Following up on our looks from the forthcoming Red Wing Heritage collection for Autumn/Winter 2012, we bring you this video walk through that showcases many of the looks including the forthcoming collaborative boot with Nigel Cabourn. As seen at Bread & Butter Berlin this past January 2012.

Looking an awful lot like Converse’s beloved Jack Purcell, this collaboration between PF Flyers and J. Crew isn’t the freshest blast of air, but it’s still exciting because a big rubber toe cap and a double-walled outsole are pretty much always the right temperature. Formulated using an archival style sold exclusively in Japan, these Flyers, called The All Court, hope to fly off warehouse shelves starting February 15.

More looks in our gallery…

Handcrafted, Big Stitch, USA Man-Boot scene, say hello to your handsome Eastland brethren here. This takes a little of the moccasin, a little of the Chukka, a little of the desert boot and manages to avoid looking like a mash-up disaster. Chestnut leather, two eyelets, handcrafted, 360 double welt brown leather midsole and a natural crepe rubber sole. These are handcrafted in Maine.

Blackbird explain “These loafers are bench made using genuine true moccasin construction, meaning the leather from the upper fully wraps under the wearer’s foot. This is the traditional method of making handsewns and is a sign of quality” Find them at the store.

Click for images

Together at last! Italian tire-maker Pirelli and snowboard juggernaut Burton! Alright, that was some hyperbole. We haven’t really been waiting for this, but it isn’t that big of a stretch. After all, along with making clothes and bonerific calendars, Pirelli makes shoes—snowboard boots are a natural enough extension of that. Plus, Pirelli tires go on cars. Cars go fast and so do snowboards, when used properly.

Enough jabbering: The collaboration in question brings us the 2013 Ion Boots and an LE snowboard and binding. The boot, which will be available next fall at authorized Burton dealers worldwide, is the locus and sports the superior traction afforded by a Pirelli outsole. The Ion is a classic boot and should only stand to benefit from the exclusive rubber compound Pirelli formulated for it. The snowboard and bindings will only be available at the Pirelli Corso Venezia in Milan. Did we mention we like the blackness?

More looks in our gallery…

Bear with us on this one. We know that for many of you, slapping a shiny gold tone metal plate onto a perfectly good pair of Marc Jacobs oxford shoes is the kind of shoe sacrilege that makes you want to throw your George Cleverleys at the screen. In many ways it is wrong. The strongest case being that yes, these are indeed a perfectly good pair of oxfords. In fact, they are a great pair, sitting on the right side of slim and substantial whilst keeping detail (heel aside) to a minimum.

The fact is though, sometimes you feel like putting snobbery aside. We stare at endless pairs of shoes, good, bad and ugly, in order to bring you the latest. Whilst our hearts skip a little when we see those bespoke classics, in all their rigid, conformist beauty – we can’t help but fall for the sheer defiance and bloody mindedness of this slightly silly shoe.

Click for images.

The boot Gods must have been listening. Delivering a pair of Navy Russell Moccasin Bird Shooters unto us is the universes way of telling us that everything is going to be ok and that we are being watched over by kindly footwear spirit animals. So distracting are these shoes that writing this is becoming difficult, they’re up there aren’t they? Just leering at us.

Being a product of Russell Moccasin’s fair hand expect these to not only be incredibly attractive but look after your feet with their comfort and durability credentials (they have been in business since 1898 after all). This colourway has us a little hysterical, in a mid-90s front row at a Jodeci concert kind of way.  Silver and Gold has them.

Just in from the folks at Cole Haan a few days from launch date… The new Cole Haan Lunargrand Wingtip shoes are an interesting vitally important turn for the Cole Haan brand in 2012. The shoe line has been patiently waiting for a bit of a reboot for some time. Clearly the Lunargrand is the start of that move and much of it comes from a certain freedom being afforded to the brand from their parent company, Nike, in borrowing technology on a level not often seen on the exterior of the shoes themselves. The Lunargradn is different.

If Cole Haan had simply released this series of wingtips with the Nike Air tech on the inside, rather than the Lunar sole, we would not have the visual queues that allow for the Lunargrand to be much more than another wingtip on the market.

It is rare for a classic upper to work with a non-traditional sole design, but the Lunargrand pulls it off well. More importantly, it respects the original silhouette of the wingtip while moving the the shoe form forward in a manner that is certain to offer an alternative to the original constructions found in boutiques today. Wear test aside, the look is proper. The fusion/welt is clean (we’re sure they went to some serious rounds of samples to get it right). Even Gary Warnett is a bit intrigued by it all.

Dropping February 9 at the Cole Haan SOHO store.

Photography: Selectism.com

More looks in our gallery…

Brogue boots have been practically growing on trees the past few months. This is less a complaint than an observation, and this latest ornamental oddity comes from a tête-a-tête between debonair designer Mark McNairy and Atlanta boutique, Standard.

And an odd trio it is, though in the stop-and-take-a-loving-longer-look way. Two of them walk on leather soles—one of them tan grain leather with red wool flannel and the other brown grain with hunter green—and the third comes in black grain with navy cloth and moves under you on a durable pillow of white Vibram Cristy.

This latter option might be our favorite, thanks to the contrast between the dark leather and the gleaming sole and the more understated upper of black and dark blue. The red and green offerings are tight, no doubt, but could verge on being costume-y. Still, big ups to McNairy and Standard for making something that’s become commonplace look not so common at all.

More looks in our gallery…

Amazing what a difference a pair of pinking shears makes. This collab between Italian shoemaker Buttero and British online “sneaker boutique” Offspring keeps it simple, making a few simple tweaks to their classic-looking Tanino sneaker. Most noticeable is that zig-zagged edging around the toe-cap and heel collar. The round leather laces are another nice touch, as is the leather footbed, making for an incredibly austere but also playful pair of shoes. These puppies will be available in two colorways—petrol blue and deep maroon—through Offspring’s site and their London retail outlet come spring.

More looks in our gallery…

I opened up the Macbook Air after a couple of weeks to find a stash of more first looks from the European tradeshows last month. I’ll do my best to pin them up today. It would make me sad to not share.

Viberg Boot fanatics: enjoy these looks from the Viberg collection for Autumn/Winter 2012. Note a few new models as well as a range of outerwear that falls into that heritage/workwear/man range. Well made of course and attire-proper if you appreciate this sort of thing. We love the boots.

Photography: Selectism.com

More looks in our gallery…