JULY:

Heat Check! Although the looks weren’t at the top of anyone’s list, the adidas TS Heat Check is one comfortable shoe for ballin’. Adidas went hard with this, signing up and comers in the college game to wear the shoe. With the 3stripes changing color when your game heats up, it was a great gimmick to go along with the great technology.

Five Fingers. Not your conventional shoe, Vibram Five Fingers splashed onto the scene. Although this isn’t really a sneakerhead’s shoe of choice,  the shoe works as an alternative, especially for performance. Weird, yes. But does it work? Yes.

Vans Vans Vans. Vans has been pretty aggressive in 2010. From launching their OTW, California, Vault lines along with opening Concept Stores at key malls (Marquee, Galleria, and Glorietta), Vans was definitely off the wall. They have more in store for all of us in 2011. Watch out now!

Titan. Along with all the new stores that opened in 2010, Titan I believe made a major impact in the shoe game. Barbershop + Hoop store in one, Titan had their game on lock since day one. With special releases (Big Stage, MVP 7s, 5 Rings, Js, South Beach, Halloween Heat Checks and Superman Beasts to name a few) since they started, Titan’s been the top of mind store for hoop afficionados from all over. There’s more in store for us in 2011. Even we’re bringing in some quality TV to the store. You’d want to make Titan your second home this coming year.

AUGUST:

FINALLY. After waiting for months on end, I finally got hold of my personal grail. I don’t care if they’re retros. I don’t care if they pale in comparison to the 08s. The Air Max 90 Infrared’s my personal favorite. After asking a couple of friends to pick them up for me, personally deliver it from the US, and going through all the trouble, I finally got ‘em. Happiness indeed. Later in the year Nike also released the Laser Blue and Pink AM90s to complete the OG line. Once again, 2010 gets a point for making things happen.

Who Knows. If you’ve checked out any of the sites posted on this poster, you must’ve heard the song already. Our boys Marc and ANE rocked a good one this past 2010. Local sneaker anthem? Most def. Who Knows got the whole (sneaker) world groovin’ to the beat.

APL. Athletic Propulsion Labs first came to be sometime March but was available in store over at Titan. The shoe was supposed to make you jump higher with the load n’ launch technology. With the hefty price tag, not only should it make you jump higher, it should also wake you up and bring you coffee when you need it. A few months later the NBA banned the use of the shoe in the A. Best endorsement ever? No doubt.

OCTOBER

The Return of Creative Recreation. The brand’s back and swingin’. Creative Rec‘s notoriety ended sometime 08 and resurfaced this year with a new group. Young, upbeat and definitely clicking, expect more from the group for 2011.

LeBron 8- Transformation is Unstoppable. With LeBron creating the most noise during the offseason, everyone was looking forward to LeBron’s first shoe with the new team. Enter  the LeBron 8. Since dropping in October, Nike released the V2 which officially dropped last Christmas.

OCTOBER:

More New Brands. Let’s admit it. We got spoiled in 2010. With new brands like United Kranes (above) and Keep (below) reaching our shores, we now have a quality selection. No need to get nasty ass kicks.

Fast Don’t Lie. Even though Nike’s been running the PE (player exclusive) game, adidas banked on their two major superstars to bring in the premium money. With the AdiZero Rose, adidas released an ultralight hoop shoe. Honestly, fast don’t lie.

Pacquiao-Margarito. Manny had another fight in 2010 and faced Antonio Margarito last November. With this fight, Nike once again had a whole MP collection lined up. From a new signature shoe (2 Trainer 1.2s), hoodies, and tees, Nike put out merchandise that really evoked Manny. I was fortunate enough to sit in on a telecon with the Nike Design team days prior to the launch of the line.

NOVEMBER

New Balance In The Building. New Balance also made an impact on both the performance and lifestyle lines. With the Night Runners, the 1226, 574 collabs, 1500s, 150s (tricolor) and collabs that never made here (577 LE Vault above), New Balance just made the game better.

Special Releases. From Js to LeBron’s South Beach 8s, the local scene had their fair share of camp outs and line ups for special release. Though some pairs also came out on regular stores the following day, attending sneaker event just makes it all better. You get to meet other heads, you get to see mad heat on their feet and people just get it. Definitely be on the look out for special sneaker events in the coming year. There will be more.

DECEMBER

December was one crazy month. But let me just enumerate things that made a mark for the last month of the year:

1- TS Beast Release/Fortress of Solitude (500 pairs worldwide, 40 pairs in the Philippines)

2- RONAC Art Center Officially Open

3- Vans Flagship Store Opening

4- Nike Special Releases (AW77 Hoodie, Jordan XIIIs, Player Exclusives, Cool Greys, Stoplight Pack

5- weLegendary’s One Day Sale

6- Niketalk Summit- Free Kicks, Awesome people. What more can you ask for?

7- Reebok Zig Slash- Do The John Wall!

8- adidas Neo official launch

9- Pointer/Huf now available

10- CoG store opening

Yes, those are just some of the things that happened in December. Clearly, a lot has happened over the year. For the site, traffic blew up. From 40,000 hits the whole of 2009, Sole Movement hit 482,044 hits for the whole of 2010. Affiliations with sneaker brands, stores, and the scene (Ronac, the Collective, etc) made the year a memorable one. What to look forward to 2011? You’ll just have to check the site out more for the local sneaker/street culture scene. Happy New Year and Cheers!

I’m sure if you step out this weekend, you’ll see this Tee along with the 4 others around town. And by next weekend, the whole Philippines will be filled with these Red, White, and Blue Tees. Nike Philippines suits up Pacquiao fans with the introduction of new Manny Pacquiao inspired Tees – Nike Pride, Pac-Man Knows, and Fight Night tees and the release of the MP Trainer SC 2010 Low. The new Nike tees are out today while the MP Trainer SC 2010 Low is scheduled to drop on March 10 in select Nike stores nationwide. The effort is a testament of Nike’s continued support for the pound-for-pound king.

On March 13, 2010 (Mar 14 Manila time0), Manny will step into the boxing ring to take on Joshua Clottey and this time, he won’t be the contender as his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title is on the line. All eyes will be on Manny Pacquiao again as he takes on another historic battle and Nike Philippines continues its commitment as it rallies the entire nation to support this amazing athlete.

“Nike is proud of all of Manny Pacquiao’s accomplishments,” said Mae Dichupa, Nike Philippines Country Marketing Manager.  “He serves as an inspiration to athletes around the globe and especially to the youth of the Philippines. His dedication to training, which is how he builds his physical and mental strength, plays a key factor in his success.”

Manny Pacquiao fans can express their support for the boxer with the release of three new Tees: Pride Tee, Pac Man Knows Tee and Fight Night Tee (Poster Tee). All Tees will retail for Php 1,195.

The Nike Pride Tee banners the special Manny Pacquiao graphic introduced in his last bout against Miguel Cotto. The graphic depicts icons, symbols and defining moments that have been significant to Manny’s rise as the world champion. This Tee was actually designed by my friend, AJ Dimarucot. AJ’s created a lot of designs that I’m sure you’ve seen before (he actually designed the crest for Nike’s Team Pilipinas uniforms).

Inspired by the “Knows” campaign that was originally created back in 1986, the Nike Pac Man Knows Tee continues to communicate authentic training experience and maximizes the energy of sport.

Paying tribute to the classic design of the traditional fight-night boxing poster, Nike’s Fight Night Tee showcases different icons relevant to Manny’s boxing career, chronicling his journey to success.

Alright, guys. It’s Manny Fever once again. I’ll have more on the Air Trainer SC 2010′s sometime this weekend (if I get a hold of a pair). But yes, the shoe will come out next week. It will also retail for Php 5,295. So this weekend, make sure to cop your new Pac Man Tees for next weekend’s big event.

Fight Night (Blue)

Fight Night (Red)

Pac-Man Knows (White)

Pac-Man Knows (Blue)

Hey y’all. I’m at the AdCongress so I’ll go direct to the point on this one. Camp out? You’ve got 3 venues to choose from.

Nike Philippines announces today the launch of a limited quantity of the Limited Edition MP Nike Trainer 1 Low on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 12:00nn in Nike Park The Fort, Glorietta 4 and Trinoma. The shoe comes in a simple colorway of white, red, and blue that echoes the colors of the Philippine flag. Its upper comes in blue and white, with blue shoelaces and toe box. An added detail and bonus is a tiny graphic inclusion of Lil Pacman on the tongue top.

Keeping Nike’s footwear mission of “make better athletes” in mind the Nike Trainer 1 Low is designed for versatility, allowing users to run, lift, and play with ease and comfort. It is equipped with technologies like the Flywire upper for strength and light-weightness, the Nike Diamond Flex outsole for multi-directional traction, and Max Air for superior cushioning.

“As part of Nike’s commitment to Manny, we designed the Nike Trainer 1 Low with an original and authentic color palette that links back to the Philippines – something that Manny is truly passionate about” says Mae Dichupa, Country Marketing Manager, Nike Philippines.

The Nike Trainer 1 Low will retail at P5995.

After Pacman annihilated Cotto and gave all the Filipinos around the world something to be happy about, I decided to drop by the Fort to get a massage at the Spa. But before heading there, I decided to stop by Nike BHS to see if they were sold out of the MP shirts. I was right. The last 4 pieces were bought right around 3pm and I was surprised to see some heads parked right there, waiting for some surprise drop to happen.

Well, there weren’t any up until the van stopped by the store to drop off the auction items.Along with the auction items was the shoe you see here. Yes, another colorway for the Trainer 1 PE. Pacquiao wore these during the weigh in (which he passed on to the crowd when he took them off) and sometime before the fight. These are cut lower than the first two releases of the Trainer 1, which is to my personal liking. Now, these aren’t on sale yet. I really don’t know when, but it’s definitely soon. As seen here beside the Lights Out Trainer 1s, the Trainer 1 Low’s colors are inspired by the Philippines’ colors. Flywire’s also on this shoe along with laser etching by the side and the heel area.

Camp out? Again? Only MP can bring ‘em out. More on these til we get word from the source.

Thanks to monase for the photos

No, it’s not Nike’s follow up to the Pacman Knows Tee. I’m sure some of you might’ve seen this shirt during the Lights Out drop and found it cool. I did. Nice colors, looked like the Pacman Tee, and nicely done. If you didn’t catch it then, they resurfaced during First Dibs. By then, you would’ve seen the shirt up close. High-quality cotton, nice stitching, nice printing. I was too busy (and broke) during the event that I wasn’t able to cop it then.

A few weeks later, the site surfaced. I logged on to dionisiaknows.com and ordered the shirt online. After purchasing the Tee online, a day later I got it. With the immense popularity of Manny and the Pacquiao brood, it’s only fitting to show some love to Aling (or is she now called Madam) Dionisia.

The Tee is produced by South East Asia’s newest street fashion brand PROGRESS, a producer of high-quality apparel. It features a textured print in grey and a violet textile print that reads the phrase “ DIONISIA KNOWS” respectively on the chest. Also an exclusive PROGRESS insignia is strategically placed on the left sleeve and the bottom of the chest print of a super soft 100% cotton T-shirt that is standard with every shirt they set to release. Each shirt is packaged in a vacuum-sealed pack, ensuring the shirts freshness, whether you rock them today or in a few months.

Pretty cool, right? Let’s rock PROGRESS and local street wear! To purchase the Tee, log on to www.dionisiaknows.com

With the next big MP fight happening in 8 days, I’m sure everyone’s getting their Manny on. From the Jimmy Kimmel guesting, to the Time Magazine Cover, to the countless posters/streamers/tv ads for the fight, you’d be living under a rock to not even notice the hoopla around the Pacman.

With that being said, our friends at Nike’s got something cooked for us. Again. Nike’s inviting 150 lucky people to a special screening of Manny’s match on November 15. To be on the list, all you have to do is to sum up in 7 words Manny Pacquiao’s story as he competes for a record-breaking 7th world title in 7 different weight classes.

Top entries get passes to the event at Whitespace, Pasong Tamo extension on the 15th. Best entry will win a pair of the Nike MP Trainer 1.

On top of this exciting promotion, Nike has released two special edition Tees for this fight. The Nike MP Team Pacquiao Eagle Tee and the Nike MP Tee, celebrating Manny’s quest for his 7th world title. Both shirts bear the Nike Pacquiao identity crest, an iconic symbol which has come to be associated with Manny’s many victories over the past few years. This special logo also reflects Nike’s unwavering commitment towards supporting one of, if not the greatest, boxer of all time.

“We are very proud to support Manny Pacquiao in all his battles and feats. As he once again steps into the ring for what could be a historic first, Nike and the entire Philippines will be supporting him,” said Mae Dichupa , Nike Philippine Country Marketing Manager.  “Manny embodies the good sportsmanship and athleticism that Nike athletes possess. We are committed to being a part of his battle from his rigid training to the actual fight in the ring. “

The Nike MP Team Pacquiao Eagle Tee comes in bold red, showcasing a gold foil outline of the Philippine Eagle head in the center front, with a screen print of an outlined eagle wing in the background. The back carries the Team Pacquiao statement in bold letters , with the Nike MP logo below it.

The Nike MP Tee comes in white and blue, with the iconic logo on the front, along with the MP logo in red and blue with the sun on the lower right, reminiscent of the Philippine flag. The back bears Nike’s Just Do It with the MP crest below it. A special version of the tee differs in the writing on the reverse side. Instead of Just Do It, the slogan “Lamang Gawin Ito”. This Tee will be sold exclusively to the local market (though I was at the Fort and did not see this shirt on sale).

The Special Edition MP Tees are available at select Nike stores nationwide, including Nike Park The Fort (BHS), Trinoma, and Glorietta 4 for 1,095 PHP. Get yours and get with the MP Fever!

photos of the shirts to follow. current photos courtesy of nike.com.ph

the ad says it all. Let’s all check it out 9am on the 8th. Let’s go Pacman!