYC in the Nike SB Challenge Court till he meet the tennis legend:

Below follows the official story spread by Nike, and I must confess it says it all since it’s pretty well written and put together:

Eschewing the conventional bounds of skateboarding with signature ease and nonchalance, Nike Skateboarding team rider Gino Iannucci retools the Nike Challenge Court sneaker, adapting the ’84 tennis original for riding the streets—or pretty much anything.

Aside from some technical tweaks and switching up the color—from the Challenge Court’s original red, white and blue to either white and tennis green or black on black—Gino kept the revamp minimal. He was originally drawn to the sneaker’s simplicity and, in his own words, “didn’t want to change anything except it slimming down and softening the outsole…little things like the tongue, the thickness of the interior and the colors… In my eyes the shoe was ready to go SB back in ’84.”

Back in ’84, Gino hadn’t even begun skating the streets of his native Long Island, New York. It wasn’t until about three years later that he began pushing—around the same time he began playing tennis, which he continues to do up to three or four times a week. Early on, his approach to both sports, and life in general, was influenced by the Challenge Court’s original ambassador: John McEnroe, the explosive, controversial and singular tennis legend who not only debuted the Nike shoe but also wore it while competing in and winning the Davis Cup, the Australian Indoor Championship, the Grand Prix Tournament in Tokyo and more.

“John McEnroe just didn’t care and he played with so much emotion,” Gino recalls. “He never held back and always spoke his mind. Tennis never saw that attitude until he came around. I admire how he did things his way and didn’t conform to anything. He stood for just being yourself, whether good or bad. There’s honor in that.” Just as McEnroe’s influential Nike advertisement proclaimed in the early ’80s, he was a “Rebel with a Cause.” Nike taps back into this iconic moment in the debut video for the Nike SB Challenge Court. Shot on the streets of New York City, it features Gino in the shoe, pushing from the renowned Corona Park tennis stadium (also a world-famous skate spot) in Flushing, Queens to Midtown Manhattan, passing and perturbing McEnroe along the way. Continuing to Times Square, Gino recreates the “Rebel with a Cause” poster imagery in its original spot, his determination and drive echoing that of the tennis great.

Just as McEnroe became a legend for paving his own path to greatness, Gino has emerged as a skateboarding legend due to his irreverent approach and inimitable style. He’s also more than a little humble, which makes him resistant to the label of “legend,” but the definition he provides of one attests to his own seminal status, because it describes him just as much as it does McEnroe: “Legends,” Gino says, “are ones who bring something special to whatever they do—something memorable, where they just stand out naturally for whatever reason.”

The Nike SB Challenge Court ramps up the original Challenge Court’s stability with a nylon mesh upper trimmed in full-grain leather, an integral arch sock liner and an extended ankle collar. The Variable Width Lacing System™ ensures a snug, comfortable fit. And the lightweight Lunarlon sockliner/midsole promises soft but still responsive full-foot cushioning that cuts down impact without giving up board feel. Plus, the two-color, bi-level hobnail cupsole helps skaters grip the deck for premium performance.

The Nike SB Challenge Court retails for $80 USD and is offered in multiple colorways. Available at select retailers and skate shops beginning August 23, 2012.

The sneakers have indeed been in stores for more than a week now, but all I have in mind when I think about the story behind those skate shoes is this commercial from the late 90s/early 2000s in which tennis players were treated as skateboarders, which meant pretty bad at the time:

And while Gino Iannucci and his Nike SB Challenge Court are diving into Nike’s tennis history, Eric Koston chose the running legacy, dipping into the Air Max with the now notorious but still mysterious hybrid called Nike SB Eric Koston Heritage (once known as EKAM).
Nothing new under the sun, but the following pictures are less blurry than the ones that had been leaked at first.

A couple weeks ago, rapper Lil Wayne was in Las Vegas for PROJECT trade show in order to promote his own Trukfit clothing line, so he killed two birds with one stone and unveiled his upcoming collection with Supra, named dubbed Spectre, by SUPRA, rumored to be released in May of 2013.
The footwear within the forthcoming range will (initially at least) be a lifestyle shoe collection for Supra, not skate shoes, Spectre, by SUPRA being considered a brand unto itself.
On the pictures that have been leaked of Lil Wayne with Matt Fontana, some silhouettes of sneakers can be guessed, and it might be the rapper’s Supra Chimera signature sneaker. They kind of remind me of a late ’90s skate shoe, with some inspiration taken from Stevie Williams’ first pro model at DCShoeCoUSA, which I actually don’t know if it’s a good thing.

Still speaking about collaboration, last week the Berlin-based sneaker shop Solebox sneaker spot unveiled some teaser images of a Skytop III depicting the rear half of the shoe, enough to have a pretty good feel for what to expect from the collaborative design: grey suede upper, translucent TPU elements and green accents.
Solebox being one of the shop that used to receive the Supra Factory 413 edition just like Colette (Paris), Sneakersnstuff (Stockholm), or ONE at Slam City skates (London), could it be the first of a series of collab with some shops? Let’s hope!

Aside from its alliance with rap superstar or shop, and after the running experience with its Owen shoes, Supra keeps on exploring unmapped territory and trying to conquere new markets outside their skateboarding growing empire.
Indeed, they seem to be inclined to enter the all condition gear competition with their new all-weather boot/athletic-shoe hybrid design, the Supra Backwood, built atop a two-part outsole that is rubber and SUPRAFOAM.

I’m following Supra from its debut, and I can remember the day I bought my first Skytops: the gold/silver ones. People used to make fun of me, mocking my super high sneakers, saying the colorway was stupid or that they looked like snow boots. The result? Once worn by Jay-z on a famous videoclip months later, the once criticized skate shoes ended up being the heavy hitter of the brand and a huge commercial success.
Such a success that later it yielded several offsprings within the brands, non-intended to be skated and reunited under the standard Supra NS (NS standing for non-skateboarding).
The NS line disappeared but it might be making a come back through what will be called the Royal Collection compound of at least two models: the Supra Falcon that I introduced in May and the Supra Donavyn.
Let’s start with the Falcon.
So, as I said, Supra’s flagship, that helped the company turning out what it is today and that has been so many times copied but never equaled, is the Skytop.

It broke the mold for what we expected from the typical skate shoe silhouette at the time, delving into new territory in terms of construction and shape. With such a bold attitude and an aesthetic statement, Supra was being unconventional but that what ended up seducing so many people.
Since the Skytop, Supra has grown into a rather big footwear brand, yet they had not really surprised us anymore with their design until the following sketch:

To me the Falcon’s design is the blending of contemporary fashion with the crowned brand’s stylistic daring and DNA.
While the first half of the sneaker is rather “normal” prima facie, the second part is very eye-catching: thick padding all around which reminds us of Louis Vuitton x Kanye West’s Don and Jasper shoes.
When you look closer, you see premium leather upper, no sign of brand embellishment, double wrapped foxing tape, microfiber sockliners and you realize it lacks any simblance of ollie reinforcement.
All those details to me sound like an emphasis on the direction Supra wants for its shoes: lifestyle, which comfort my former theory about the Royal Collection.
The Falcon should hit stores next month in 3 colorways: veggie tanned caramel leather, full grain leather white and full grain leather black.

I got the feeling that a leopard print might be on its way too.
Have a look at that picture taken on a recent trade show where we can see Matt Fontana talking on the left, and look on the right! Bingo!

As for the Donavyn, they’ve got a much more simple silhouette and you can see some branding on the upper part of the tongue and on the heel panel.
They should come in the very same colorways as the Falcon.

I can’t wait for the official release! I need me a pair of Supra Falcon!

Earlier this month I talked about the birth of a line for women’s footwear at Supra as well as the launch of pro skater Stevie Williams’ first signature shoe for the crowned brand, the S1W.
Pretty massive news for July, a summer month with August in Northern hemisphere when everything usually slow down. But contrary to what one might think, things haven’t stopped since and Supra unveiled both Erik Ellington’s new pro model and a whole kids’ collection, this while celebrating its Parisian and Yankee shops’ one year anniversary.
Sounds enough to your ears? Well, believe it or not, they can’t stop won’t stop! Add two new models soon to be announced: the Hammer, Jim Greco’s newest pro model, part of the Spring 2013 collection, and a mysterious mass-murder secret weapon called the Falcon.

On July 16, Supra celebrated the first anniversary of the opening of the SUPRA NYC and SUPRA Paris retail stores with an event at the SoHo location. Jim Greco was there and conceded an interview to network_A in which he unveiled his new Supra pro model The Hammer and how he worked on its design with Josh Brubaker thinking it as a wino shoe that takes a lot of impact:

The ingredients?
Vulcanized and cupsole mixed together so that the shoe is very light.
Same amount of SUPRAFOAM to absorve the same amount of impact as the Skytop 3.
A more simple design than the Chad Muska’s shoes because Jim Greco was always desconstructing it, cutting it down and cutting the cages off.

Are we witnessing the birth of the new generation/successor of Nike SB Stefan Janoski? I say maybe.

And as far as new pro models are concerned, let’s speak about the Ellington, Erik Ellington’s sixth signature shoe from Supra awaited since late April.

With this new shoe Erik, one of Supra’s founding riders, takes a different path from the slip-on, 60s inspired shoes that seem to be the go to for most (skate?) shoe designers these days. Erik clearly uses classics as a foundation for his sneaker designs to and he doesn’t mind if that borrowing is obvious to sneakerheads, like it was the case with his former model, the Avenger, whose silhouette borrowed a lot to the Air Jordan IV.
The Ellington is a tech shoe, some kind of an Avenger 1.5 with more simple lines and no visible cushioning system, opting for a concealed full-length SUPRAFOAM midsole, which is thick on the heel to absorve the impact and thinner on the toe for better board feel. If you’re in doubt, just look at Erik dropping a sick switch frontside flip down a hefty set in NYC, with ripped pants and a Chicago-style colorway of the Ellington, once again no ashamed of paying tribute to one of the center piece of sneaker culture: Mr Jordan.

And if you’re neither a fan of red nor yellow, don’t worry, according to the following picture, we can expect a black/gum sole colorway dropping soon:

I don’t know if it’s Erik Ellington’s son, but what he’s wearing is definitely Supra, since the brand confirmed what I had foreseen: a new collection designed specifically for kids, launching just weeks after the women’s capsule.

SUPRA PRESENTS FOOTWEAR FOR KIDS from SUPRA Footwear on Vimeo.

Unlike to the baby line that launched 2 years ago and is only composed of Skytops, the kids’ collection (for ages 3+, sizes 11-6) launches with four models that have been engineered for fun: kiddie-sized Skytops, Vaiders and Cubans, and a brand new shoe designed especially for kids, the Supra Weston (somewhere between the adult models Amigo and Stacks).

Each shoe has been rebuilt to fit young skaters with the same quality and DNA they see on the “big kids” since 2006.
You may not be a parent yet, but you probably have a kid in your family: either brother, nephew or cousin, and with back to school season coming within a little bit more than one month, Supra has provided a sufficient footwear option for the little guy once that time hits.
Victor, you hear me? :)

Oh, and for those waiting for the Falcon news: I’m so sorry. I was about to post a picture from Josh Brubaker wearing some red (vinyl?) Falcons, but the picture “mysteriously” disappeared from its source. I swear I’ll post that kind of picture quicker next time. So be sure to visit often and let me tell you: the sneakers are fire!

Ok, it’s been a month, so it was high time for some Supra updates!

First of all, June and July (so far) have been month of announcements and confirmations ranging from partnership to new division and including new model or technology launches.

So let’s start with the partnerships!
Lil Wayne had long been seen wearing Supra either on stage or skating, and there had been rumors about a collaboration between the rapper and the skate shoe brand till he announced on a TV show he “had signed with Supra”. From then, it was a matter of time till Supra make an official announcement. Finally, on mid-June, the confirmation Weezy fans had been waiting for arrived: ONE Distribution, parent company of Supra footwear label, through its Global Vice President of Brands Matt Fontana, officially declared:

Lil Wayne is a true style icon and a trendsetter. He’s perfectly suited for a collection with SUPRA because he embodies the same spirit that drives the brand: he’s a leader, not a follower. We’re ecstatic about creating a range of shoes with Lil Wayne.

The collection designed by the Young Money artists preview at this year PROJECT Trade Show in Las Vegas on August 20-22. Are the Falcons part of it? Who knows!

Michael Dupouy of La MJC has been pretty closed of the European Supra family those past 12 months and it ended up in a bilateral partnership: Supra sponsored the last Parisian Solemart event while the French streetwear entrepreneur applied his design chops to Supra’s Owen running shoe. Featuring a black mesh upper, the shoe has leopard print microfiber overlays throughout the toe, quarter and heel, all of which rests atop a white Suprafoam sole. A matching leopard patterned La MJC sockliner finishes the look.
Super-limited, there were only 14 pairs of the special-edition shoe made, with 10 available for purchase on June 24th at Solemart Paris

Sneaker Freaker is a bi-annual Australian independent magazine dedicated to coverage of topics relating to sneakers. The magazine was launched in 2002 and has a current print run of 30,000 copies, it is sold in over 35 countries. So as you may have guessed, they are eager to celebrate their 10th anniversary this year.
And what a better way than a Sneaker Freaker x Supra collaboration whose offspring is a Skytop 3 described by the Aussie magazine as their greatest colab to date?
It’s also maybe the best Skytop 3 colorway to date in my opinion, probably because it manages to gather all the elements that made me fall in love with my first pair of favorite sneakers (Nike Air Tech Challenge): orange, purple, speckled midsole.
Unfortunately for us mere mortals, just a few dozen pairs of the Goldenballs were made and offered to guests at the Supra x Sneaker Freaker party in Berlin last week.

Maybe less known in the sneaker world but not of a minor importance, I talked here a couple of weeks ago about a collaboration the accessory brand cherished by pop stars: A-Morir.
What I didn’t know then is that it was the cornerstone of what sounds like an aggressive commercial expansion plan for the brand: the birth of a line for women’s footwear composed of many of the iconic silhouettes Supra has come to be known for, but in new color ways and new materials such as sequin, glitter, animal print, foil, metallic, embroidery, and more.

In addition to a full range of women’s sizes that should satisfy their loyal following among female sneakerheads (the most famous being Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan), each style was reconstructed from a new last that was created for a woman’s foot to ensure superior fit and comfort. In the company’s statement, Matt Fontana added “Supra is a brand that was created in consideration of, and respect for, the consumer.” In other words: your girlfriend won’t have to steal your sneakers and use 3 extra pairs of socks anymore!
The centerpiece of this brand new Supra Footwear Collection for Women is the A-Morir x Supra Skytop, the most iconic silhouette of the brand ever, worn by many celebrities (who doesn’t remember Jay-z’ feet in the ‘Umbrella’ video?) done in black and chrome sequins. Here is what Kerin Rose, founder of A-Morir had to say:

Much like my approach to A-Morir eyewear, I wanted to design a sneaker I hadn’t seen before. This Skytop fills a huge need for a fashionable women’s sneaker and I know the rest of the range will as well. I’m so honored to have the A-Morir collaboration be the first shoe in what is sure to be an exquisite range for women.

And even if Supra didn’t unclosed it officially by now, you can expect a surprise for the kids real soon (probably this week already):

Christmas will never be the same anymore lol! And let’s close the announcement chapter with a serious point: the application of a striated Suprafoam sole on the very first models of the brand: the Skytop and the Vaider. It’s just like if Supra is following in the footsteps of giant Nike with its Lunarlon system, implementing its most iconic models in order to improve performance. And this could go really far! Is a new technical skate shoe era coming? As part of their “Moon pack”, the Skytop Lite has been crafted on top of ultra-lightweight striated while soles designed to reduce weight, evenly distribute impact and discourage compression wrinkles. Aside from that, the shoes are wrapped in durable, deep black Raptor TUF and have padded black mesh lining. The perfect weapons for skating!

As far as new colorways and models are concerned, my favorite from the past 30 days are:

Skytop III “Immortal”
What’s harder to destroy and more timeless than an all-black shoe? You got it, that the explanation behind this model’s name: soft black leather with suede coming in on the ankle, and you’re now ready to wear your Skytop 3 till the end of time.

Skytop III “Royal blue leather upper”
From the day I started skateboarding I’ve always seen the Royal blue x Black combination. I don’t know where it comes from and it took me a long time to like it. But now, I’d wear it easily!

Skytop III “Caramel Raptor TUF”
Like everything caramel: yummy!

Pilot White/Gum
I’m a fan of everything white/gum.

Stevie Williams S1W

The shoe is dope. It’s so dope I don’t want to skate in it. But even when the laces are torn up and the sole is kickflipped out, it actually looks like a dope shoe.

Whether you want to wear it just for lifestyle purposes, or you want to wear it for skateboarding and look cool at the same time—either way you wear it, the shoe looks good on and off the board.

Stevie Williams’s first signature shoe from Supra, the S1W, is finally out. Three more colorways of the all-new Supra Stevie Williams S1W have emerged days after I unveiled the first three (royal blue, “South Beach-esque”, black/white):

Belay and Wrap “Strip pack”
Perfect for the summer with a nautic vibe even if the stripes are not blue.

Tk Society Wyland
I’m not a fan of “South Beach-esque” colorway but those vibrant colors are well used on those Tk Society: all black suede with some brilliant splashes of color as details. Approved!

Cuttler Low “Two”
Minimal design and simple colorway but high end finishing touches with luxurious leathers for those slim fitting low tops. Nice and fresh for those who want to keep it simple.

“London pack”
I told you an Olympic theme was coming.
You can expect at least two sneakers in that pack, one of them being the Owen obviously for being the only runner shoe of the brand. Olympic, runner, you go it? Yes, unfortunately skateboarding is still not an Olympic game.

So now, why such a title for the post?
Supra is without a doubt the most successful new footwear brand of the new century. And I’m not speaking only about skate shoes. I’m speaking as an overall category: casual, performance, skate (of course, not luxury shoes).

What Angel Cabada, Erik Ellington and Jim Greco founded in 2006 hasn’t been affected by the recession (at least it didn’t prevent the young brand from keeing on growing) and managed not only to gather best best skate team in years, but also to redefine the skate shoe market landscape. A market where you’ve got to be an insider and have what would be called in the rap slang “street cred” to perpetuate. A market once dominated by the Sole Technology empire (now semi-decadent). A market once almost eaten up by the big machine DC Shoe Company USA. A market where Nike was once rejected and is now one of the main, if not THE main player.

But Supra has known how to keep growing quietly, cleverly, (not so)slowly but surely. And while the crowned brand has attracted much attention from young women and mainstream audience with their footwear on stars like Justin Bieber, Lindsay Lohan, Rihanna, Lil Wayne, Will Smith’s son, etc, they’re now offering a running shoe, a full ladies and kids footwear line.
They’re clearly inspired by what DC Shoes did in the late 90s/beginning of 2000s (widen their audience, but the difference is they won’t focus on the action sports lifestyle) and by the aesthetic Nike 6.0 adopted to seduce their female consumers. But they’re bold too: they want to get big, and that’s why they’re producing their own technology similar to the one of the giants in the sport industry (i.e: Suprafoam vs Nike Lunarlon cushioning system).
Want to sell sneakers? Target the people who are sneaker consumers. What a bigger sneakerhead community than hip hop community? That’s why Prodigy/MOBB DEEP is now part of the Supra family, they sponsored a 50Cent/Eminem show a while ago, Just Blaze got the Skytop 2 treatment. And Chief Keef will be the next one since he wants to do something with the Californian brand.

Now that Supra is definitely having a moment, they have to be pretty cautious not to put the company out of business by being too greedy, which is what happened to DC Shoes in my opinion.
By the way, my DC Shoes comparisons are not so innoncent since last year One Distribution hired Michelle Smith as SVP of Sales, former SVP of Sales too at… DC Shoes.
All in all, I think they really know what they’re doing and I wish them all the best… and I wish one day they might hire me!
Long live Supra!

Just like I did last month, and even if Supra seems to have quieted down with the launch of new pack of sneakers, here is a quick summary of the models that have been released last month and I would purchase if I had the money to buy them all.

Skylow 2 “Vintage”
As I said before, even if not a fan of them, those are pretty fine for summer time with their old-school look made of vintage blue suede and blue canvas upper with an orange pinstripe on the sole.

Skytop III “Native”
First appeared as part of a promo pack to promote Supra’s Facebook, but now available for any consummer that fell in love like me with the use of blue (navy), white and red (cherry) on the same shoes!

Pilot “Native”
Those Pilot are part of the same pack as the aforementioned Skytop 3, a pack whose name could have been inspired by the Atlanta baseball team named Braves. And just like their “team mates”, they’re made up of a new super-smooth Lux suede, a material described as less nappy than nubuck for an almost waxy appearance.

Skytop III “Block pack”
The Block pack is a navy/white and black/white duo of Skytop 3 equipped with a new coated canvas TUF upper, a lightweight yet durable material that seems perfect to make your shoes resists your skateboard’s grip even when you go H.A.M.

And as I couldn’t leave you without showing some new stuff, here we go:

Let’s start with a teaser picture of a not-yet-released Skytop 3 colorway: black canvas TUF upper/purple accent/translucid sole.

A new teaser for the S1W, the Stevie Williams pro model, whose launch should come sooner than expected.

And talking novelty, is anyone still waiting for the Weezy x Supra collaboration to drop? Will they be the Pistol said to be unveiled at Agenda?
We mentioned the Skytop 2, but when will Supra bring out the seemingly inevitable Skylow 3 since we’ve seen low top versions for each of Chad Muska’s pro models?
All I know is that a new model no one was expecting is coming: the Falcon!

Yes, Josh Brubaker is an artist, there’s no denying!