Vans has teamed up with Parra for these shoes, sending a message of not forgetting to actually skate in these. They produced 3 models together, a Chukka, Sk8 Hi and Era. We don’t have an exact release date yet but it will be sometime this Fall.

The “Screwed Up” Nike Vandal will be released at the grand opening of the House of Hoops in Houston, Texas. The special day has been fixed to be on February 21, 2009. This sneaker has been designed with Houston in mind. This shoe reflects the party spirit of Houston.

The colorway is purple candy with a smooth, wet finish. There is a special effect with dripping purple paint flowing down to the white midsole. It looks so cool. The seams of the shoe are done in silver and are the accents of the shoe. The Nike swoosh is made of a material that looks like chrome.

The shoe lace is purple in keeping with the purple color of the shoe. The shoe strap around the collar of the ankle is purple with a central white strap. This has a sky blue tag with the traditional Nike logo. The collar at the ankle is decorated with a light blue rim. We see the blue repeated on the back tab, with prominent “Nike” lettering in white. The royal candy purple has been reserved for the upper. The outsole uses light blue. (Images)

First came the polka dot phat Is in yellow on black and also in white on black. Today we introduce you to the Polka Dot Mid in a black and white color way. The mid is a little different from the lows posted back in October but are the same as the catalog shots posted before that. The upper is mostly white polka dots on black patent leather except for the toe box and side panels that are black nubuck. Even the swoosh is black patent and outlined in white stitching. While the white midsole breaks up the black nicely. No exact release date has been mentioned yet but remember they were originally spotted in Jordan Brand’s Summer preview. Until then Marqueesole has a few sizes for sale for about $200.

An artist going by the name Big Jugg Shawty showed off the Aqua Boogie Air Force Ones at the Nike Talk post linked here. Big Jugg Shawty is a first-timer in the sneaker art game but the Aqua Boogies look pretty solid. As I have mentioned in the past, the hallmark of a good sneaker artist is the ability to make simple designs look great.

Big Jugg Shawty focused on creating a clean and simple custom with a few bits of color on these sneakers. The heel tag has a neon green hue that works well with the aqua blue used on the rest of the shoe. Big Jugg Shawty applied aqua blue paint to the back panel, toe and eyelet on each shoe. The aqua blue plays off the white middle panel and Nike swoosh left untouched by the designer.

These custom kicks look great for a first-time designer. Big Jugg Shawty did not try to overreach in terms of design but still showed some skill on these AF1s. I hope that this novice designer keeps on creating and challenging boundaries because we need all the good sneaker artists we can get.

This women’s Nike Blazer Mid Premium is now available at Nikestore.com for $100. Utilizing a unique woven pattern on most of the upper, this shoe is a nice break from the standard women’s Nike release. With an old school look combined with interesting details, these Blazers could be a hot item.

The color scheme on these kicks is Obsidian/Slate-Gmee Light Brown-Varsity Crimson. The stark Nike swoosh lays upon the woven tweed-like fabric, while the thick white laces also offer a good deal of contrast agains the rest of the shoe. The crimson is used sparingly – on the tongue tag, heel logo font and bottom sole. Via Sneaker News.

The Nike Trainer series has taken a backseat lately to all the other retro releases Nike has been pushing out. Nike will be releasing this Air Trainer 3 in a Phoenix Suns-esque Black/Max Orange/Purple colorway. It features a black leather and black nubuck upper with charcoal patent leather at the tongue and forefoot strap.