So where were we? Oh yeah, 6 months in and so many events, releases and stores have opened. Then things got even better.
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!