Ripp’s friend owns a high-end shoe and clothing store and challenged the designer to create a pair of unique customs with a Gucci theme. Instead of going over the top with a Gucci-inspired design, Ripp stuck with the classic look and colors of the luxury brand.

Ripp completed these custom Air Force Ones within four days. He worked with colors like pewter, green, black and red to create a classy sneaker that lives up to the Gucci name. The designer added the classic Gucci logo in black on the red heels and wrote out Gucci in red on the toe boxes to make sure that these shoes would stand out as originals.

The Gucci Air Force Ones feature a few spots where Ripp is working at his highest level. He was able to add green strips in the middle panel without disturbing the subdued look of the remaining shoe. The pewter lettering on the heel tag may say Nike but it looks like Gucci’s take on Nike.

These shoes are available in men’s size 13 for $150 from Ripp. You can contact the designer at [email protected] if you want to snag these hot customs.

When Kobe Bryant hit the court on Friday night against the Miami Heat, he was wearing the new low-cut version of his signature shoe – the Nike Zoom Kobe IV.

This particular colorway, which features black along with the Lakers purple and gold, is dubbed “Venom” – continuing to play on Kobe’s Black Mamba theme.

Though some NBA players steer away from low-cut shoes because they think they’ll be more at risk for ankle injuries, Kobe feels the opposite. Nike says it’s the lightest basketball shoe it has created at 11.6 ounces. Kobe feels the switch makes the most sense for his game personally.

“High-tops really don’t do much for you,” Bryant said Friday to the press. “If you’re going to roll your ankle, you’re going to roll it. It kind of is what it is. If you come down on somebody’s foot, nothing you can do really about that. I wanted to have more mobility in the ankle, more movement at the foot and a lighter weight shoe, and I got it.”

“It’s more about what I needed as an athlete, me, myself,” Bryant said. “When I play, how do I feel when I wear the shoe? When I wear high-tops, how did I feel? What would I like to see improve in the shoes? What would I like to see perform better? From that, in our meetings, I would just throw all this stuff to them and they would come back with the technology necessary.”

This shoe also went on sale on Friday in limited numbers exclusively in Miami and Los Angeles. Via Nice Kicks.

Brian “Chef” Spar is a designer of custom sneakers. Spar’s line is the GourmetKickz.Spar’s latest invention is the GourmetKickz Kickz Creator. Please visit the link to see how the package works. This Creator allows a buyer to select desired choices to customize a pair of Nile Air Force Ones. The Kickz Creator uses an interactive graphics based interface. This allows customers to view all customizing work. Looking at the choices visually removes the guesswork of material and color coordinating. The Kickz creator updates the price of the design whenever the buyer chooses something. The buyer will be aware of the prices and may cancel certain options before the final checkout.

1800 Tequila is the sponsor of GourmetKickz Creator. (Please visit at the link) 1800 Tequila Artist Series has a large collection and these are options that can be used in the GourmetKickz Creator. Brian Chef Spar has used a pair of Nike Air Force Ones to create a design for 1800 Tequila. This pair make up a face. The different shades of green make the design look cool, instead of being loud with gaudy colors. The tag at the tip of the tongue uses the same face and is a nice touch. The packaging box has a matching design.

We just showed you the Easter “Basket” Weave Pack Premier Highs and thanks again to Jason White we are able to bring you this high strap. With all the catalog images that have leaked, this particular model in this color way has never been seen before. HOWEVER, this color way has been used before on an Air Force 1 Low, which interestingly enough featured pretty much the same color blocking and some of the same materials. White pebbled leather upper, Black swoosh and midsole. The big difference maker between these and the “Boxing” Air Force 1’s is the toe box, which is brown. Besides the fact they are scheduled for a fall 2009 release no other background info is available at this time.

Nike has an upcoming pack inspired by The Year of the Ox. Each year we see these packs honoring the Chinese New Year using the zodiac inspiration. One shoe in this particular pack is this Blazer Mid. The heel features a graphic of the ox.

These sneakers look smooth. The colorway features white, grey and red. If you are a fan of the old school Blazer model, these are a good choice. There’s no exact release date known for these shoes as of yet but it should be sometime in January. The other shoe in this pack commemorating Year of the Ox is the Air Max 1. Via High Snobiety.

And we’ll end this week the same way we started it, by dropping some more Jordan I news. Catalog images of this I first surfaced back in November when we showed you a part 2 to Jordan Brand’s scheduled summer releases. Now you’re able to get a clearer idea with this picture. This Jordan I High Premier will be part of an Easter themed pack. It comes in a metallic white upper with a newly re discovered woven pattern on the toe box and side panels. All which sits on a nice gum bottom. Releasing alongside this Hi in the Easter “Basket” Weave Pack is a Velcro Low with essentially the same concept. Tech info after the jump. VIA: Sneakerfiles