Ever since I used to wear Grolsch tops on my Dr. Marten school shoes, I've loved a shoe accessory. Coupled with a trainer obsession, Shoeture was bound to be a smash hit fashion fit for me.
Shoeture is an urban American brand founded in California which produces a great range of slick accessories to customize your kicks. Matte and metallic hooks (as above), tangs (which criss cross with your own laces - see the diagram) come in a variety of finishes and colours including green, red, gold, silver and black as well as a nice line in custom pins and buckles - like this awesome 80's style boombox.
Shoeture's UK operation is headed up in London by the Hip Hop Education Company's Damien Anyasi who first came across the brand when he was hosting the UK hiphop dance championships back in June.
"One of the guest groups - Poreotics, winners of America's best dance crew - were wearing the bars on their shoes. I noticed one of the judges, street dance legend, Shabba Doo, was also wearing a silver pair, so over a hot Nando's I asked him what they were. And he told me. The following day I checked out the Shoeture website and discovered they didn't deliver to Europe, so I sent an email asking where I could get them from in London and if they had no distribution, would they like it. An hour later I discovered the EU website and ordered a pair of gold 'Hooks'. 3 hours later, while I was teaching, I got a phone call from Austria saying they'd been contacted by the parent company in the States and wanted to talk business. It all happened in a day."
There are videos and diagrams on the site so don't panic about not having a clue how to fix your bling to your shoes - it's pretty simple.
The hardwear prices are really reasonable starting at £3.90 for a pin and UK shipping is around £7 per set of hooks, tangs etc. International shipping and prices are all available too and Damien is a super helpful, friendly guy so if you have any order queries or special requests, just get in touch.
Shoeture is currently working on UK stockists but for now you can buy online direct from www.shoeture.co.uk
