I know what you are thinking...what is Balanciaga doing on a Chicks with Kicks Blog?Well... the thing is you can't put women in a box... we rock Kicks with the same fierceness as we rock Stilletos ..How ?I guess you'd have to as the Creator who allowed us to be such verasatile beings...

Anyway back to the shoes...Is it my love of al things Transformers(Themovie comes out soon) or even Voltron(Keep an eye out  for a collabo  with RBK)

These shoes just came to me as a testament to Innovation, Bravo Nicholas Ghesquiere for thinking outside the box!!... Isin't That What Creativity is all about

Check out Balanciaga's Fall 07  Line you'll see that once again the Downtown  Street Fashionistas of this world have again fueled the world of high end fashion:Baggy skinny pants....Layers...Narrow Jackets.. and a cool adaptation on the ever controversial Keffiyey...

Enjoy,

Wear your Kicks w/Pride

SgP

Here's some more interesting links. Like I said a couple posts back, I wanna do these every so often in an effort to spread sisterly love and support.

"Into each girl's life must one day walk a rogue, a complete good-for-nothing, whom she will love for a time..." (Read how this hearbreaker ends at GottaGetTheGoods)

SJP: Yet another fashion snob feels a sudden affection for the masses--well, the content of their many wallets anyway. (Read the whole oh-how-the-might-have-fallen mess at the most excellent BlueFly blog)

Married to the Mob Leah's expanding tata watch. (This "Throw-Some-Ds-On-It image of McSweeny and much more at the awesome Worshipworthy)

For girls who are up front about their Daddy issues. Oh yes, Papi, yes! (At my fave online shopping guide, Popgloss)

Like idiot savants, even Hollywood's most hideous exhibit occasional flashes of brilliance when it comes to their footwear choices. (For multiple images of starlets in kicks, check the frequently updated Nitrolicious.)

I attended a United trade show event held in a W-berg loft last week. Rama, who does promotion and marketing for United sent me the invite. Up until the moment I got the email, I had no idea what United was. Turns out it's a new company, which was created to promote brands looking for something fresher and more intimate than the giant blob that Magic/Pool has become. I also discovered, silly me, that Rama has a sub-blog on HighSnobiety, too. Shows you how up on shit I am!

Anyway, I started putting this post up the night I got home from the event, BUT I pressed some wrong button and found I could no longer upload images. When David fixed the problema, I discovered that my "saved" post was wiped out so I spent the next three days sobbing into my keyboard. And speaking of David, Mr. HighSnobiety himself, while I didn't meet him at the event, I did hear from several folks there--who met him on his recent trip to Magic--that yes, in addition to blogging all day and all night, he's 1) tall, and 2) an all around good guy, who gets bonus points for his ability to crack sarcastic jokes. Good on ya, David. The Yanks think you're alright!

Anyway, pictures:

^^That's Matt of FreeGoldWatch on the left and Rama on the right. I'm almost 100 percent sure that this is an L.A.-based company. (Supposedly it was quite a coup for me to capture Rama's image, but you know, I got bossy skills like that.)

^^Matt by himself, holding his favorite piece from his FreeGoldWatch line

^^Artists and designer Alone holding pair of his customized baby Dunks. Everybody on three: Awwwwwww! I'm not sure where Alone is from. I'm thinking though that he's one of those man without a city types.

^^These "Chinatown Handbags" customized by Alone were my show faves, if only cuz it was one of the few girly items there.  That little card says they're being carried by Bodega, a sneaker boutique I'm hearing LOTS of good buzz about these days.

^^This is Nils, who hails from the Boogie Down. He's an all-around good guy and the leading force behind streetwear label Stack & Bundles. His tees were amazing. Great eye for color. (Sorry Nils, I lazed out and left the kicks in!)

^^Here's a closeup on a Stacks & Bundles tee. The graphics on this one are awesome, plus it's an ode to Nas, whom I've always been a huge fan of.

^^Here's Tommy Rebel, an encyclopedia of sneaker knowledge and the founder of B'klyn Basements. He's wearing a jacket that he designed. And yeah, by now you'd think I'd know better to turn off the flash when taking images of reflective stuff. Oh well. Tommy was tickled that it came out all reflective-y.

^^Tommy and jacket sans flash with his buddy Mike, who owns Jinxed in Philadelphia. I interviewed Tommy ages ago for a story on collectors and I finally got to meet him in person at the show.

And now I'm gonna post a bunch of shoes by Cipher, a Hong-Kong based shoe company:

^^You gotta pay extra for the fortune cookies

^^Do fried noodles come with that shake?

^^This is like Hugh-Hefner-style footwear, only for a cat born at least 50 years after him. (Say "ho-ho" if Kendra is your favorite bunny!)

^^These shoes are on some different shit, right? I think the design for these was sparked by a custom request by RZA of you-know-who-Tang. And I'm not sure, but I think Nas is in line to get something similar.

^^These are tees from the Manilla-based TruYouth label. According to Rama, this brand is one of United's top sellers on the Internet.

And that's all for now folks. Damn that took a long time!

Cheers,

Lois/LSakany at gmail.com 

As one of only two U.S. sneaker boutiques that sells strictly to the ladies, Laces, a Manhattan-based shop gets plenty of mentions around this joint, and rightly so. I profiled Laces and its owner, Louis Colon III, for Footwear News magazine not long after it opened in 2005 and I figured it would be fun to catch up with him and see what’s changed in that time. In addition to Laces, Louis also heads up Kicksclusive magazine, and was recently featured in Nike’s Air Force One book, in which he is dubbed “The Ladies Man,” an ode to Laces. And oh yes people, like I promised when I wrote last week that I was planning on interviewing Louis, I tried--REPEATEDLY!--to dig for some gossip on the latest streetwear feuds, but every time I tried, he either acted the fool or got all United Nations on me--Bed-stuy raised him right, dammit!

^^Louis at the store, not too long after it opened.

CWK: You opened in December 2005, correct? When did you first think about opening a boutique?

Louis: A good year before I opened it. At the time I was already doing Kicksclusive, which I started about four-and-a-half years ago.

CWK: On the road to opening, what was your biggest roadblock? How did you overcome it?

Louis: I had never worked in retail so I had to figure out what it is that makes the business move. I had to learn about project planning and how to put together a budget and all the other nuts and bolts that go into opening a business.

CWK: Opening a store in Manhattan is a pretty big move. I know a lot of times when you want to step out like that, you’ll get mixed feedback and some of it will be negative. Was that an issue at all?

Louis: I was careful to talk to people who were trustworthy. They were the people I knew would give me a good gage on how realistic the idea was. My parents had my back, but they were leery. One turning point was when I met Priscilla Shumate from Nike. I met her sort of randomly while I was at Project pushing the magazine. By then, I already knew I wanted to call the store Laces, and I figured, eff it, I might as well ask her. We were talking and I told her I wanted to open a ladies sneaker boutique. Her vibe on the idea was positive and she told me, “We need to talk.” That feedback definitely got the ball rolling. Because even with me doing the magazine, until Priscilla, I never had a big player at Nike give me any feedback.

CWK: How many hours a week are you actually in the store?

Louis: Until recently, Laces and Kickscluvive were in separate offices and then it was 30 hours at the store and 30 hours at the office. Kicksclusive, which has been my bread and butter, was in a Midtown office. I consolidated and moved the magazine office into the store because I was losing my mind going back and forth between the two places. Now I’m here at least 60 hours a week. Three other people work here part time.

CWK: What’s the best part and what’s the worst part of owning Laces?

Louis: The possibility of this being really big is what I really enjoy more than anything else. A lot of things could go wrong, but right now it gives me a lot of hope. The hard part is definitely the managerial part. I expect people to work as hard as I do so having to deal with an employee that doesn’t see what I see can be frustrating—just simple things, like arranging the pillows says a lot. With a store like this, I’m selling experience as much as product.

CWK: Speaking of employees, I haven’t heard it about Laces, but I definitely hear people complain about the attitudes of the people who work in certain New York sneaker boutiques. Do you think the owners intentionally cultivate that attitude?

Louis: Now I see what [the owners] have to deal with. Some people just want to come and just hang out. They don’t realize you’re working. Plus, I think the other stores get jaded. With guys, they don’t need to pay attention to the customer since a lot of times he’s just going to buy what he wants and leave.

CWK: We’ve talked in the past about the frustrations of convincing sneaker companies that investing in product development for a female customer is worth their while. Has that mindset changed much over the past six months?

Louis: I think they have begun to pay attention to more than just the woman runner and gym person, but they still don’t use my store enough to push to a certain customer who’s looking for something different.

^^A more recent image of Louis with the kicks as always having his back.

CWK: As much as the sneaker companies need to be educated, do you think the female customer lags behind the male sneaker enthusiast in knowledge or does she just have a different mindset and always will?

Louis: I think she’ll always have a different mindset. Her buying habits are just different, plus, there are a lot more places for women to shop. I’ve seen all-over-print hoodies coming out of Strawberry’s. Special events don’t work either because there’s really no limited edition product for women. [Sneaker companies] are making exclusive product, but not collaborations like they do for the men. I think for me, I have to learn what girls are going to wear and what lifestyle we want to sell to them. You don’t want to pigeon hole. That’s why I can’t label the store a streetwear store. I want it to be a funky trendsetter store, a place that if you’re on top of your shoe game, you’ll know about Laces.

CWK: How do you create cache in the minds of a female customer and how does that contrast with a male customer?

Louis: The whole experience of the store and the product you select has to tell stories. I have a friend from high school who never wore sneakers at all. I put her in a pair of [Nike] Zoom Blazers, she put them on and everywhere she went, people were asking her, “Where did you get those shoes??” Now she’s asking me, “What is the next shoe I need to buy?” I really believe the way we saw men’s sneakers explode, we’ll see women’s explode. Of course when it gets there, the top-notch girls will go away from sneakers.  

CWK: What right now is the hottest style in the store?

Louis: It’s always the [Nike] Metro product—the Zoom Blazers and the Sprint Sister. I just got in the new Cr8tive Recreations. People like them. The more simple ones are not moving as quickly as the other ones.

^^This shot of the store is from when I first interviewed Louis. I did a close-up shot of the Blazer on the far left on the middle shelf, which is now used as the Chicks With Kicks logo.

CWK: What about the growth in popularity of mids and highs for women?

Louis: It’s still in the baby step phase because the selection is so limited.

CWK: What brand do you see that’s an up-and-comer for women?

Louis: We saw the Etnies Plus stuff and liked it. I placed a big order with them because once it’s gone, it’s gone. And we’ve always felt Puma does a good job with women, but its sales staff doesn’t get it as far as positioning. It seems like Puma’s marketing people aren’t in touch with its product people. That’s what Nike does the best. I think [Nike] understands that the buzz of the underground scene gives more than any print ad could. And that’s not to say [Nike’s] campaigns aren’t good. The product positioning just does so much more for branding.

CWK: Since this is for ChicksWithKicks, but you’re not a chick, in your estimation, who are the top three female collectors out there?

Louis: There are girl influencers that I feel are really relevant like Nina Sky. They have a down-to-earth celebrity status and they wear their kicks well. Amanda Diva is good. She’s an artist and she works on radio and MTV, plus Laura Stylez, a radio personality. There’s MissInfo and there’s my friend Mary Papers. She’s not a celebrity, but she’s a celebrity in her own right.

CWK: You’ve added art and Mama’s nailpolish line to your store. How far do you want to go with additional categories and lines?

Louis: Gabriella from Mama was just here. I want to capture the whole lifestyle. My next future move by summer time is to add in some kids sneakers for the moms and aunts who are always in here. By May, we’re going to add the Laces women’s clothing line, which is going to start with tee-shirts. It’s going to be an ode to female icons.

^^Close-up on some Nikes and a Laces-branded accessory tin that holds--natch!--laces.

CWK: There are a lot of rivalries between streetwear companies. Do you see the same bad blood coming up between New York boutiques?

Louis: Of course there is competition. Every business man is going to be competitive. But I stay in my lane so no one is threatened by me. Flight Club does consignment, and even though they do sell to women, it’s a sneaker head girl who is looking for a Jordan. Girls who shop on Mott Street don’t really wear Jordans. I refer people to other stores all the time and they do the same. It doesn’t hurt me to send a guy to a guy’s store or send a girl to a store for her boyfriend. Plus, if I’m scared, then it means that my game is not up to par. I have to ask myself, who is this customer and why am I not selling to her?  

CWK: I’ve been in your store Louis, and it’s like a non-stop runway for pretty girls. Have you found since you’ve opened that you’ve become a lot more popular with your male friends?

Louis: (Laughs) I do get a lot of guys coming in wanting to talk and hangout. Sometimes I have to tell them to lower their voice, but yeah, I do get a lot of good-looking women. New York is filled with good-looking women. Spring, summer and fall is great over here.

CWK: Do you have any upcoming events you like to mention?

Louis: We’re having a magazine event on the March 29^th. It’s a party for the next issue of Kicksclusive with Bobbito on the cover.

[At this point in the interview, Louis brought up his most recent event, which took place at a Downtown club and was highlighted by a sneaker fashion show and Nina Sky performance, and I remembered that we here at CWK, while overall giving the concept high marks, gave Louis a couple of knocks upside the head because of the long lines to get into the event and the late start for the fashion show. At first I tried to squirm out of it by putting all the blame for the critique on my partner, Samia (it’s one thing to write the shit, but quite another when you have to actually SPEAK to the person you bitched about, especially someone as nice as Louis), but then I quickly remembered that I had not only co-signed on her take in the comments, but days before her review, I had even taken the time to put up my very own post, in which I wrote about stomping off in a huff because of the long wait to get into the club—as if! So here’s where Louis finally gets a chance to respond.]

Louis: We’ve had really successful events—the launch party, the event with Lupe Fiasco and the Etnies party. I can’t control security and places. I understood the frustration over waiting to get in, but I couldn’t control the club’s security. There were over 1,200 people that rsvp-ed and I tried to pull in people, but the club wanted the line to be slow and the bouncers kept sending me away. I know there were at least 100 people who left because they said they didn’t want to wait. And yeah, the hair and makeup for nine girls took much longer than we expected. After there was some writer from the Village Voice complaining that there were too many guys and that the women there were wearing pumps.

CWK: Wearing pumps? Like they were only supposed to wear sneakers? That’s what women wear out to clubs in New York. 

Louis: And sneaker events are almost always dominated by guys. That’s just how it is.

CWK: So she just doesn't get it. Are you planning another show?

Louis: I would do another fashion show, but just twice a year. Also I want to do tastemaker events in the store, ladies only events. We’ll Get a liquor sponsor, and host a sneaker pampering night once every couple of weeks. I want to do more female art installation events.

^^The one and only!

Keep doing your thing, Louis!

Lois/LSakany at Gmail.com

The latest issue of Bust magazine features an article by famed streetwear designer Claw Money, and because I'm nice like that, I scanned it for your viewing pleasure (click on it if you want a closer look):

^^Sneakers photographed by Gisel Florez

The tone of the piece is definitely instructional in that in assumes that the average reader doesn't have much experience wearing men's sneakers. Surrounded as I am by sneaker culture, for part of me, it's hard to believe that there are girls out there who would choose not to buy a pair of kicks--however cool they may look--cause they were made for men, but then again, I know that lots of women, who, even if they were once Tomboys, stop dressing in a boyish manner once they hit their twenties. I'm not sure if that's about being more presentable to men or feeling more comfortable in more feminine clothing and shoes once you "mature," but whatever, it's good to read an article encouraging women to embrace their masculine side.

p.s. Lately I've been posting more here, but I'm gonna crosspost stuff like this at my own blog TrendyNation so that it doesn't become a blog that solely alternates between musings on single motherhood and what sneakers Jay-Z is wearing today.

Ta!

Lois/LSakany at gmail.com

As much as I love to see streetwear made with the ladies in mind, I love it ten billion times more when those clothes/shoes/art are made by a female. And a woman who's holding down her business hustle AND raising kids? Well shoot, then you're talking about me being totally in love, not to mentioned awe-inspired. And that is exactly how I feel about Indie, a grafitti writer and mother of two, who recently sent me images of her Kweenz Destory tees.

If you're not familiar with Indie, who was recently featured in a Mass Appeal article on graffiti mamas (see image below), here's an excerpt from her bio:

Kweenz Destroy was conceived by Indie--a graffiti writer, graphic
designer and mother from New York City. Raised into a life of non-stop
drama and struggles in a handful of hectic neighborhoods, fiercely
creative and independent- Indie was always the black sheep of her
block, resulting in her strong and fearless perspectives. Determined
to express herself to the world through art, she taught herself how to
sew and paint. Underground streetwear, graffiti and graphic design
have become her passions--but she's always felt something was missing
from this realm: A label for the ladies she could relate to; an
authentic label. She wanted to create a brand for girls who aren't
afraid to jump fences or get paint on their nails; girls who know
beauty can be made out of scars. Something created by and for women
who do their own thing. Some labels seem to just imitate the
lifestyle, but Kweenz Destroy is for those who live it. The name
Kweenz Destroy, is derived from the world famous graffiti crew Kings
Destroy which was founded by the legendary COPE2 in 1982. The first
t-shirt design was born when the infamous WEST FC did some outlines
for Indie and tagged up Kweenz Destroy. Indie fell in love with the
tag and the name that reflected her sensibility. Since then, she has
felt an even greater drive to bring out her own brand KWEENZ DESTROY,
for the hardcore chic at heart.

And here's what the tee looks like:

^^It's not officially launched yet, but soon the tees will also be at KweenzDestroy.com

And here's that article from MassAppeal:

^^Thugalicious Ron Artist is on the left and that's Indie on the right with her two babies. I don't think you'll be able to enlarge it enough to read it, but one of the cutest lines from Indie is this: "My son begs me to put on Wild Style instead of Sesame Street DVDs. " Too cute!

Keep the product coming, ladies!

Lois/LSakany@gmail.com

I know that I had previously mentionned my affinity for all things Art Related One of those is GRAFFITI, I call it street art...Anyway ..putting all termonilogies aside .... we have a treat one of he reigning ladies of the Graffiti world"TOOFLY" has taken the time to answer a few questions for us about herself her passions and her  success  in what has been perceived to be a man dominated field 

Enjoy

 CWK- Toofly who is she (the artist) where was she born? Where did the name come from?

Toofly is a young female from New York who grew up in the 90's listening to hip-hop, and freestyle music. Trooping it everywhere on the train, falling in love with graffiti, and tagging up a "girl mark" to get known. Toofly was officially born in 1992. I used to write this shitty poem in my notebooks that said 2 TRUE, 2 CUTE, 2FLY. My cousin Chilly at the time who did a little bit of graffiti scratched all that shit out and was like yeo fuck all that shit! Just write TOOFLY period! Go out there and let people see what you can do. It was just one of those things that was part of being a rebel teenager. Tagging up in the neighborhood, listening to stretch and bobbito, smoking trees, and hanging out until curfew.  

CWK- As an artist why did you choose Graffiti?

I feel graffiti chose me. I had been drawing since I was little and all the stuff I did on my notebooks was just the feelings and raw emotions I was going through as a teen. One day I walked into Spanish class and I saw mad graffiti tags on the walls. I walked over to this huge draping table in the back of the class because I went to fashion high school and they had these bulky large tables in every class and so I saw this mean like 3-4 feet character marker drawing. I was really impressed, and mad inspired so I took my pilot marker and drew my girl character next to it. I did it without thinking just like an impulse...but it was the first time I had officially drew her on a surface other than paper so it felt really good to do it. The next day the writer named "SABE" started to communicate with me through like a Q & A on the table!  We wrote back to each other like instant message with a day delay, and eventually met once they ratted us out. That was the end of that incident and the beginning of graffiti for me.

CWK-Was there ever a point that you think the Graffiti Community really accepted you? Was is love from the Beginning?

I feel I've been accepted and received well by the graffiti community from the very beginning. When I started writing there wasn't anyone in my world really drawing character girls as a graffiti mark. Everyone has always rocked letters to rep their name and here was this little shorty rock tagging up "TOOFLY" with some girl character that was undeniable fly! Guys would be like "yo where can I get her number". I stepped out on the field clearly of who I was and what I wanted to achieve with my skills from day one. I repped my style on black books, and went street tagging in my neighborhood in corona. I had the talent but not necessarily the "balls" to go out and officially "bomb" with the real writers which set me back a lot. In the end though many of those male writers admired and respected what I could do. It took me a while to officially be in the public painting large walls with with top-notch writers but once I did there was no turning back from it, I felt welcomed. I haven't been able to stop ever since. I've been fortunate to experience more love than hate in this game in the last 5 years since I officially started painting wit the "big fellas", especially when there's so much ego going around. I think as long as you stay away from the drama, and show respect, everyone goes about their merry and just paints. 

CWK-How has is been to create in a mostly male dominated field?

I feel that for me its been smooth so far. There's been some small bumps along the way because guys do tend to have the upper hand when they first meet you. But the more you show them you can hold it down on your own, the more respect you get. Eventually everyone catches up that your there to represent for your art and not to deal with the bullshit.

CWK-What do you think of the world of "street culture"?the clothes?the art?

Man...The street culture world has definitely taken over. I see it everywhere! Young people today influence everything and anything. They are the true creators for what is next. They drive this culture. There's maaaaad independent lines of clothes these days. It's great to an extent. Only time will tell what brands will hold it down and become a culture stamp like Nike or Levis you know. It's gotta be strong, and true, and most of all I think "Classic" in its own way. On the visual tip, there's a lot of artists worldwide creating art that surpasses any art form done in history, and that's impressive. We are truly living it up, but also saturating it. That thing that makes it "special" is getting lost real fast. There's like a new artist and lifestyle brand daily. It's madness, people have so much access to the same shit and the same resources today that almost anyone can do it and be it. I was excited in the beginning when I saw how we can control and run our own world but then I started to see how we ended up turning into what we hated anyway. Especially when you see everyone doing the same shit. I'm sure others feel the same, its so obvious everywhere you go. It's a hard thing to control when everyone is trying to make it. That's why I think so many of us are going back to the basics. Classic shit never goes out of style! Especially if you can still manage to flip it! So yea that's where I’m at with all this street culture stuff...I think in time we'll figure it out. In the end the true innovators of style will hold it down.

CWK-What do you think of all that is being done today,The Collabos,the Labels ?

I think collaborations are cool. There's something dope that happens when you fuse different styles and artistic energies. You get something new every time. If it's done right it comes off really good and can branch out and grow making the brand, artist, or label that much more interesting. I find it refreshing SOMETIMES.

CWK-About women are you happy with where they stand in street culture?

Hell yea for sure. I think we have made some great moves in the last few years. We are all partly shaping what is going on in this present moment with street culture. I am motivated by it when I see females starting their own brands, and making bigger strives with their art. I love it! I have nothing but appreciation for all the ladies out there shaking ground. We have so much to contribute and offer the new generations around us. It’s our time!!!

CWK-What artists do you look up to in the graff world and outside?

Let me see...I have a love for graffiti 90's bombers because I grew up with their tags and stories so the connection is close and personal to me. I'm very nostalgic too so that shit gets me all the time. I admire various artists work like Jose Parla, Doze, Futura, Ewok, and hope to be as good and successful as them one day.

CWK-What new projects are you working on?

At the moment I'm working on a new series of paintings that I hope to complete this year for a solo shows next year. Their huge too, the biggest canvases I have ever done. That's really my main focus right now. Projects are starting to pop up like traveling to paint at events, photo shoot and video backdrops, gallery group shows, and some potential "commercial" projects baring my signature character. I'm being very pick these days though. I really want to do the right projects that fit my style. Plus I gotta find an agent now shit is getting crazy too much to do on my own. I need legal reps and the whole PR team. I'm ready to go all out with my work, and play the main field.

CWK-Now about gear....What brands do u Rock?

Clothing brands..hmmm...well I pretty simple these days. I need to be feel comfortable on a daily basis I’m not a little teenager anymore trying to rock boots, and look cute everyday for hours. Let me see, I found the Citizens of Humanity and Levi's jeans fit me pretty good so I got a lot of pairs of those. Jordan 4' and 5's, and I really like plain American Apparel shirts. I paint them shits and rock my own art on it every now and then. Oh and hoodies I love hoodies! No particular brand plain ones and maybe some simple graphic ones. I don't like rocking too many brands I don't feel comfortable fitting into some kind of fashion trend, it bugs me. Every now and then I get a dope bag and I dish out the loot for it. But that’s pretty much it. As long as I got my bag, kicks, and a fly jacket on everything else can be a classic fit. I rather dish out the loot on paint, and canvases or some wholesale shirts for my new line.

CWK-How's your Kicks game?

oh oh, this is where your gonna get me CHICKS WITH KICKS! (laughing ) I don't think I have much of a kicks game unfortunately. Booo hooo..My boyfriend works at Flight Club so he is really the one that gets me dope kicks every now and then. It’s not a big part of my life to collect and be up on the new shit that’s dropping or spending hours of my time hunting down some rare kicks. I grew up on the Etonics, LA Gears, Jordans, and the entire classic shit Nike and Reebok put out in the 90's. No matter what though I felt I always had good taste and choice in my kicks. We live in NY man we know what's up, and how to rock it.  All in all though I have no clue of years, names, and all of what is going on in kicks these days. If shit looks fly and I can't live without having that right color mixed pair I go out of my way to get it.  Otherwise I just wait for my man to bring me a fresh pair every now and then and lace me up. I see a lot of dope shit online, but I just don't have the extra time to devote, hunt, and start a little collection. Plus I troop it everywhere in this city; I fuck up my kicks a lot! I don't think I can even take care of my shit with all the painting I do. I think every single pair I own has a paint mark on it. I'm definitely not cut out to have a kicks game. Yeo OMG, and NY is dirty as hell too! I can't keep that shit clean here, even with that stupid MR Clean eraser shit. (laughing)...but yea props to the ladies that do!!! They can hold down that department.

CWK-Where Do you see Toofly in 5 years?

I think in 5 years I'll probably be doing bigger solo art, and design projects. I will be traveling some, and collaborating. I can't get enough of just doing all types of different projects its a lot of fun. I would hope that by then too I would have found some investors for my line so I can produce more of my ideas.... and maybe maybe have a kid. eeeeeek! I'm hella scared to bring a child in this world but after 10 years with my love I think we are definitely ready for that stage. Crap but this world is all fucked up, that I cant come to a final decision. I'll probably move out of this country if I do who knows...I'm just going to take it one day at a time and enjoy every minute of it until then:)

Thanks for the interview! Hope ya enjoy it.
Peace,
Toofly

Because it's a celeb hooked up with a sneaker deal, I feel obligated to at least metnion it, but really, even though I think Scarlett is an extremely cute girl whose rack is close to perfection, ehh, for me, she doesn't ring true as a sneaker chick. I'm not buying the sell.

Anyway, here's how she looked at the launch party, which I think took place at Nordstrom's.

^^Such a pretty face. I like the lipstick and nail polish. They look kinda cute together.

^^Scarlett's rocking her super straight legs with Reeboks. I'm loving the baby blue top. Who doesn't look good in that color?

^^These aren't bad. I'm sitting here thinking wether or not I would wear them and maybe I would if only cuz Reebok has fallen so far that it's obscure enough to be kinda cool again. (Plus I'm still feeling happy memories from the Reebok Freestyle party I went to last week.)

So now I'm thinking, who could Reebok have chosen that would have been better? It's a major corporation that needs to sell a ton of sneakers so it can't be someone too obscure or controversial....hmmmm, who, who, who? Gwen's taken by L.A.M.B. ....god man, there's no one, is there? No single big celeb, who's young, fresh and gettting a lot of camera time, who can rock kicks just as hard as she can fishnets and heels. How pathetic is that??

Lois/LSakany@gmail.com

There's good and bad in being a female into streetwear. On the one hand, you can feel special and unique, on the other hand, tracking down product not to mention related articles is like a non-stop wild goose chase. In the interest of promoting the category, every once in a while I'm gonna do a post like this--wherein I link to online stories that somehow reference women's streetwear trends. More or less, some of the shit I post here will also be random.

Like to shop on line? Check out the brand new CultistShop, which specializes in female streetwear brands, including ChickswithKicks faves Married to the Mob and Moma (via FemaleSneakerFiend)

Check out Susie Bubble of StyleRave's interesting take on "Nu-Rave."

Popgloss is one of my favorite sites for spotting cute product. Check out these pink, pointed Vicini sneakers and Puma's answer to Crocs --not sure if I like them very much actually!

If you wanna see Married to the Mobs' spring line (including those sickalicious satin jackets!), displayed all in one place, GrooveAffect has you covered.

A long time ago, before stylists turned every red carpet into cloneworld, celebs actually took occasional chances and there was no bigger queen of going out on a cliff than Cher. Check out this retrospective of her most creative outfits at FashionIq.com (via ShoeBlogs)

And on a random note, Dolce goes and gets its ad banned because, you know, there aren't ANY females out there who get off on the fantasy of having sex with more than one man at a time . Yeah sure.

Much love!

Lois

If you'd like to submit a link for this feature, send an email my way: lsakany@gmail.com

Okay, so it's March and it's freezing-ass cold outside. Feast your eyes on the latest offering from Laces, the ladies sneaker boutique, and see if they don't warm up the cockles (whatver those are!) of your sneakerista heart. And take note bargain hunters, there's gonna be a Daylight Savings Time sale at the store on March 11th--see, told ya spring was in the air. More light--woohoo!!

^^First up, a store interior. This image actually doesn't do the store justice. It's much cuter than it looks here.

Now for some new looks from Cr8tive Recreation:

^^Gallo: This is kinda fly, right? Cr8tive has definitely picked up its female design game.

^^Cesario Lo: For the aint-playing-at-AWL sneakerista.

^^Cesario Hi: This sneaker is just plain ill.

Laces is moving toward becoming a one-stop shop for female streetwear lovers. This summer, look for a line of tee-shirts and if you're looking for nail polish that'll make your nails shine:

^^Some of that exclusive Mama nail polish that Samia blogged about here last week.

And yup, for those of you who want to swag up your walls...check out the limited edition (only 50 each) TooFly screen prints:

^^Girl Mark: $150

^^Punkish: $150.

^^Boom Box: $150. Part of me didn't want to post this up here cuz I want it THAT BAD. Remember this moment, people and don't EVER say I never gave you undeserving bitches nothin'. I mean that.

Stayed tuned for an interview with Louis Colon III, the owner of Laces. I profiled Laces not long after it opened for Footwear News magazine and it was pretty much ALL business. As one of Brooklyn's son's, I'm sure that Louis is no snitch, but I'm going to put my all my reporterly wiles into full effect to see if I can get him to give a slightly juicier interview. You know, like, beneath all the surface smiles, how do New York sneaker boutique owners REALLY feel about each other. Because we know it aint all love--not by a longshot!

Smooches!

Lois: LSakany@Gmail.com