This season’s newest vegan/animal-friendly offering from Emerica for spring of 2013 is finally here.

The new shoe is called “The Tempster,” and is designed by legendary vegan skateboarder, Ed Templeton. Ed has always been a driving force in skateboarding – a true individual and artist. He is also the vegan skater’s skater. Never quitting and never selling out his vegan beliefs for a higher-paying/selling leather pro-model shoe. For this alone, we should always support him, his shoes, and Emerica for putting them out. Emerica is in my own personal opinion, the last real core skate shoe brand we have left.

I got to skate these new shoes a few short times on the streets and for a full 3-hour session at the park. Here are my personal thoughts as a long-time skater and vegan shoe wearer. . . .

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This week we bring to you another great skateboard brand, one that we’ve yet to feature.   We just haven’t come across anything that is anything close to vegan.  Thanks to a tip from Tall Mike, we present the Lakai Indio.  This black canvas mid sports a synthetic leather heel patch and a vulcanized sole.  And we got confirmation from the company that the shoe is fully vegan.

Don’t forget!  There’s still time to enter our Emerica Tempster contest.  Email us now to win a free pair of vegan kicks designed by Ed Templeton.  We have received a lot of interest, but if you put your name in the hat, lets say your chances of winning are significantly higher than the Powerball.  For contest info, click here.

Lakai Indio available at Zappos.  More pics after the jump!

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Following up on our last post, the good people at Emerica are so gracious as to hook us up for Vegan Kicks’ second shoe contest!  Our blogging is erratic right now, but we’re trying to make every one count!  We are psyched to be giving away one pair of Emerica Tempster (green or black), featured above and below.  This is one out of a bunch of Emerica’s vegan shoes (see our previous post on their newest offerings), and we all thought it was appropriate that this be the one, considering Ed’s longstanding vegan lifestyle.  I know that these shoes won’t be for everyone, but I know all the skaters out there will be chomping at the bits to get a pair.  So, onto the contest!

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To a skateboarder, shoes are like gloves to a sculptor’s hands. No other clothing component is more important to a skateboarder. Skaters’ feet are the connection to their craft – the art of how they skateboard. Skating in a shoe that is too padded and bulky, is like trying to grab detailed things with a mitten on. Skating in a shoe that is too thin, is like wearing a rubber glove to protect one’s self from the elements, or to grab that hot vegan dinner you have in the oven – you’re going to get burned, and you’re going to feel it too much. Then there’s the dreaded cupsole vs. vulc shoe battle – it just never ends! So just how how do we compromise? And how do vegan skateboarders fit into this equation? Through my next few blog posts I may be able to help you find those answers… but first, we must ask another more serious and important question:

Why are todays vegan skate shoes so expensive?

Do you ever wonder why a canvas skate shoe cost the same or more than a shoe made out of leather? It’s like getting a Veggie Delite at Subway for the same price as the next guy’s cold cut sub that has the same amount of veggies on it. You’re paying the same price for something that has meat, when there is no meat in yours at all! You’re basically paying for a condiment sandwich. In todays skate shoe world with canvas or synthetic shoes vs. leather shoes, you are paying for a condiment on your feet, as most all skate shoes have canvas or syn. textiles in them anyways – on the inside or outside. So the question here is, why?

Ripped canvas Vans, an all too familiar occurrence to the vegan skater.

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A few days back someone from the most awesome vegan food truck the Cinnamon Snail tweeted me for a skateboard shoe recommendation.  I love these guys.  If you are anywhere near Manhattan, Jersey City, or Red Bank, New Jersey, you gotta hit them up.  Best vegan food I’ve ever had hands down.  The best way to keep track of them is to follow them @VeganLunchTruck on Twitter.

Anyway back to the shoes.  While there are actually a good number of great vegan skate shoes out there, my current pick would have to be the Emerica Westgate.  You can’t beat it if you’re looking for a classic comfy skate shoe that sticks to a tried and true design while not having too many bells and whistles.

This vegan shoe – grey canvas only – is designed by pro Brandon Westgate, and judging from his balls to the wall style of skating (see video below), you know they have to be built to last.  It features a padded foam footbed and EVA foam heel cup to withstand impact from hard landings.  The sole is “double wrapped vulcanized construction” for added board feel.  Depending on how you like your shoes, this one has a thinly padded tongue and collar.  While it’s not as cushy as fully padded, the thin tongue seems to be the preference these days.  Overall it’s just a classic mid skate shoe in a versatile, can’t go wrong colorway.

Available (on sale!) at Zappos.

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Vans has successfully expanded on its brand of classics with the successes of Vans OTW and California.  But none of those arguably depart more, visually and technologically, than the Vans LXVI (pronounced Vans 66).  Here we see them implementing newer methods of manufacturing to create something futuristic and more performance oriented.  Fortunately for us as well, this means a lot of synthetic materials.  The following shoes listed below have been confirmed by Vans to be vegan.  Enjoy!

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I recently did a post on the Etnies Barge LS and I realized why the hell don’t I just put up all the Etnies vegan shoes for fall 2012?  Seems it makes sense to have them all in one place (Etnies already set this one up pretty nicely).  Here’s the list of sneakers that Etnies is offering cruelty free right now.  I’m excluding sandals because, well I think it’s more obvious and easier to find since they are usually made with synthetic materials.  So, here’s the list!

The Etnies Jameson 2 Eco is not just offered in numerous animal friendly colorways, but as the name suggests, it is made with the environment in mind.  It features recycled PET laces, a 20% recycled rubber sole, and a laminated cork footbed.  Not sure how a cork footbed is better for the earth, but I guess anything that’s not made out of petroleum based products is a good thing.

The vegan colorways are brown/green (pictured above), black/aloha, black/gum/dark grey, grey/black/gum, and grey/navy/white.

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The Etnies Barge LS x Keep A Breast Bone is a great collaboration with Keep a Breast Foundation to raise awareness and support their efforts at eradicating breast cancer.  Oh yeah, the shoes are vegan too.  The upper is all canvas in a cream/off-white color (only).  Not much else other than that the tongue and collar are lightly padded for a sleeker look.  Oh, it also sports “I heart boobies” lining and logo on the heel – I guess to get in with the kids, you got to go down to their level!

Available at Zappos.

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Here is yet another shoe for all you skate rats out there.  Yes I will switch it up soon but for now you will have to settle for the Habitat Guru Hi in mocha tan.  It’s not setting the world on fire like a certain release this week (ugh, by the way… just, ugh).  But it has a little to set it apart, chiefly the fold down ankle.  Otherwise it is your standard skate shoe with vulcanized sole and waxed canvas upper.  Hey at least we know from the source that it’s legit vegan (see the symbol?  Yeah, that’s what I thought).  Note that the other colorway is made of cowsuede.

Available at Zappos (on sale now!)

Emerica has been on top of the vegan shoe game for a while, reliably putting out a list of their non-animal foot products every season for the past few years.  I’m too lazy to even plagiarize the work they’ve already done, but I like to pick favorites.  I’m a sucker for mid shoes as of late, and I’ve always liked the Hsu.  The Emerica Hsu 2 is updated; it retains the same silhouette as its predecessor, streamlined down some.

With this shoe, you know what you’re getting: a solid, grippy, skate shoe.  For those who need the extra cushioning, it comes with an “STI PU Foam Lite™ Level 3 footbed cushioning system.”  Also keep in mind that the only vegan option is this colorway.

Available at Zappos.  Photos from Emerica.