So, I totally spotted these for their great style and colours (available in black, chocolate or teal), but upon reading further, it turns out these also boast the microwobbleboard technology that helps you tone while you walk. While I wouldn’t replace an hour on the gym with an hour of shopping in these babies (known as Fitflops, by Anna Sui Shakoha), that can’t be a bad thing. So you get fashion, function and form. Really, that’s about all you can ask for. These are suede (not good for rain) and lined, so they should keep your feet nice and toasty. Plus, they’re really, really cute.

Image source: www.net-a-porter.com

Torrential rain has arrived and is here to stay until at least April, so I’m always lookin’ up new ways to make venturing out into the rain a little less painful and a little more fashionable. This Vivienne Westwood + Melissa collaboration is one of the very best galoshes I’ve seen in a hot minute.

Westwood, one of Britain’s most influencial designers, introduced her avant-garde, Euro punk style to Australian footwear line, Melissa, best known for their grown-up jelly shoes, starting in 2008. Today, their partnership is still going strong, and this lilac colored, bow bootie is straight from their Spring/Summer 10 collection. The boot is made of 100% PVC, features an almond toe and slight heel, and hits just above the ankle. The black PVC bow on front definitely adds a cartoon-ish, feminine twist to your basic rain boot.

The boots are for cool and quirky ladies who aren’t afraid to  turn heads while they slosh through rain puddles. Liven up a pair of dark denim skinnies or basic leggings and an oversized, nubbly sweater for a causal, cozy weekend look. Don’t be afraid to rock these during business hours either. Where them over opaque black nylons and a short skirt or dress when walking around outside and save your precious pumps for the office.

The boots retail for approximately $125 and are sold HERE.

Here’s a look at Japanese clothing brand Unused’s Fall / Winter 2009 lookbook. A lot of the pieces are very simple and quite straight forward and giving you versatile looks. But what stands out the most is how dope the lookbook is. Instead of opting to use a young male model, they went and did the complete opposite, all the while still styling him the way the clothes were meant to be rocked. This is easily one of the best lookbooks I’ve seen in a bit and actually brought a smile to my face.

Taking inspiration from the Nike Air Raid is a Japanese brand, AG’s ‘Raiders GTS Boot‘.  The Air Raid was and still is a sneaker that broke necks since the early 90’s with its ‘x’ strap.  Now take that ‘x’ strap and revamp the entire sneaker with a vulcanized sole, metal eyelets as well as premium leather and you’ve got a handsome lifestyle sneaker. Currently these are only available at Rowgage.

Image Source: Sneaker News

One of our more popular search terms for the site is Supra and it’s clear why, every year their shit gets more and more dope. But with that said, here’s a look at the Skytop 2 and I have to admit, I’m not loving these so much. This is a special limited edition Gradient colorway and numbered / limited to 600 pairs. These will strictly available through colette on November 21, so check for them then. What do you all think of these joints? Dope? or has Supra lost they damn minds?

Source: Kicksonfire

Once again the perforated swoosh look makes an appearance.  This time, the Nike Air Force One receives the ‘Work Boot‘ treatment with metal grommets, boot laces and a rugged upper.  And I LOVE IT.  My only wish is that with the additional name of ‘Supreme‘ tied to this forces, shouldn’t they have a snazzier sole?  I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering this.  We’ll keep an eye out for sure though.

Image Source: Sneaker News

Last year I disclosed how much I love the Air Max 90 Current.   Shortly after the release of the infrared, a triple pack came out with personal touches from designers, Ben Drury, Kevin Lyons and Hitomi Yokoyama.  A year has passed and Ben Drury has been invited to work on yet another pair of Air Max 90 Currents.  The above pair comes with a plethora of textures including metal “d” lace eyelets, perforated suede, a mesh toe box and boot style laces.  Finally, the tongue receives stitching that reads “Trust Me” on the right shoe and “London” on the left.  Besides the 2006 exhibition of the same name, I’m wondering why these AM90 Currents have the same slogan.  Each element blends really well together with its mainly blue and black colorway.  The Ben Drury Air Max 90 Currents are available now at Nike Sportswear @ 21 mercer St.

Image Source: Sneaker News

I’ve been spending part of the month looking for some boots, especially with the amount of rain as well as snow we get in the Pacific Northwest, it’s always wise to invest in a pair of boots. Last year my sneakers spent the better part of Winter on top of the heater drying out. When I saw these I immediately wanted a pair. Asides from not being your regular plain black boots these Converse All Star Rain Boots carry that Chuck Taylor flavor, well as much as you can into a boot form. These look like great rain boots, question is how will they stand up in the snow? Will I be slipping-n-sliding all over the place? Might just have to dive in and find out. Retail: $80

Source: Uncrate

Livestock will be holding a sale that will start November 7th and run to November 14th. With brands like Nike, New Era, Brkn Home, Freshjive, Reigning Champ, Stussy and The Hundreds who can resist checking out the sale annnnnd prices are up to 75% off.

Sale is going on at 3 of their 4 locations, Calgary, Toronto and of course Vancouver, though for Vancouver the sale is only going down at their West 4th location and not their Gastown location, so keep that in mind.

Check www.deadstock.ca for more info.

Fans of Dave’s Quality Meat aka DQM rejoice, as the sneaker and clothing boutique has officially launched their online store to serve all that do not reside anywhere near the LES store. The store is still in their launch phase so there may be items in misplaced areas, but all-in-all, it looks great. The sneaker selection is limited, very limited, currently but maybe we’ll see some more additions down the road as the site gets broken a bit more. Head on over to www.dqmnewyork.com/shop.

Image: Freshness

Last night out in the Hollywood Hill, H&M held the launch event for their collaboration line with Jimmy Choo. The event saw a ton of celebrity support, folks like Rasida Jones, Hayden Panettiere, Olivia Wilde, Sheryl Crow, Cat Deeley, Angela Lindvall, Maggie Grace and Mini Andén. In addition to this M.I.A. gave a guest performance for all the guests in attendance. It’s no question that this is one of the most anticipated fashion collaborations, all 200 pieces from the collection will be available in H&M stores globally on November 14th. Why this collection is unique, it’s because for the first time Jimmy Choo has also designed women’s clothing to complement the accessories as well as men’s clothing, shoes, bags and accessories.

Image: H&M Press

Carin Wester is all about smart, architectural design. The Swedish designer creates both mens and womens collections that are playful yet sharp. This season’s must-have footwear, the Klea Ankle Boot, is perhaps the epitome of her design aesthetic.

After graduating from Beckman’s School of Design in 1998, Wester designed for Paul & Friends for eight seasons before dropping her eponymous collection in 2003. Since then, Carin Wester won Elle magazine’s Newcomer of the Year award in 2004 and was nominated for Designer of the Year just one year later. Today, Wester runs both the womens line (Carin Wester), the mens line (Wester) and a limited and handmade line (W). Her designers are sold all over the world, including France, Japan, Canada and the U.S.

I am enamored with the Klea Ankle Boot. The buttery soft leather is molded to a sharp point and the 4″ platform heel gives the boots a decidedly retro and modern feel. To top it off, the ankles are cinched with not one, but two sturdy, motorcycle buckles topped with shiny silver hardwear. However, for ultra comfort, the boots are lined throughout with soft shearling.

These boots are the perfect footwear for fall/winter as they can be paired up with just about anything and can be worn at any occasion. Toughen up a feminine dress with a pair of black or colorful opaque tights, leather bomber jacket and Klea Ankle Boot. Or, keep things casual and play up your tomboy side by slipping into a pair of acid-wash denim, chunky boyfriend sweater and these boots, once again.

While dropping approximately $450 on a pair of ankle boots may seem like a steep price to pay, these Klea Ankle Boots will have you towering above the rest throughout the season.

Buy it HERE.

Perforated and stitched swooshes seem to be the theme for the latter quarter of 2009 for Nike.  But I say keep them coming.  The latest silhouette to receive this treatment are the Nike Terminator Highs.  The rustic leather and red laces give out off a winter ready statement.  However, I feel Nike should’ve assigned the Terminators a 0.44 sticky rubber midsole.  They are currently available at select Nike Sportswear accounts.

Image Source: Sneaker News

We already get plenty of blog teasing from JD Sports and their many wonderful Air Max collabo sneakers.  Recently, Uniform Experiment worked with Nike on a variant of the “Special Force” boots.  These were originally intended for our troops.  With that in mind, noticeable is the Nike Free sole.  But include Kevlar sheath, premium uppers and Natural Motion Cushioning units and you’ve got yourself a very technical boot.  As a part of this collabo, Uniform Experiment and Nike are also offering a brief case with the same design cues.  Here comes the bad news.  Unless you’re near a Soph or Isetan brick and mortar, these will not available anywhere else.

Image Source: Sneaker News via Hypebeast

Kiks Tyo collaborating with Fly, China’s premier skate shop, to help celebrate their 10th Anniversary with this limited Yuko Ishida skate deck.

The bottom of the deck features Yuko wearing a pair of China exclusive Fly Milk Blazer SB’s and both Fly & Kiks Tyo logo hits. The top features a vivid spilled milk motif with the famously illustrated “missing person” style milk box depicting Fly’s founder Jeff Han.

The deck is available now for pre-order over at Kiks Tyo for $102 USD.

Kiks Tyo

Nike amazes us with a new look for the Air Zoom Toki.  Instead of an all perforated leather upper, this time its the swoosh that gets the holey treatment.  The minimal wine colored upper along with brown piping also adds to the Air Zoom Toki’s mature look.  These quickstrikes are due to release very shortly at Nike Sportswear quickstrike accounts.

Image Source: www.dunk.com.cn

With winter slowing creep up, its nice to know Nike’s ACG line has a new colorway for the Air Max Abasi boots.  With elements taken from the Safari printed AM90 boots and the Air Max 180, these Air Max Abasi’s are tough.  I simply love the nubuck olive green with carbon fiber accents.  As of right now, theres a limited amount of sizes available at Mad C in Japan.  But I’m sure a lot of us are hoping that some local quickstrike account will get them soon.

Image Source: Sneaker News via Mad C

Over the past couple of years, I’ve really taken a liking to the Nike Air Classic BW. Not that I’ve lost any love for the Air Max 90s or 95’s. But any sneakerhead would agree its good to have options. The above pair which consists of Halloween colorways of black, neon orange and white was recently made available at JD Sports. However, unless you’re near a boutique that has an account with JD Sports or live near the sports culture chain in the UK, its just nearly impossible to score a pair.

Image Source: Sneaker News

WWD’s reported earlier today that the Jimmy Choo and H&M collaborative line will be dropped on November 14th in two hundred stores. The pairing of Jimmy Choo and H&M will provide a high-end luxury line of accessories with H&M’s affordable price point. Below are a few photos from the ad campaign. I can’t wait to try on the heels above!

“The Jimmy Choo for H&M line is the first time the fast-fashion retailer will collaborate with an accessories brand after doing successful one-off apparel collections with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Roberto Cavalli and, most recently, Matthew Williamson. Another first is on Mellon’s part: She has spearheaded her first apparel designs under the Jimmy Choo name” (WWD).

Source: WWD

Ladies, get that artistic side out. Jimmy Choo is holding a competition called “72″. To enter all you need to do is take a picture of you, your shoes (I’m assuming Choos) and the number 72 incorporated somewhere in the photo. My favorite of the entries I’ve seen is above, called “Distortion”, some other favorites can also be seen below.

The winner of the competition will be announced 72 hours after the closing competition date of December 7th. Some of the photos will be featured in a launch event on October 29th, so if you want to be considered for that get your entries in quick.

So what is Project PEP? It’s a collaboration project between Jimmy Choo and Elton John AIDS Foundation. Specifically the project is designed to support the funding of the Simelela Rape Centre in South Africa.

“We are women helping women and we are proud to continue our collaboration with the compelling and urgent initiatives of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and to provide a voice for under-privileged women in South Africa. We are excited to launch this social media campaign which we believe is a fun, light-hearted way to make people aware of a very serious subject.” – Tamara Mellon, Founder & President, Jimmy Choo.

From this project initiative Jimmy Choo will be donating 25% of the net sales from Project PEP to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

To take part in the competition head on over to Jimmy Choo here.