Ross Dwyer

You’ve most likely heard the news. Earlier this week, three of Nike‘s top designers left for their biggest rival: the brand with three stripes, (irony?) Adidas. What does this mean for the sneaker industry as a whole? Will the balance of power shift in Adidas’s direction? There’s a lot of questions to be answered.

A quick background on the three power players: First, there’s Marc Dolce. His specialty is modernizing popular retro models, as evidenced by his work on the Lunar Force 1’s. He’s also worked on signature basketball models for various Nike athletes, and football (of the American variety) gear. read more

Let me start by saying this is an opinion piece. You might not agree with what I’m going to say here, and that’s fine. However, I’m not too thrilled with what I’m writing about here, and I don’t think the average Twin Cities sneakerhead will be either.

As you probally already know, the Philadelphia-based chain sneaker store Ruvilla (most people just call them Villa for short) is starting to make their way into Minnesota. They’ve got a shop open in Brooklyn Park, and are working on shops in the Mall of America and North Minneapolis as well. It’s rumored that they are looking to open two more shops as well, although the locations of those shops are uncertain.  read more

Do you spend most of your free time flipping through Facebook sneaker groups and trying to think of smart-ass comments to leave on people’s posts even though you very rarely buy or sell anything? Do you frantically grab for your phone every time you see the notification light go off? Are you one of those guys who hasn’t met 75% of the people they consider “friends” face-to-face? If so, then you just might be a keyboard warrior, and I’m here to help.

Although it might be enjoyable being the funny guy online who’s always wisecracking about Niketalk denim, someone’s blurry struggle sneaker picture, or how someone got fleeced in a trade, in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t do any good for the culture that we all love. This is not by any means to say that there’s no place for it, but it’s not a real contribution. read more

I’ll come right out and say it: I’m a Pharrell stan. I’m inspired by his constant creativity, and how he seems to be successful in just about everything that he does. From Billionaire Boys Club (which happens to be one of my favorite brands), to the “Perspective” chair he designed, to his classic production on old Clipse records, to the neo-funk-soul-whatever the hell kind of music it is on his most recent album Girl, I’m of the opinion that most things he has a hand in wind up coming out great. read more