Category Archives: Welcome
Getting UNEEK On Orchard St.
We’ve been a fan of Oregon’s KEEN and their penchant for coming up with eye-catching, functional designs for outdoor types. (I love my left/right socks). I recall seeing their UNEEK line of open-air footwear hit the scene, but it wasn’t until I inspected the latest UNEEKs up close did I get a little mEsMeRiZeD by the tapestried system of interlocking cords that attach the sole to the upper, creating a sturdy, ornamental web around your foot.
KEEN threw a party last week on Orchard Street in NYC to showcase the UNEEK 02 line, which they feel perfects the build of the 01s with even more thought on how the cords (flat and rounded) work with the natural shape of the foot. I’d knee-jerkedly put them on a list of “things to wear instead of flip-flops”
On display, they had the prototype collection of what would become the UNEEK, including the OG pin & thread over last:
I got to chat with members of the Keen team, and they assured me these would probably be good for river-tubing. It takes a stroke of confidence to uniquely call your thing U-Neek. I’d say that KEEN delivered with what are essentially little engineering masterpieces. I’d consider trying them out on the beach, probably while bumping some Eek-A-Mouse, and maybe a little Chronixx.
Kind regards,
Chris
May Pop Gallery
Popdiatry.com presents some random images
Popdiatribe: Everything’s Berry
Last Friday, while you were thinking about dinner and I was working sound at a theater in Manhattan (wear-testing a pair of Injinji toe socks*), the United States Department of Defense made a move toward ensuring that service members are outfitted head to toe with gear made in the USA. The Berry Amendment was introduced 73 years ago to promote the purchase of certain U.S. goods. Over the years, exceptions were made when it came to military training sneakers. Boots were an issue item, but most service members wore their choice of trainers. These New Balances pictured are made in Maine using soles, uppers, textile parts, and straps sourced from Massachusetts- plus laces made in Rhode Island- making it a Berry Amendment compliant product. This NB 950v2 athletic shoe is being tested by the military and may soon become available to recruits via their vouchers. U.S. Congressional reps Niki Tsongas (D-Mass), and Mike Michaud (D- Maine) were instrumental in pressuring the D.O.D. to get it right with Berry. Michaud is a bigger New Balance head than you, and even sports made-in-USA blue and yellow New Balances while campaigning for Governor. Wolverine Worldwide, who already provides Berry-compliant boots through their Bates brand, and New Balance are currently the only American companies capable of producing competitive sneakers in the US. Now that Pentagon officials have made this announcement, other brands may consider rekindling their domestic production in order to compete for these military voucher bucks.
I never heard of the evil stepsister procedure until reading Laren Stover’s piece in the New York Times. “Make them fit, Please!” is something women have been saying to foot doctors in regards to outrageously impractical high-heeled footwear. Elective cosmetic foot surgery is a thing, and there are procedures ready to treat high heel foot, hitchhikers toe, toebesity and other man-made ailments that are keeping sufferers from comfortably wearing Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, and Christian Louboutin products. Get a load of the comments after the article as well.
Voting is now open for the 5th annual Vans Custom Culture Art Competition. Vans, who dropped some Star Wars gear this week, sends blank white shoes to 2000 high schools across the country so art classes can battle for design supremacy (and resources for their art programs).
Click here to check all the custom Vans designs
Did you know VIbram has a line of FiveFingers for golfers?
* I went my first day wearing some Injinji toe-socks under some New Balance walking shoes. I was moving around all day with them and like that they allow some splay.
Popdiatribe: After Taxes
By law of averages, someone we interact with today wears footwear manufactured at a Yue Yuen Industrial production facility- most likely in China. Yue Yuen is the world’s biggest branded shoe and sneaker maker- think 3 stripes and the swoosh. For the past week, thousands of workers at a couple Chinese Yue Yuen factories have been in various stages of a strike; the biggest being estimated at 30,000 at a Y.Y. in Guangdong province. The issue seems on its way to being resolved in favor of the workers’ concerns. Meanwhile, Nike and Adidas look towards Vietnam as the place where a majority of their shoes will be made as wages and working conditions (hopefully) improve in China.
The guy who won the Boston Marathon wasn’t wearing Nikes, Adidas, New Balances, Under Armours, Newtons, or Altras while crossing the finish line. Wicked fast runner Meb Keflezighi has been sponsored by Skechers since 2011, and was wearing a pair from the company’s performance line of sneaks when he broke the tape on Boylston Street Monday. Next year I’d love to see him do a repeat while wearing a pair of Skechers’s infamous Shape Ups shoes.
TMZ is reporting that Chicago Bull Joakim Noah sued his former sneaker sponsor Le Coq Sportif last year. Le Coq countersued. The issue was settled last month. Noah now balls with Adidas. Today he was named the 2014 NBA defensive player of the year.
Pop boy act One Direction now have their own sneaker-shoes. Country singer Miranda Lambert debuted her own line of footwear. Brown Shoe Co. (act like you never had some Buster Browns) just celebrated 100 years on the New York Stock Exchange. Brown even had a little celebration at the NYSE building where Black Eyed Pea Fergie (has her own line with Brown) rang the closing bell Wednesday. Former prez George H.W. Bush has his own line of striped, colorful signature socks. What ? Check out GeorgeBushSocks.com
Those Bush socks are a little too loud for my tastes. In efforts to step up my sock game though- I did visit the REI store in SOHO last week and spent an inordinate amount of time in their impressively-stocked sock isles. I walked out with a purchase of Injinji toe socks- my first ever purchase of this type of sock. Look for a quick review in a future Popdiatribe.
Speaking of commanders-in-chief, the U.S. Armed forces are in the process of testing some new boot models. Last month I wrote about the Berry Amendment – that mandates the U.S. Department of Defense must give preference to domestically-produced items. For footwear this means that government-issued soldier boots must be made in America. A push to be Berry-compliant has created a little healthy competition amongst American manufacturers. Who can make the most comfortable, durable, quickest-drying boot that service members will love? Time shall tell. I’m not even sure at this time which brand produced the model below. The results of all these prototypes will certainly lead to civilian consumers getting some fresh boot options down the road.
Popdiatribe: Springing Ahead
Not a even a hot month after Manu Ginobili’s shoe instantaneously ripped apart during a live NBA game, a similar instance occurred on (Philadelphia 76ers) Tony Wroten’s foot during a game against the Pacers on March 14th. This near-viral malfunction reportedly prompted a phoned apology from Michael Jordan himself. Meanwhile, the Nike Jordan imprint announced release of their first ever running shoe- the Flight Runner, this week.
On the baseball front, former MLB hit-master Frank Thomas has taken issue with a Reebok re-release of some sneaks he once endorsed in the 90s- issue being this endorsement ended long ago. Read more here
The trailer for “Foot“, an independent documentary film that explores barefooting, is now online:
Footwear chain Shoe Carnival is blessing Chicago, Lansing, Detroit, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Chattanooga, Charlotte, and Bowling Green with new stores this month. The weekend of March 29th will be “grand-opening” day in these locales with drawings, giveaways, and prizes all weekend.
Adidas Stan Smiths returned to the marketplace looking more like the originals than ever (with Stan’s mug on the tongue), along with some very modern versions of the air-hole-striped standards.
The First Step
I was a BMX freestyle bike-riding kid in the 90s who loved Vans, Adidas, Converse and Airwalks. Now I’m a self-employed grown man who wears New Balance, Finn Comfort, Naot, and Chippewas. Along the way I collected bits of cultural, structural, and historical information about shoes- footwear- kicks- sneaks. Popdiatry is the platform on which I will expand on these observations with imagination, curiosity and humor.
I believe that the first step toward world peace and global harmony is everyone wearing properly-fitting footwear. We love the feeling of waking up and taking on the day with a fresh pair of shoes or boots to step into. On days when cheer and positivity seem hard to find- there are those same shoes or boots we wore when things were great. Time for a reminder. Is your pinkie toe suffering due to years of tight fitting? Time to expand.
Shoes have stories, brands have history. Folks have loyalty to certain shoe brands that can be fanatic in nature. From steel-toe to flip-flop, Popdiatry will be an open-minded observation tower where I look forward to learning as much as I teach. From lace deck to welted sole, I will present and share information about footwear and feet in such a way that no other blog or magazine will. My sources will be cited, and pictures credited. Thanks for reading and be sure to check back often.
-Chris from Brockton