Duck & Cover :: Indie rock music writing from Arcade Fire to the Zygotic Minci

I sing of Clae shoes, and what I shall assume you shall assume I like shoes. This not a secret. But I'm not the kind of sneaker freaker who will buy a new pair of Air Force Ones just because they're a limited edition. For that matter, I would never buy a pair of Air Force Ones, period. For me, the shoes need to be conversation starters; they need to be manifests of mood. It's not good enough for a pair of shoes to define a look. They must be a definition unto themselves, regardless if they are a celebration of color and fabric like D.A.T.Es , or pieces of subtle beauty like Zeha Berlins . The summer 2008 range by Clae Shoes fits this motif. And I mean the entire range. Clae began in 2001 as a sort of anarchic reaction to both athletic footwear and leisure footwear when they released their "athleisurewear" shoe hybrid. However, they haven't really released anything since 2005. I'm not sure if the three years was spent researching and designing, or if they ...

I have been told that I have a shoe fetish, but I continue to refute this. I have, simply, a healthy appreciation for footwear. That said, when I saw the new range of boots from D.A.T.E, I almost allowed myself to succumb to the status of fetishist. Put simply, these shoes are hot. The initials stand for the first names of those involved in creating the shoe company. Four individuals from differing backgrounds (business admin, fashion design, graphic design, etc.) formed D.A.T.E in Britain, but quickly established that the sneakers needed to be made elsewhere. Yet don't get your backs up about another shoe company that outsources production to sweatshop-infested countries like Vietnam (Nike), Indonesia (Adidas), and China (everyone else). D.A.T.E shoes are made in Italy, where most good shoes are made (unless they're made in Spain). Italian-made shoes carry a quality standard that should cover both design and build. In fact, the phrase "Made in Italy" is almost a bran...