Sneaker collection, London, 2005.
(PYMCA/Getty Images)
FASHIONSET
Sneaker Scholar: Remembering Gary Warnett
Writer Gary Warnett was renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge, wit, and genuine love for all things sneakers and streetwear. Here, a collection of Warnett's writing on sneakers, posts from his blog GWARIZM, and some heartfelt tributes after his passing in September 2017.
HK Mindy Meissen, curator
October 11, 2017

Mephisto: A Trip to the Comfort Zone

Mephisto is a brand that just seems to be there. If you know about it, you’ve probably become attuned to spotting that telltale tag on other feet. If you don’t, it probably just passes you by as some matter-of-fact extra mature shoe. But to legions of fans, wearing was believing. That’s part of how Amsterdam’s Patta and the French handmade footwear company ended up crossing paths. 

Flight

Alongside some other strong projects of late, Nike and Virgil Abloh's ten silhouette collaboration (and it's been entertaining witnessing the volume of begrudging respect for the output, even from some of the staunchest OFF-WHITE haters) feels like the antidote to the conceptual mass of the same old same every weekend.

STRESSED

"Stress" magazine is the hip-hop magazine that doesn't get as shouted out as it should be. Completing a quartet of Tower Records buy-on-sights with "On The Go," "Mass Appeal" and "Ego Trip," KET and the team's labour of love had a nicely politicised side when "The Source" seemed to let that angle slide more than a little.

MERCH

Ahead of "Blade Runner 2049's" October release I'm sure we're going to be assailed with merch and tie-ins. Once, it was low-key adidas, now-defunct companies on billboards, a Marvel adaptation and ERTL toys. This one won't be quite as low-key.

The Other Sci-Fi Shoes

The speculation around the Nike MAG shoe as the date depicted in "Back to the Future II" rolls around is increasingly tedious. As a design, I think the shoe is amazing, and prescient, but it's also food for the dullest kind of footwear-addled folks and their childish nostalgia and click bait headlines.

HARAJUKU 1997

"I haven’t got a great deal to write today, but the LuckStaPosse YouTube account has a couple of gems in Japanese like a minute of UNDERCOVER’s A/W 97/98 show and this Harajuku 1997 footage of the folks gathering to buy some goro’s and some chats with UNDERCOVER and BAPE clad NOWHERE visitors is pretty interesting too."

Gary Warnett aka GWARIZM

For anyone who wanted to know streetwear, hip-hop and subculture on a deeper level, Gary’s blog, Gwarizm, was the original source. His knowledge of the world he inhabited was encyclopaedic, and a simple blog post about a pair of trainers would quickly dart to films, rap songs, magazine adverts, comic books and a milieu of other pop cultural references that always left you, the student, feeling totally clueless in the best way possible.
What is a REDEF Set?
A REDEF Set is a curated collection of articles from around a topic, designed to show a variety of outlooks on a subject
Get REDEF delivered to your inbox
"It's not enough to be smart. You have to be curious."
Suggest a link
×
Join the REDEF newsletters
Get the latest interest remixes for curious minds