Of all the sneaker brands in the world I would personally only consider wearing sneakers from a handful of them. This is mainly due to the fact that they manufactured in the far east and I'm just not too impressed with the overall quality of them. Of course they aren't meant to last as long as a pair of well made, Goodyear welted leather shoes, but I often feel that something is missing.
And sure I do appreciate the innovation that a company like Nike continuously keeps on showing, but I prefer to appreciate it from afar, as it doesn't suit my aesthetics.
A company that manufactures - some - of their sneakers in both the UK and the US is of course New Balance and they're one of the only company, whose sneakers I would consider wearing.
At the moment I'm especially into the 991, which is somewhat innovative and pretty well made. These new colourways are a nice addition to the grey standard edition.
Sneakers! Never thought I'd see that on here. I'm a big fan of New Balance and I have a pair of the 1300's that are also made in the old Skowhegan (love that name) factory. I'm not the biggest fan of the 991 aestethic - the white sole seems too chunky for me, although I do like the new colorways.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to Berlin in a few weeks and looking to pay a few shops a visit. On the top of my head I'm thinking Burg & Schild, Truffelschwein, 14 oz, DC4, Manufactum and the Red Wing Store. Any other recommendations?
Best,
Lars
Hi Lars, thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the sole being slightly chunky, but I think the profile is still rather slim, so they would go well with a lot of things. And they are comfortable as hell. But the 1300s are also very good. The Made in England 420s that they released this spring had a great profile and I liked the vintage feeling that they had, but they were very weird in terms of sizing.
In terms of Berlin there are some good vintage shops, but I think I would just spend my time in Manufactum. Manufactum is probably the coolest and most inspiring thing ever. I'm addicted to their catalogs. The rest of the stores that you mentioned are also very good. So you should be set.
//Simon
Manufactum is absolutely amazing and the catalogue is almost worth the trip itself. It's such a shame there aren't anything like Manufactum in Denmark.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. But there are some specialized stores in Denmark, like Tibberup Høkeren for instance. However they're only specialized in a narrow product group and not numerous product groups like Manu.
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