Category: Designer Sports Footwear

July 29, 2011

New Cruyff Classics for a New Football Season

Ok, maybe that is a little misleading, as the last thing you want to do with a £100 pair of Cruyff Classics trainers is go and play football, or use them as footwear for sports but Cruyff does have a massive football heritage, all thanks to it’s founder and original designer Johan Cruyff. Three times world footballer of the year or Ballon D’or Winner Johan is famous for perfecting the ‘Cruyff Turn’ and just generally being a world class footballer in the strips of Holland, Ajax and Barcelona. The world renowned number 14 has been heralded as one of the most technically gifted footballers of all time, and to aid his talent he set about designing his own football boots and training shoes. These original vintage footwear designs inspired the designs and styles of today, with the thin rubber sole, streamlined quality leather upper and the now signature c-flash logo on the sides and tongue.

I reviewed the summer styles in a previous post Dutch Mastery Forms Cruyff Classics and the new styles are now available in the UK, with a huge array of colours and styles on sale for the autumn and winter season. Due to the quality of the leathers and suedes used i’d personally be saving these for a dry day, as snow will surely damage them beyond saving. The Cruyff trainers have been huge in recent years, and having done a bit of digging on a variety of forums and blogs, they seem to be MASSIVE in Scotland and the north of England, while the south and London are still struggling to get into their signature and classic designs. Cruyff could also be on the verge of doing what Nicholas Deakins did a few years ago, and being a favourite among the young Asian lads in the UK, as it appears that Eid last year did a roaring trade for Cruyff trainers in particular. This season they have brought in more of the quilted effect that has been doing so well for them in the last year or so. The quilted side panels fit perfectly with the winter quilted jacket styling, and adds a casual angle on the look that took off so well last year. Alongside this there is the usual Vanenburg and Recopa Classic styles in black, white and grey with a little bit of colour creeping in this winter on the tongues and branding down the sides of the shoes. Prices now range between £90 and £125, which may seem a little more than the other sports inspired footwear brands, however the quality of Cruyff Classics is far higher than that of the other sports fashion footwear brands currently available in the fashion world.

May 9, 2011

Win 1 of 8 Pairs of Puma Alexander McQueen Trainers

I was checking through my e-mails this morning and spotted this amazing competition and figured that if you’re reading my blog chances are you like shoes, and better still, free shoes! Well, I say ‘free’ shoes. You can’t queue up and grab any pair you like but Mainline Menswear are offering eight people the chance to win a pair each, worth up to a whopping £140 each. Looking at the shoes yes they’re Puma, and yes they’re high fashion but there is something very different about them, something that I can’t put my finger on. The styles are generally a hi top or standard shoe, however they always seem to be a bit elongated, random I know!

Anyway, the competition is to win one of eight pairs of Alexander McQueen Puma trainers, worth up to £140. You only have a week to enter though, so make sure that you register quickly, and before the competition closes on the 16th of May 2011. Can’t really sniff at the chance to win one of eight trainers, and its worth registering up the whole family to increase your chances, all you need is a Facebook account a valid e-mail address and mobile number. I think if I won i’d be grabbing up the white hi tops with the embroidered eagle on the ankle, they’re classic looking and will go with a good pair of jeans and a t shirt.

Don’t forget to enter, as once this amazing giveaway has gone there may never be another chance to win such a superb pair of trainers, so visit www.mainlinemenswear.co.uk/competitions to enter, good luck!

April 26, 2011

Tennis Inspired Footwear Fashion

With Wimbledon on the horizon what better way to look at some of the best footwear around than to relate it to the game of Tennis? Sportswear giants such as Nike and Adidas now accomodate the leading tennis players in the world with various pieces of kit including rackets, polo shirts, shorts, track suits and trainers. These sponsorship deals are worth millions to the players due to the size of the global companies however the original tennis equipment brands started out in much more modest surroundings. Top designer brands such as Lacoste, Fred Perry, Fila, K Swiss and Sergio Tacchini were among the first brands to sponsor and ‘kit out’ players with the Lacoste 1212 polo shirt and the Fred Perry tennis shirt both early developments of the courtwear that is commonplace today.

After establishing a variety of polo shirts, shirts and t shirts onto the courts Fred Perry and Rene Lacoste (seperately obviously) set about making tennis shoes and training shoes that would add performance on the court. The Lacoste camden and carnaby styles are based on early designs that were made for the tennis courts and withstood grass, clay and later the indoor surfaces. Fred Perry focused on the weight of the shoe and developed the slightly lighter canvas tennis shoe, similar to the ‘vintage tennis shoe’ available this season in a variety of colours. Both were used regularly by the then top ranking players until technology took over from the 80s onwards. Now the fashion ranges simply use vintage designs and styles as a basis for their current ranges and the specialist designers make the futuristic tennis shoes that can cope with just about anything.

If during Wimbledon you’re wanting to hit the courts or just want to adopt the tennis players style for the duration then chances are your wardrobe will already accomodate this, with there being no need to splash out on specific tennis footwear, that is unless you want to be playing at Wimbledon in a few years! Dig out your Lacoste and Fred Perry and enjoy the sunshine, pimms, strawberries and watching another British collapse.