SICKA THAN AVERAGE

DC Shoes x Skullcandy Sneaker Collaboration -- Keep Your Ears To The Ground

 

A favorite among sneaker aficionados and die-hard skateboarders alike, DC Shoes has been expanding its range of lifestyle-driven designs without sacrificing the comfort provided by its foam-padded tongue and collar and the stability yielded by its pill pattern sole. Over the last four years, then, DC has joined forces with such cult brands as SSUR, JB Classics, and Atmos and pop culture influencers like tattoo artist Darren Brass, photographer Mike Blabac and musician Mike Shinoda. Next month, DC Shoes will unveil a new co-branded footwear collection with headphone and earbud company Skullcandy. 

The DC Shoes x Skullcandy collection consists of two sneaker designs: the Spartan Hi ($100), a black-on-black nubuck suede and leather hi-top sneaker with a foam-padded collar, black laces, gold contrast stitching, the DC and Skullcandy logos stamped in gold along the heel counter, and gold-trimmed glossy black enamel logo plates with the interlocking DC letters featured on the uppers; and the Stack ($95), a low-top style in back leather with black suede along the side panels, eyestay, an heel counter (which features the DC and Skullcandy logos in white), perforated quarters with a mesh-like quality, and silver-toned strips with tonal stitching running diagonally across the quarters and up to the top sections of the eyestays. 

Those of you who love the audio quality of Skullcandy's headphones will love this detail: with every sneaker, you'll automatically receive a free pair of Skullcandy earbuds. Sweet!

Check out close-up images after the jump and make sure to keep a look out for the collection, which will hit DCShoes.com in November.

Picture This: Mike Blabac's Photo Book and DC Shoes "Blabac Azure" Sneaker

Skate photographer Mike Blabac recently released his first book, Blabac Photo: The Art of Skateboarding, through powerHouse Books. The cloth-bound, 224-paged hardcover book practically replicates Blabac's extensive portfolio, featuring everything from amateur snapshots to dynamic photos of professional skateboarders performing gravity-defying tricks. To promote the book's launch, Blabac has been touring the globe, holding signings in New York, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Tokyo, and Melbourne (among other cities).

To coincide with the book's release, leading skate shoe company DC Shoes unveiled its Blabac Azure mid sneaker, the first DC Shoes sneaker to be guest designed by someone other than a pro skater. Of course, we all know DC Shoes has its Double Label series, through which they collaborate with different clothing companies and visual artists, but the Blabac Azure is part of DC's signature collection (rather than the Double Label series or LIFE collections). The limited-edition sneaker features perforated white leather, with brown suede trim, a brown tongue, and orange details (such as Blabac's logo on the tongue, the lining along the ankle, the loop for the velcro strap across the ankle, and the sole itself). Each sneaker box will include a 5" x 7" print of a photo featured in the book, making it feel like so much more of a keepsake.

For more information, visit DC Shoes.com/Blabac.

DC Shoes x UNKL Double Label Graph and SUG Pack = Glowing Review

My toy collection is pretty bananas— and I'm not talking about "goody drawer" toys, so get your minds out the gutter. Also, I'm not referring to Legos, train sets, or any other toy you'd find at a kid's 5-year-old birthday party. Nope, I'm talking about collectible mini figures — whether they're Bearbricks, Kubricks, Dunnys or Peecols — and the larger, astoundingly intricate toys by Michael Lau, Frank Kozik, Jason Siu, James Jarvis, Eric So, BrothersFree, Three Zero, and all the other genius designers out there. Yup, I'm so crazy with my toy collection that I've had to teach my toddler son about "his" toys versus "my" toys — which, I might add, is a really difficult concept for a kid to grasp... You can almost read their little minds going, 'Why would a grown-up need toys? Aren't those, by definition, for children?' Hey, I guess we're all kids in one way or another...

Anyway, I was clearly bouncing up and down in excitement faster than a pinball machine when I caught a glimpse of this limited-edition UNKL glow-in-the-dark toy, which comes with a matching DC Graph shoe. My friends at DC Shoes tell me that, when they decided to relaunch their classic Graph sneaker, SUG wanted to be involved (note: SUG is not a real person, folks... He's a heroic UNKL character with a very unique and elaborate story — the highlights include that he was born in 1955, that he weighed 40 lbs AT BIRTH, and that he's now a 7'7" skater in Iceland whose main mission is to protect humanity). Anyway, back to our mythical story. So SUG (the character on whom the toy is based) wanted to be down, hollered at his peeps at UNKL, and they suggested doing a limited-edition SUG glow-in-the-dark figure and sneaker combination pack with DC Shoes. And just like that, the DC Shoes x UNKL Double Label Graph and Sug packs were born.

Me? If there's something I like as much as toys, it's gotta be kicks so you can imagine just how stoked I am about this release.

Only 450 packs are available, each retailing for $260. The launch party goes down on January 23rd from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 5&A Dime (located at 701 8th Avenue in San Diego, CA) during the AGENDA Show festivities.

If you can't make it to San Diego this year, find yourself a proxy who will cop these for you 'cause they're gonna sell faster than the New York Times after election day.

DC Shoes x UNKL Double Label Graph and SUG Pack, $260 each. For more info, visit
5AndDime.com