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Noah Callahan-Bever said it the best: “Kanye West is performance art. He’s an idea. A brand. A mission. An inspiring, infuriating, over-the-top and constantly evolving contradiction of values that are articulated sometimes abstractly.”

The most influential hip-hop star in the world right now has teamed up with Nike to release what is the most anticipated spring sneaker this year. It’s called the “Air Yeezy”. It’s designer? Mister Kanye West of course.

For months we have been getting sneak peaks of the sneaker and it’s different colorways - going back to the 2008 Grammy’s and the Glow in the Dark Tour, where he first debuted the sneakers. The blogs were going crazy about the collabo between nikeXwest. It was almost inevitable that you got your hand on the latest details of the shoe.

Finally, after almost two years of not knowing when the shoe will release we now know the first 3 color ways and release dates for the shoe. April will be the first release date for the Yeezies followed by May, then lastly June. No prices have yet been released. But I’m sure it will cost a pocket full of coins to get your hand on these exclusive sneakers. They come in a variety of colors and the legit “Y’s” on the sneaker let you know you have the real deal.

So this Spring when Kanye is killing the festival scene make sure you cop a pair of the Yeezies to wear, I know I’ll have my pink and black ones on this summer…

Read the full interview with Kanye talking about the Yeezies with Complex magazine:

http://www.complex.com/SNEAKERS/Features/Air-Yeezy

I sometimes have a hard time figuring out whether fashion or music has helped me enjoy life even more. Is it that favorite Marvin Gaye record my grandmother use to play while I was a child? Or is it that hot summer in 1997 when i got my first pair of Chuck Taylor Converse? Both have changed my life in its own way… the two landscapes always connect back to each other if you ask me.

When fashion trends are made, they are made to be followed. When music is made it is made to be played over and over again. So since I couldn’t quite figure out which one is more important to society as a whole, I took to the streets of my nation’s capital, Washington DC, and did a fun questionnaire that I made up in 10 minutes… lol.

I gave my questionnaire to 10 random people - a lawyer, a business man, a fashion student, a homeless person, a McDonald’s worker, a nurse, an artist, a hustler, a 13 year old… and my mom!

1. Q: A FREE CONCERT or a SHOPPING SPREE?

A: 60% SHOPPING, 40% CONCERT

2. Q: Burn your CD COLLECTION or burn YOUR SHOE COLLECTION?

A: 70% CD, 30% SHOES

3. Q: MICHAEL JACKSON or MICHAEL JACKSON’S GLOVE?

A: 95% GLOVE, 5% MICHAEL

4. Q: Dinner with COCO CHANEL or dinner with ELVIS?

A. 50% COCO, 50% ELVIS

5. Q: IPOD or DESIGNER BAG?

A. 97% IPOD, 3% BAG

6. Q: AMERICAN IDOL or AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL?

A. 60% AI, 40% ANTM

7. Q: GREASE or BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S?

A. 90% GREASE, 10% BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S

…………………………………………………………………………

From these results it is still hard to determine what people really care more about. Everyone is split in half.

Anyway I had so much fun walking the streets of DC doing this questionnaire…

Thank you to all the participants who I promised would remain anonymous, except my MOM :)

This is some SERIOUS Stylin’! Jonte’ is extreme entertainment for all the senses. In this video he covers Prince proteges Vanity 6’s song Make-Up. Leopard Lady advises you to visit Jonte’s MySpace page as well and check out the incredible looks that he carries off.

Aside: Beyonce’s Freakum Dress video was choreographed by this talented creature and he appears in the clip to boot!

So what was the essential fashion item of this year’s V Festival? Well according to these Chelmsford fashionistas (oh and a few celebrity types - but what do they know?) it was either your common or garden welly or your practical hat. Rain or shine it seemed you were no-one if you didn’t have a festival welly or a festival hat this summer. Check out this latest video to see which side of the fashion fence bands such as The Futureheads, The Young Knives, Tokyo Police Club and The Guillemots fall on when pressed for a response on the hard subject of ‘wellies or Converse?’

See what happened when I met the most awesome Brian The Hat Seller and then the top contender for owner of the best hat of VFest 2008 (and now my Facebook friend) - Chris Pryor. Whattaman. Both of them.

Taz Arnold is a fashion icon, designer, producer and artist…

I was lucky enough to have a quick message exchange with him on MySpace, I was so excited. So I thought I should give him a ashout on my blog…

He is one third of the group Sa-Ra, which is a hip-hop group from Los Angeles, California.

Their sound is very unique and is respected by many of today’s big names. They have worked with the likes of Kanye West and Andre 3000. His MySpace is pretty captivating… check out his picture with Mister Karl Lagerfield!

Check out ti$a’s Vote Obama which Taz made in hope to help sway young voters to go out and vote. Right now in the United States the Presidential title is up for grabs and liek me, Taz is a big supporter of the Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Be on the look out for more great things to come from this industry icon!

I wanna first start off by saying thank you for all the support. Thanx treadmillin.com and lateboots.com for linking music.virgin.com! And to all my friends who stay up countless nights voting for me… I LOVE YOU!

My friends JD, Malcolm and Kyle are definitely making a name for themselves in the Maryland, D.C. and Virginia area. These young fellas not only have their own clothing line, H*E*S*B, but they also have a successful blog. Everyone knows them in the DMV. I call them the “local celebs”…lol. They are attending college, becoming young businessmen and they are always focussed and confident in everything they do.

As I was browsing MySpace I noticed that they their music taste is outstanding - from hip-hop to acoustic. Music isn’t just lyrics and a beat - it can also be fashion. I believe fashion speaks through the type of music you listen to. H*E*S*B’s inspiration comes from all different aspects of life and their designs are amazing. I only see big things in there future and I wish them nothing but success and my gratitude goes out to them for all the support that they are giving me and this website.

Check them out! www.hesb.blogspot.com

Who knows you might even be wearing there clothes one day ;-)

I’m a big fashionista. So I must let everyone around the world know about Kesh. Kesh is an emerging fashion designer in London in her 20s and has done everything. She is a fashion designer / stylist / magazine editor / model/ DJ and one of my idols.

Kesh’s designs have been worn by artists like Mariah Carey, Lupe Fiasco, Big Daddy Kane and many more. The UK grime scene loves her vintage clothing.

She has also dressed M.I.A while on her tour. Her risky crazy patterns and neon colors are sure to make you stand out in any dull crowd. I love her 80s inspired rope chains and body fitting dresses.

Coolest thing about her? She’s close friends with Dizzee Rascal.

Check out Kesh’s MySpace

My fave blog right now is lateboots.com (shout out to Rich for letting me mention the site!) The diverse writers bring such a edge to the site. As I was browsing it, I saw several updates on what is supposed to be one of the biggest concerts to be televised this year…

September 9th 2008 (9pm Eastern/8pm Central) the world as we know it will be on stand-by… waiting for one of the biggest shows of the year. No not the Olympics but, for the 5th consecutive year, Fashion Rocks will bring fashion and music together to put on a dope concert in New York benefitting cancer research. And as we’ve come to expect, the lineup includes the biggest names in pop music today. Featuring performances by such superstars as Beyonce, Chris Brown, Rihanna, N.E.R.D, Lil Wayne, Justin Timberlake, Keith Urban, Duffy, Kid Rock, One Republic, The Pussy
Cat Dolls, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, The Black Eyed Peas and many more guest appearances.

My sources have told me that the special guest will be Lynyrd Skynyrd!! How cool is that!!??

Sidebar: I tried my hardest to get tickets,but with gas being $4.05 in the US it just didn’t fit my budget…

Check back soon for pictures and visit lateboots.com

Check out Hot Meteor’s Flickr photostream for more Lynyrd Skynyrd photos like this one.

As much as I like to snobbily scoff at all that ‘do’s and don’ts’ crap in those wonderful chav rags (and those masquerading as quality mags of course) I just couldn’t resist putting together this little collection of fashion daring do’s from this year’s Chelmsford festival. Don’t worry - there’s no knickerless Britney, spotty Cameron or sweaty pit close-ups among these little gems. It’s just us ordinary festival-going folk who maybe like to make a little bit of an extra effort when getting down and dirty in the mosh pit (or ligging in the Louder Lounge). So take a butchers at my festival fashion parade Flickr photo set - who’s your favourite?