Unreleased PUMA "Shanghai Motion" Sneakers Designed by Ray Horacek "Built ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, this concept was inspired by bamboo textures and traditional Chinese tailoring. “There were something like 70 to 80 closed seams per shoe,” Horacek explains. “Each row stitched into the next, designed to mimic the tactile structure of bamboo.” The shoe’s form echoed Eastern design but interpreted it through the lens of hyper-modern sportswear. Other entries, like the gold-and-red variation of the Shanghai, or the Africa-influenced versions of the 917, were equally bold but met a similar fate. “Even when Puma was encouraging risk, some of these were still too far out.” — CONCEPT(K)

Sonya Sklaroff (American b.1970), East Side Fireworks, Oil on canvas

Read the full article here.

— Kazuo Ishiguro, My Twentieth Century Evening and Other Small Breakthroughs

For The Love Of The Hype.