I’ve never been a sneakerhead. When all my friends were in school collecting sneakers I was collecting baseball cards. I guess it was the wrong move. The only kicks I really like are Pumas and never really understood high end designers like Prada and D&G. But when I cam across HeyDay in Las Vegas last August I was an instant fan. Tried to get the designer Darin to sell me the sample but he said “No, you’ll have to wait, this is coming out in Spring”. I was referring to the purple blue Cobra skin mid top sneaker which was their showcase piece.

There is something classy and sleek about these babies. The are not over the top like D&G‘s and Prada’s kicks and yet they are not for the runner that wears Nike and they are not for the skaters that wear Converse Chuck Taylor’s. They are for the new breed of fashion forward people…like me. It’s spring time and the collection is out, I’ll give a shout to Darin and see if he can send me a pair, too bad they aren’t available in Canada.

I stroll into Astoria on Lincoln Road rolling my suitcase with a bag on top. Either I was a tourist catching a flight or just landed or I was a salesperson. Not sure here but usually from Toronto solicitors are frown upon, this is understandable because of all the crap these solicitors try to push off on the store owner.

Lincoln Road is the most prestigious luxury shopping street on Miami beach. The road is a long pedestrian street fill with lively music, tall palm trees, clothing boutiques, and restaurants.

I went into the store and came up to the sales assoicate there, “can I see Danny or Michael” I said reading those names off of the sheet made by my sales rep Sarvi. She contacted the stores here in Miami to get me names.

“Do you have an appointment with him?” she asked.

Trying to say anything other than no I said “I’m here to see Danny, I spoke to him on the phone.”

“So he’s expecting you? What’s your name?”

“Jing from JUZD…”

“Let me go see.” then she walks off to the back.

She has been gone for almost a minute, while I eagerly await the response. I thought to myself, so he have never heard of my name or even spoken to Sarvi. I’m not sure how she got his name, either way if she did speak to him there was no way he would remember JUZD.

Danny is a big deal, he has 5 stores including one on the Las Vegas strip. I was nervous but also kind of excited to hear Danny’s bewilder response. I can imagine him saying “I have an appointment with who?”

She comes back and to MY bewilderment says “Come on in, just go to the back and up the stairs.”

I went up and sitting there was Daniel Amuial the owner of Astoria.

“I know you from someone.” says Daniel with a big welcoming smile.

You can expect his surprise when I said “Nope, we never met before.”

The rest of the conversation is history, he ended up loving the line because it’s unique and he said he’s going to buy and didn’t want me to show it to anyone else.

From February 12th to the 15th the JUZD team was in Las Vegas checking out North America’s premiere fashion trade shows, MAGIC, POOL, and PROJECT. Despite the predicting US recession the buyers were spending and spending lots. It was a good season for the brands we visited. Above photo (Jing Liu aka me! [lead designer of JUZD Bamboo Streetwear], Masahiko Nakane aka Polo [owner of Panty Japan], Christian Audigier, Yuichi Ishii [buyer for Panty Japan])

Once again Christian Audigier was the talk of the show.With the largest booth at Project, guest stars, naked (but artistically painted) girls, swimsuit models, and a performance by Snoop, Christian Audigier’s booth was the spot to chill. Christian Audigier also premiere his latest label Crystal Rock, named after his daughter.

The colorful Creative Recreation showcased its new sneaker collection and style for Fall. While smaller labels such as Shmack Footwear were making head waves and extending their distribution for the fist time to Japan.

I was able to check out Raw 7. It maintained it’s high end grudge style. It brought its unique style of art to sandals and underwear (which I got samples of woohoo). Another brand that caught my eye was Hard 8, an up and coming brand out of LA. It has simliar grunge style as Raw 7 and strong symbolic designs. What was also great was the overall fit and design of the shirts. It fits and feels really good and the designs was perfect for the shirt.

Pool was also a very interesting experience. It was one big chilling lounge. Lots of cool and funky brands. Alternative Apparel was a major sponsor, they were giving out free t-shirts, hats, and other cool stuff. But one of the most interesting brand is Cyberoptix Tie Lab. They print designs on ties and their creativity and craftmanship are amazing. Had a chance to talk to Bethany who is the principle designer and she’s a really nice girl. It’s not the usual silk suit ties I’m use to.

As for Magic, the big show, it wasn’t all that interesting…to me anyways. Lots of huge brands. As for the streetwear section, it was like night clubs, with girls in skimpy outfits handing out flyers. But that’s the streetwear culture. I prefer the class of Project.

Overall it was a very enlightening trip and I had a lot of fun. We are currently trying to get a booth at the Project show in August. Come check us out!