Ras Martin has created sneakers in the past that represent the blurring of human and animal instincts and characteristics. Martin has turned to the crane as an inspiration for his latest pair of shoes called the Air Force Cranes.The designer references the myriad crane positions used in martial arts including the Fujian White Crane style favored in southern China.

The left shoe features images of a crane including an upclose image of the crane’s head on the interior side. The right shoe has images of martial artists engaged in crouching positions with contorted hand positions that look like silhouettes of crane heads. Ras Martin did not feel that the space between both shoes meant that the human and animal elements needed to be separated. Both toe boxes feature human and swan features that create a unified narrative for these Air Force Ones.

Ras Martin has posted a bunch of Air Force Cranes photos in his latest entry on Nike Talk linked here. The detailed imagery applied to these sneakers should be examined from multiple angles for a full appreciation of Ras Martin’s work.

Source of images: here.

This shoe is available at Overkill for 149,90 Eur per pair.

This shoe is uniformly colored in shiny blue. The shoe upper has a quilted pattern. The squares are presented in diagonals, which are much more interesting than in horizontal and vertical rows and columns.

The toe box is the first portion of the quilted shoe. It is surrounded by a mudguard which isexclusively around the toe box. This mudguard is made of shiny, smooth blue leather without the quilted pattern. The main section of the shoe shows the beautiful quilted design. Over this main body, the Nike swoosh is attached. The swoosh is in plain leather of the same blue color.

From the base of the heel, a panel of smooth, blue leather rises up to meet the tongue of the shoe. This panel has a couple of shoe lace holes for the laces to thread through them.There is a tag at the back of the heel. A panel with a different design of quilted leather is at the back tab portion. The horizontal, narrowly spaced quilted design is a cool contrast to the big, roomy square quilted design on the front of the shoe.

The tip of the tongue has a white tag with three concentric rings to symbolize the Olympic Games. I like this jazzy looking shoe.

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With the flurry of Jordan hybrids we’ve been getting, no one thought Jordan would stop. And guess what? You were right. Jordan Brand is releasing yet another one of the Air Force Jordan Fusions that are supposed to be the best of both worlds but have been severely disappointing and are actually damaging both the Jordan and the Air Force One world. The next Air Jordan to get the fusion treatment is the Air Jordan VI. To be fair, Jordan Brand did pick a nice colorway to sabotage, the white-infareds. Another colorway is going to release with these Air Force Jordan VIs in a white, black, purple colorway. These hybrids will release on the 3rd of January and the other colorway will drop on February 21.

Guchimasta’s love of the Golden State Warriors has been expressed in artistic form with these custom Nike Dunks. The shoes feature the blue/yellow colorway used on the old school Warriors jersey that is popular among retro jersey and hat fans. The designer added the words “We Believe” that were popularized during the team’s improbable 2007 playoff run to the outsides of both heels.

Warriors fans who love the team’s old jerseys will like Guchimasta’s use of retro touches in finishing The City Dunks. The title phrase is written in yellow paint just underneath the collars between the yellow laces and yellow Nike swoosh. The port hole view of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge is painted above the “We Believe” print to complete the old school effect.

I found these photos in Guchimasta’s post on Nike Talk linked here. I am sure that the Warriors will come back in 2008-2009 with another fast-paced, high scoring season for fans like the designer highlighted here. The only question is whether the Warriors can surprise enough teams this year to crack into the Western Conference’s tough playoff race. Every Warriors fan can look longingly to the franchise’s past and enjoy great custom sneakers by looking at the pictures in this post.

If you got some extra bank and you like stylish kicks, consider copping a pair of these Lanvin sneakers. These high-end hi-tops make up the Lanvin Fall/Winter collection of 2008. But before you fall in love with these shoes, you should first note that you’ll need to drop upwards of $800 a pair.

These sneakers come in several colorways featuring combinations of leather and suede. The beige colorway is a laidback pair that could work in a lot of wardrobes. The blue pair above is my favorite color choice. Look for these kicks at AlohaRag.com, Barneys New York and other retailers. Via High Snobiety.