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The Worst Sneaker Ripoffs Seen At MAGIC

Nas said it best: “No idea’s original, there’s nothing new under the sun.” But when we hit the upstairs portion of MAGIC in Vegas last week to browse sneaker brands on the come-up and potentially find a diamond in the rough (didn’t happen), we saw an obnoxious amount of biting going on.

All the majors—Nike, adidas, Creative Recreation and the newly-popular Supra—fell victim to indie brands jockin’ their fresh. To show what goes on in the underworld of sneaker culture, we compiled the silhouettes that were most flagrantly bitten. Shit’s despicable.

Click here to see all knockoffs…

LaDainian Tomlinson Keeps His Air Force 1 Simple

The Nike 1World project continues on through the fall, recruiting the Chargers’ All-Pro Running Back, Ladainian Tomlinson to follow in the footsteps of ?uestlove, KAWS, and Rasheed Wallace. Tomlinson is a busy man, lifting weights and scoring all those touchdowns, but he took the time to sit with the Nike shoe master Jesse Leyva, saying, “I just wanted to make something that was clean, you know, that I can wear with anything.”

Which is what we all look for in a $250 Air Force 1 that we camp out for a week to get. Check out the shoe, expected to drop at boutique retailers this September, below. NOTE: The lightning bolt might look like a Fragment/Hiroshi logo, but is in fact an “LT”. Shout out to the Chargers.

Creative Recreation Pinstripe Pack

Creative Recreation’s Pinstripe pack hits high end retail this fall with a top quality leather makeup for its classic Dicoco and Dicoco Low, the hood/runway staple Dio boot, and the brand new silhouette, Montana.

The whole pack drops on October 1st, so turn your suit game style meter to “stunt” and check out closeups of everything in the pack below.

Aaron Rose On DC Shoes’ Artist Project

The latest installment of the DC Shoes Artist Projects series is with cultural curator and collaborator Aaron Rose. Rose is famous for his various art shows, his magazine, ANP quarterly, the famous Alleged Gallery, and the Beautiful Losers movie, premiering throughout August. We caught up with Aaron to talk about the design of the new shoe, out now…

P Rod 2 Wins ‘Clash Of The Kicks: X Games Edition’

Early this morning our Clash Of The Kicks: X Games Edition contest came to a close, and after sifting through hundreds of thousands of votes, we found our grand prize winner: Adrian T from California!

After voting over 1,000 times on the winning sneaker—the Nike SB P Rod 2—Adrian will receive crispy pairs of all 16 sneakers that were included in the competition. Congrats to Mr. T and thank you to everyone who got on their voting grind last week to participate in the contest. See how all the other sneakers did below…

Preview Jim Rickey’s Spring ‘09 Line

The current surge of brands from Norway and Sweden is making Scandinavia a leader in the “buy this for next year” category. And between the clothes, massages, and models on every corner, you might want to consider getting yourself out there while they still have sunlight.

One company that’s definitely worth checking out is Jim Rickey, a hard-to-find footwear brand that’s currently available exclusively at Oak NYC. See their current shoes on JR’s website, or hit the jump to see what they’ve got on deck for their fuller US launch next year.

Sneaky Steve Footwear At The Compass Show

This week, Las Vegas hosted the very first Compass Trade Show, where we got to check out all of the new product from footwear brands like Creative Recreation, Supra, Alife, Gourmet, Vael, and (pictured above) Sneaky Steve.

Sneaky Steve is produced in Sweden, which makes sense, because any American who names his company something like that deserves a punch in the neck. But we can’t hate on the results. The sneakers are currently available at Oak in NYC, and are designed for the high fashion/tight pants/Lupe Fiasco set. See simple canvas, low profile midsoles, and clean silhouettes from their Spring ‘09 collection below.

New Balance’s Spring 2009 Line Hits WSA

New Balance footwear is showing at WSA in Las Vegas today, and the upcoming sneakers are a standout amongst an otherwise stagnant tradeshow. For 2009, the brand’s top-tier product focuses on tech-forward hits, including a Gore Tex MT580 pack, a 998 Zip Runner hybrid from Japan, a collection of premium Italian leather 991s with metallic cues from the European crew, and a Space Odessy 2001-inspired 996 from the Americas.

The first quarter of 2009 will also see the last installment of the NB 1300, so if you’re into that silhouette, make a note and plan on copping. Hit the jump for more photos of the product that will hit shelves in February 2009.

Rhythm Footwear Plots Spring ‘09 US Launch

After almost a decade of being sold exclusively in Japan, Rhythm Footwear came to NYC this week to introduce its spring line at the Capsule show. The appearance was in preparation of January 2009, which marks the first official arrival of the brand in the United States.

There’s some heavy Japanese styling going on, but a silhouette like the Sandwich-Hi (pictured above and dropping in Japanese boutiques today) is both wearable and design forward. The toe cap features 3M for an extra hit, and the side panels will make you feel special. Cop a pair for 14,000 Yen ($130) if you’re in Japan, or be on the lookout for more info as we get closer to the US launch. See more photos of the shoes and a page out of the current catalog below.

Teaser: Vans x Taka Hayashi

It might be a hundred degrees outside, but we’re already working on the fall issue of the magazine. Although we can’t show you the whole kit, we wanted to put you up on a pack that Taka Hayashi is doing for Vans come October. Check another never-before-seen make-up after the jump.