Point of View

Let’s keep it real: January’s not the most fun time of the year. The holidays are over. Everyone’s back to work in earnest. The thrill of making New Year’s resolutions has worn off along with all the champagne you consumed on New Year’s Eve. Now that reality has set in, all you’re left with is a hangover, literally and figuratively.

Plus, if you’re not blessed enough to live in the South or on the West Coast, it’s cold. Not just chilly, cooler than a polar bear’s toenails (word to 3 Stacks). Flat-out frigid. In the Midwest, temperatures have been hovering around 0 (although they’re finally starting to warm up a little bit). New York’s been getting so much snow dumped on them that they’re currently experiencing a city-wide shortage of fresh Timberlands. The Northeast has been dealing with windchill the likes of which has never been seen before. And still, our asshat of a president Mr. Donald Trump sits in the White House, denying that climate change is real. read more

There’s no denying it: Supreme has the Midas touch. Every collaborative piece that they work on is instantly rocketed into the streetwear stratosphere, and although some question their design chops (more loudly so in recent seasons), nobody doubts their ability to generate hype and desire in a way that no other brand in the world can. They’ve worked with a veritable “who’s who” of fashion-industry royalty, from Comme Des Garcons to Brooks Brothers to Lacoste, but one of their longest-standing and most successful collaborative runs is with Nike, whom they’ve been working with since 2002. read more

For all intents and purposes 2017 is over. In less than 24 hours, the clock will strike midnight and a new year full of fresh possibilities, new opportunities, great shoes, and fire clothes will be upon us. As the calendar resets to January 1st, we’ll be given one last chance to look back on the year that’s passed as well as being blessed with an opportunity to set goals and resolutions for the year ahead.

We’ll be the first to admit it: New Year’s resolutions can can cause some interesting conundrums. It’s easy to fall into a trap, thinking that you have to set grand, illustrious life goals for yourself before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st. Thankfully, that’s not true. If something in life is truly important and meaningful to you, you can resolve to do it at any time. read more

Nobody had a better year in 2017 than Virgil Abloh.

The multifaceted creative’s OFF-WHITE label enjoyed great success as his industrial-inspired belts caught fire and became one of the most stand-out accessories of the year, used as everything from purse straps to dog leashes by forward-thinking fashionistas. He traveled around the world for DJ gigs, seemingly landing in a new country and playing in front of raucous crowds every week. And his collaborative effort with Nike, “The Ten”, which re-imagined ten iconic Nike silhouettes both new and old was undoubtedly the biggest story of the year in the sneaker world. read more

Since the dawn of modern-day sneaker collecting, brands have fueled seasonal hype with holiday-inspired kicks. From the 4th of July to Halloween, from 4/20 (yes, it’s a holiday) to Easter, there’s special releases to coincide with each and every major holiday over the course of a year. But come Christmas, things get kicked into overdrive. It’s one of the biggest holidays for sneaker collaborations each and every year, and nobody does Christmas sneakers better than Nike.

Nike’s Christmas sneakers have a lot working in their favor: there’s strongly defined cultural totems that they can draw inspiration from (you’ll see recurring themes in this list), they’re not bound to ugly, difficult-to-wear colors like some other seasonal releases (we’re looking at you and all your gag-inducing pastels, Easter), and sneakerheads are always looking for a fresh new pair around the holidays so they can stunt at Christmas dinner (don’t lie to yourself … we know you love doing it just as much as we do). read more

2017: the year that streetwear went mainstream.

Over the past few years, the Internet has taken a close-knit underground culture with a rich history full of unique characters, excellent stories, and incredible clothes and for better or worse, it’s been exposed it to the masses. What was once an exclusive club of sorts is more accessible than ever, and in the last twelve months streetwear truly went mainstream, breaking into popular culture in a way that it never had before.

A whole lot happened to streetwear culture in 2017. Extreme trends and borderline excessive collaboration ruled the sphere, high exposure on social media changed the way that the culture is exposed permanently, and the lines between old guard high-fashion houses and street brands were blurred almost to the point of nonexistence. Now that this crazy year has almost drawn to a close, it’s time to look back on both the highs and lows of 2017, and discuss streetwear’s future in 2018 and beyond. read more

2017 was a truly wild year in sneakers. Full of trends both new and old, endless collaborations (more than three-quarters of the shoes on this list are collaborative pairs), and all-consuming hype the likes of which has not been seen before, sneaker culture shifted massively these past twelve months. And it’s likely it will never be the same again.

Nike came roaring back to the forefront of cool with extensive collaborations and limited releases after losing siginificant ground to Adidas the past two years. 90’s trends came full-circle, as both chunky old-school sneakers and classic Air Max silhouettes enjoyed a revival, while the athleasure set took to new, sleek designs that were futuristic in their concepts and space-like in their feel. read more