I might catch some flack for this but anytime I see lo-top canvas shoes with a simple silhouette, I immediately think of Chucks. They may not be the first, but the are definitely the most recognizable; the standard that others follow. When I saw the Sumfun model that PF Flyers was bringing back from 1947, I was incredibly surprised. Here was a shoe with incredibly clean lines and crisp edges and it does all this while managing to not look like a Converse copy. Recrafted by PF Japan, the reintroduction of this tennis shoe classic from the archives is a welcomed addition to my wardrobe.

Via Hypebeast

On May 1st, Selfridges, the high-end UK department store, celebrates its 100th birthday in style. Over the last century, Selfridges has remained on the edge of fashion and culture by collaborating with luminaries like John and Yoko, Salvador Dali and Vivienne Westwood. In October of last year, they opened a designer toy lounge in conjunction with Kidrobot.

For their 100th birthday, Selfridges commissioned exclusive apparel, accessories and products in signature Pantone 109 yellow. The collection, which will be sold in the store throughout May, features pieces by Ralph Lauren, Levi's, Converse, Simon Carter, Fender and Moleskine. In addition, the Big Yellow Festival (including music, fashion, cabaret and gay bingo) kicks off May 1st. If you’re in the old city, be sure to stop by!

London and Paris-dwelling designer Coco Pit has introduced a lovely set of silk accessories in her debut collection, the imaginative “Forget Me Not.” Colorful turbans and scarves feature antlered-animal themes and geometric patterns. The wares can be purchased online and through Barneys, a retailer that’s not unknown to the fashion illustrator, whose work has been featured in Nylon, ELLE, and Bon. As a consultant, Coco also writes about design in her work for the marketing and technology firm getConfused.

Our friends at Beautiful Decay just released their Spring 09 line of t-shirts, some shown above. Tons of great stuff and plenty of awesome weather here in NYC to wear them (damn, it’s hot here!). The new season features iconic graphics from artists like Jesse Auersalo, and the psychedelic visions of Oliver Hibert. We dig, get ehm while it’s hot!

Coming from any great sneaker city, one would never expect to find something quite as unique as Maz in the tiny burg of Paraty, about four hours from Rio de Janeiro. Tucked away on one of the only paved streets in a town of cobbled lanes lies the tiny boutique offering various cuts of Maz’s soft top, rubber sole kicks in a hundred different color combinations. The basic laced design falls in line with the soccer trainer tradition, but ride like a pair of your most comfortable house slippers. Be sure to stop through if you happen to be trekking through Brazil, or check them out online.

Brandon Chang, Co-founder of Greedy Genius dropped us a note with a preview of his latest creation– dubbed the Ocean Runner shown here. Nods to nautical inspiration, Brandon says it’s inspired through our travels. A mix of classic American, Asian and European style infused with independent street culture taste. Pretty classy.

More pictures after the jump…

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In 2007, a tiny Brazilian sneakers blog started tapping into the kicks obsessions of its citizens, but as we are with most things, we were on their potential from the get-go. Two years later, it’s built up a veritable reader base, who head directly to it to hear first word on the country’s newest arrivals and to read the daily musings from some movers and skaters in the industry. Nike Brazil, one of its most ardent fans, has given it a flattering gift for all that dedication on its anniversary: to let it design its own Air Max 1 called the Lanceiro, making it the first model of this type to be designed by Brazilians. Pulling colorful cultural inspiration from the blog’s home state of Pernambuco, especially mangue beat, the state’s musical invention in the ’90s that mixes traditional maracatu and ciranda sounds with hip-hop and rock music, the Lanceiro is a real eye-catcher. Designer Fabricio Machado looked to the vibrant beads on the costumes of Pernambuco’s rural spearmen Caboclo da Lanca for the dots on the upper of the shoes and added in a speckled midsole to imitate mud from the state’s famous swamps. To switch things up a bit, the laces and inside soles are swappable for a version with the beadwork pattern. The site has full information in English on the development of the shoe including some amazing photos of Caboclo da Lanca, and promises to have information on where to buy the Lanceiro shortly. An inspiration picture after the jump.

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Formula Werks teamed up with Loyal Locals for a new series of Build Your Own city-themed clothes. Whether you’re representing Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, the Bay Area or beyond, you can wear your home teams on a fully customizable T-shirt. You choose from a spectrum of sizes, fits, shirt colors and text colors. Formula Werks does the rest. The artist-driven streetwear company was founded in 2003 and draws from skateboarding, tattooing, low-brow art, design and graffiti cultures, with a healthy dose of humor. They make soft shirts, cut right with in-your-face sloganeering. Don’t follow sports? They’ve also got your shoe fetish and toy fetish covered.

Donning that snazzy tux doesn’t mean your bow tie comes equipped with a camera and your cummerbund has tiny explosives. Secret Message Cufflinks indulges your spy fantasies. These stainless steel accessories with stud backings from Red Envelope, open up to reveal mini scrolls of paper — some with the wise sayings from the likes of Lao-Tzu and Gandhi, and others written by you. So whether your looking for sage advice or just carrying important government codes, your secret is safe up your sleeve.

Via Uncrate

Going through my ridiculously large memory box this past weekend, I came across a few particularly classic ’80s items amidst old report cards and photos: colored rubber bracelets, a two-sided Swatch phone and a photo of me wearing clear jelly shoes that took begging and promises of finishing my homework to get. It looks like I’m not the only one recently waxing nostalgia. With the Cons History Hunt, Converse Brazil is asking the public to send in videotape footage, homemade DVD vids, photos—whatever recorded memory you have—of their shoes in a serious effort to build up their archives.The best photo gets a rare, blindingly white sample model of the Cons CTS shoe in size 40—I’ll leave it to you sneaker freaks to decode what this size is in American speak—which comes in a sleek wood shoebox. Unfortunately the contest is only open to Brazilians, so if you want these shoes that bad and think you have the winning photo, I suggest you make a Brazilian amigo real fast and do some negotiating.

The first time I heard of Kendo was when I was actively involved (read: snatching up) Adidas’s legendary AZX collection. For those who don’t know, Kendo is a specialty sneaker store that caters specifically to female clientele. They are located in Los Angeles, and in the past few years have really captured the attention of companies looking to level the field in a game dominated by men. In their latest Double Label collaboration, DC teamed up with Kendo to produce The Spruce Kendo. The hightops sport a unique colorway thanks to the use of reptile skins and animal print. Rounding out the sneaker is the use of gold, tan, and copper colors that compliment each other and gives it a strong Asian vibe. The shoes dropped April 1 and can be purchased at DC retail locations in LA and Soho as well as online direct from Kendo LA and DC Shoes.

Dion Briggs does not want you to run through his site willy-nilly, looking through hundreds of possible T-shirt designs to fit your frame. Instead, he presents each new design (seven in all) on its own website, so you can ooh and ahh without distraction. He first got attention with the iSteamPhone shirt that featured a DaVinci-like drawing of a dissected iPhone by Kevin Tong.

He’s now following this up with four new designs that include another DaVinci/Tong piece. This time it’s Super Mario curled up in the fetal position within a plant, surrounded by sketches of stars and piranha plants. There’s also a dissected Atari 2600 for those gamers for whom the Nintendo isn’t quite retro enough, dismembered Star Wars action figures sketched by Cloxboy, and Gary Gao’s image of the ghosts of old Macs.

We've got some dope stuff from two cutting edge artists, and we want to give it to you.

SPRFKR and MSTRKRFT are both killing it in their respective fields. California-based designer and artist SPRFKR (a.k.a. Marco Rached) converted his love of comics and doodling into some of the most colorful, visually aggressive, and envelope-pushing T-shirt designs around. His first-ever solo show, “Mujeres y Flores”, is opening April 4 at the Con Safos Gallery in Santa Ana, California.

Meanwhile, Canadian super-duo MSTRKRFT are at the top of their game, mixing power-electro with dance-punk and house. Their latest album, Fist of God dropped March 17. Following their recent crowdsurf-inducing set at SXSW, MSTRKRFT is setting out on tour this summer — including a stop off at Coachella. You can get a taste for what their legendary live sets are like with the new vid for the album's first track, “Bounce” featuring N.O.R.E and Isis.

So besides killer art and a sick new album, what's in it for you? We've got two prize sets to hand out. Leave a comment below and we'll randomly pick two lucky art and music lovers. The first will get an original SPRFKR work from the current show (valued at $1000), their choice of any SPRFKR tee, and the new MSTRKRFT Fist of God CD. The second commenter gets their choice of SPRFKR tee and the “Fist of God” CD. Now get typing…

The debut line of T-shirts from Glyph Cue is brought to us by the colors black, gray and blue, spun together to present their name in innovative graphics. Each image from these Portland, Mainards (including one Matt W. Moore) deserves a prolonged stare, as they remodel constellations, hieroglyphics, and the classic yin-yang in new ways. Our fave is the optical illusion infused fractal design on their Big Bang print.

Followers and fakers beware — Cookies ‘n’ Cream prepare to drop their Spring ‘09 line with a lookbook featuring a few folks who are the real deal. Up and coming MC Emilio Rojas and NYC event promoter/tastemaker Jason “Che Guerrilla” Negron help show off the hot new Attack of The Herd collection, which takes aim at the posers and pretenders with four vicious designs. Featured shirts contain images that parody the birth of branded “cool” and send the message that if you’re not being true to yourself, Cookies ‘n’ Cream know, and they can see you posing with your skateboard from their perch on the corner of Hype and Fresh.