The Nike Free collection has always been interesting in design and concept. The Roshe Run really raised my eyebrow though. I’m not crazy about running shoes because I don’t run, so I don’t really give a crap about performance. They generally tend to have too much going on, and they’re really expensive. The Roshe Run addresses both of these problems handily.
Almost a year ago we got overly excited about Adidas putting out some canvas Sambas in a few classic colors. We jumped the gun and it turned out that the three stripes were in fact leather. Now, it’s been brought to my attention (thank you very much sir Dustin) that Adidas has recently released a Sambas Canvas Pack, but these have synthetic stripes and canvas heel. And yes, the lining is not leather. This is a very welcome development – another classic we can add in the vault!
Unfortunately, the pack doesn’t include the classic black upper with white stripes and brown sole. Hopefully they will expand the color selection beyond this pack, but for now we have four colors: 1) aluminum/super blue/white, 2) black on black on black on black on black, 3) black/”high energy”/white, 4) slate/light maroon/white.
Available at Zappos
Hey everyone, hope everyone is having an awesome Earth Day 2012! We made it another year, so things aren’t that bad right? Apart from all the wildfires, floods, hurricanes, droughts, and tornadoes, things are going to be okay, yeah? Heh heh (cough)… eh. Well, I am sitting very still in my room, doing as little as I can to negatively impact the environment beyond exhaling carbon dioxide into the surrounding environs. Oh, wait, I am on a computer right now. Damnit.
I don’t know about you guys, but it is really easy for me, when I start thinking about environmental problems, to go down the rabbit hole of increasingly negative thoughts until arriving at a state of despair. But, it is Earth Day and it’s important for me not to be a downer. Actually, one thing that is very encouraging is the existence of this blog, as well as that of you, the audience. To think that people actually care about animals not to eat them and buy products that exclude animal products is very cool. And whether you realize this or not, you are doing the environmentally responsible thing. Consider this – more greenhouse gas emissions come from raising farm animals for food than all the planes, ships, trucks, cars (all forms of fossil fuel based transportation) on the planet combined! This is such an insane statistic I will link to some articles here, here, and here in case you doubt me. Don’t forget all the air and water pollution, rainforests cleared to make way for grazing, and the grain that is used to fatten these animals up that can be used to feed way more people.
It took a while, and some false starts, but I think it’s finally safe to report a completely non-leather Stefan Janoski by Nike. And in a little surprise move, they decided to opt with jersey fleece instead of canvas. While I have never worn a shoe with the fleece, I’m guessing it’s not good for skating at all. I imagine that it would rip up rather quickly. I doubt they were thinking of function when they thought of this one.
Unfortunately it only comes in one metallic silver colorway. You can get these at Tactics and CCS.
Sorry I didn’t post any more pictures. You can go to Tactics and CCS for some super zoomed in and 360 degree views. Enjoy!
The Volley International Shoe is a classic, low profile tennis shoe. And I use the term “tennis shoe” here liberally. You should not play tennis in these. You’ll probably get blisters. And a friend I knew from Texas used to refer to all sneakers as tennis shoes. Isn’t that odd? Texans. I ramble.
But I’m feeling the Volley because they’re reminiscent of the Rod Laver (Volley Int’l is Australian too!). And it’s very annoying because you cannot get a Rod Laver without some kind of leather on it, even though most of it is canvas. Argh. But you can get these! I contacted the company, they told me that there are no animal products used in this shoe.
Another interesting question is, what is the name of this shoe exactly? The company is called “Volley International.” Are they just “shoes?” When you go on their website it’s called “Volley Shoes.” I guess that makes more sense, but I just get confused.
Anyway, you can get these at Swell (a pretty cool surf store, never heard of it until recently)
Here’s another one from Vans. The Del Norte: you’ve seen it before but you haven’t. Inspired by the chukka, it has a more laid back profile and slimmer sole. Comes in less bold colors as well. There’s even an all black version. Features hemp or “enzyme washed” canvas uppers, and a comfy removable vanslite footbed. You know it’s vegan friendly when Vans is promoting the fact that they are made with water based glues and inks too.
Available at Premier (blue, green), Zappos (blue), and Swell (black). More pics after the jump!
Saucony has offered the Jazz Low Pro vegan for a number of years now, so it was surprising when I searched my own site and discovered that I have never written about these ever. So, I guess here we are, a few years too late. You guys have probably seen these already, and it’s likely that you’ll either love them or hate them. When you compare the “vegan” colorways to the non-vegan ones, it’s obvious that some genius made the connection between vegans and granola lovers (“No, they’re not hippie enough!!!”). I guess they could do worse (just one of many examples, you know what I’m talking about). At the very least, they are solid throwbacks that are evocative of the much preferred New Balance 1400. Hey, we take what we can get.
Available at your local eco-friendly corner store, er, Zappos.
Spring is here in New York, and my attention is turning towards warm weather skippies. That means a whole lot of Vans, probably. It’s just so easy to take their standards and re-issue them with different colors and materials. This time Vans is releasing the Era in three different “distressed” canvas colorways. It’s a slight variation, but the washed look really makes it stand out more than the standard canvas.
Available at Premier.
I’ve been on a really bad streak of accidentally promoting non-vegan shoes, so I had to be sure about this one to regain my credibility. Keep is like your low key friend who’s always there for you. I still can’t think of another sneaker company that’s animal friendly and continues to put out really dope product. Unfortunately, the trend of the sneaker world seems to be towards using more leather rather than less. Fortunately, Keep has resisted that call so far, and their shoes are way more inspiring than 90% of the crap out there.
Case in point: the Ramos “Guitar Strap.” At first glance I thought this was a play on the “Mexican blanket” or some other Native American pattern. But this was actually inspired by a vintage Gibson guitar strap. Nice. The ankle heel stands out really nice against the navy canvas.
Available at Keep.
Update 3/11/12: I got word from Doc Martens, these are definitely not vegan. There is leather on the inside. So frustrating.
UPDATE 3/7/12: Again it’s been brought to my attention that these might contain leather. Upon closer inspection it does appear that the chambray ones do have leather around the inner ankle. But the black ones don’t. There might be leather below that but it’s too hard to tell just by looking. I will check with the company and report back. Thanks for your patience guys.
Well, this is a pleasant surprise from Sir Dr. Martens. A canvas desert boot is the last thing I would expect from them, but hey – this works. I was immediately smitten with the Nixon‘s shapely contrasting white sole. Too often I feel like desert boot soles are too flat. Apparently there is a special process called “heat welting” to attach the sole. As long as it stays on it’s fine with me. I prefer the black canvas, but the chambray is good too. You can also get these in grey and brown.
Available at Karmaloop, Amazon, and Endless.
More pics after the jump (of just black and chambray). See Endless and Amazon for the other colors.
