Mark Batty Publishing. Kicks Japan. Manami Okazaki

KiCKS jAPAN
Authors: Manami Okazaki and Geoff Johnson
Publishers: Mark Batty Publishing



It's time to put your best foot forward and take a walk in the direction of this fascinating footwear book.
This title takes a look at wearable works of art, most are handmade and hi - tech, you will find this an interesting Sneak-er preview into the world of Japanese footlore.

These shoes originate from the USA and are rooted in skate, hip - hop and graff cultures, they now offer so much more than just somethin to go for a run in.

Kickin it off at the start of this book with what looks, at first glance like a family tree but on closer examination turns out to be a time line, with the first shoe appearing in 1949 and the main footwear fetish gaining momentum from the 1970's up to present day.

Contents include:
Intro
Fashion
Kicks World
Interior
Street Snaps
Street Culture
Kustom Kicks
Events

Artists Including:
Hisashi Tenmyouya
Dj kentaro
Tono
Shinraro Maruyama
Shiro
Tigarah
Feebee


All in all a wicked book, laced with colour pics and a true street vib - ram sole within.


Time to try it on for size...


















Stomp on the logo for more

Mark Batty Publishing. I Hate. The Art of Todd Bratrud

I Hate

The Art of Todd Bratrud

Publisher: Mark Batty Publications

Who the hell is Todd Bratrud??

If you are not into skating then you may not have ventured your eyes across his work. Todd's deck graphics are legendary and working with companies like Flip, Consolidated, Landscape, Creature, enjoi, Death and Skateboard Magazine... it's no wonder! He seems to have a knack of making illustrations look gruesome, with his cannibal babies, killer jet skis, horses with bellies slashed open with things living inside and fingers being severed by scissors (amongst other things).

A quote by Chris Nieratko about the man:
"It's a crying shame when a talented guy makes his living creating skateboard graphics and then gets pigeonholed as a"skate artist."I love skateboarding but I think there are some talents in skating that are bigger than us, that belong to the world. The usual suspects come to mind for all of us: Templeton, Gonz, Campbell, Blender, Bratrud."


So there yeh go, we couldn't have said it better ourselves...

One of the Collective Team still skates a board by Todd B.

Ok, we're goin in...

Thanks to 2 Seasons in the Westfield Centre, Derby, UK. DE1 2PG

For allowing us to use their shop for this photo shoot.

And to the manager for holding up the book!


To get hold of this book, go Logo it