LA Gear is back thanks to Club Zonder Filter!

The year was 1992. I was almost 7. Sandboxes and snow-cones were part of my daily vocabulary. Clinton had just won the Whitehouse, and it was the holidays. Life was good. But it got even better when I unwrapped a Hanukkah gift box and found a pair of LA Lights, the light-up LA Gears so fly that I truly believe they’ve never been matched to this day! I strapped them on my little size 4 feet (ah, some things never change… literally, I still wear about the same size today!) and ran around terrorizing my little brothers with my infinitely superior ability to “light up”.

For some reason, the popularity of these shoes didn’t last till the end of the century and we all know that other ’90s brands, such as the dreaded Airwalks, took over the sneaker market. But I’ve always held a burning torch in my heart for the original LA Gears, waiting for them to make a comeback. Earlier this year, my prayers were answered when the sneaker brand teamed up with the ladies of Club Zonder Filter to release a revamped version of the “Stardust” model. The shoe was beyond beautiful and was soon selling big in stores across Europe, including the world-famous Patta and Colette. Since then, Club Zonder Filter was flooded with requests to retro other famous LA Gear models, but the ladies decided to go with a lesser known model–the Border Flower.

The Club Zonder Filter x LA Gear Collabo: The Border Flower

Getting its namesake from the perforated floral designs that are featured on the shoe’s side panel, the updated version will feature woven leather and studs, and will be released in white, red and black colorways.  Former LA Gear celebrity endorsers Michael Jackson and Paula Abdul inspired the retro-release’s look and feel, as did current kick-ass chicks M.I.A and Rye Rye.

Set to drop in stores across Europe in December, the shoe will retail for around 90 Euros. Even though it’s not the LA Lights of my childhood, I’m secretly hoping that when I unwrap my Hanukkah present this holiday season, the Club Zonder Filter Border Flower is inside!

MAFIA's Top 5 Female Sneaker Collabs on The Vine

A couple months back we told you about Sneaker Freaker’s First Lady MAFIA’s new gig blogging over at The Vine. She’s been informing and entertaining us for a minute now, especially when it comes to giving the ladies as much of the spotlight as the guys.

This week she’s compiled a list of her fave female sneaker collabs so far – and you know if MAFIA’s a fan of these they gotta be the goods! The list names none other than the Pro Mama along with some of the best in the game – LA Gear X Club Zonder Filter, MOB X Colette X Reebok, Fafi X Adidas Adicolor W2 and the Nike Blazer X Claw Money.

Do yourself a favour and check the full article here.

Images from The Vine.

MAFIA's Top 5 Female Sneaker Collabs on The Vine

Hey Ladies! We hope you’ve been enjoying our exclusive Women Making History series for 2009, honoring Women’s History Month. This is only week one and there’s a lot more ladies we want to honor so stay tuned all month for more features, including our weekend Women Who Made History features.

In case you missed any of our week-one features, we’ve rounded them up below!

The Ladies of Week 1:

• Monday, March 2nd: M.I.S.S. Michelle Kwan

• Tuesday, March 3rd: Annie of Cubannie Links

• Wednesday, March 4th: The Ladies of Club Zonder Filter

• Thursday, March 5th: Kerri O’Connell of Good Wood NYC

• Friday, March 6th: Kelly B. of Princess of the Posse

• Saturday, March 7th: Joan Baez (singer/activist)

Last September there was a GEEK-OUT moment here at M.I.S.S. Crew, over the sneak peak of the European release of the L.A. Gear x Club Zonder Filter x Patta. Along with excitement, there was also a Keyser Soze moment that had people asking: Who is Club Zonder Filter?! Well, we’re about to tell you…

Club Zonder Filter is a young Amsterdam based marketing company and Creative Collective that develops concepts for brands and applies them to events and unconventional places. Josine & Kristel are the ladies behind Club Zonder Filter. They work for brands, festivals and cultural organizations in a bold and inspiration-driven way. They say:

We use arts, culture, treasures from the old box, childhood memories and the streets and implement them in our concepts.

THE CZF Crew also creates and produces creative and interactive side programs at events and festivals.In May 2008, they were honored as the “Mayors of the Amsterdam Nightlife” which meant that for the coming two years they were to try to boost the nightlife of Amsterdam with an event called Nuit Blanche (White Night).

That sounds like a cool gig, if you ask me!

Get to know a little more about Club Zonder Filter and watch some videos on the duties of being the “Mayors of the Amsterdam Nightlife,” after the jump!

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OMG! If you know me, you know I love the L.A. Gear. A while back we posted a sneak peak of the European Release of the L.A. Gear x Club Zonder Filter and Sneaker Freaker broke the story today with insane pictures of the Fireball, as well as an interview with the ladies of Club Zonder Filter that are reppin’ the L.A. Gear on the other side of the pond. For those of us stateside, we’ll have to count on friends in Europe to pick these up for us. Luckily, L.A. Gear is relaunching a new collection called L.A. Gear Retro. No word yet on when the stuff will release but the Retro collection will have a limited distribution at exclusive sneaker stores. I can’t wait for this!! L.A. Gear did an amazing job of capturing the California surf, sun and aerobics vibe back in the 1980s and I think it’s a perfect time to reintroduce the retros to a new generation of street wear ladies who I think can tryly appreciate them. We’ll keep you updated with news as we get it. For now, to fulfill your L.A. Gear needs, check out the Sneaker Freaker exclusive with Club Zonder Filter, Sneaker Freaker’s exclusive interview with moi on my vintage L.A. Gear collection (republished from Issue 12), and check out more nostalgic pictures and videos after the jump!

All images: Sneaker Freaker
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I want to start this post by saying, I know a certain lady that is gonna lose her mind about this!!!!! And I know a lot of you are gonna be hyped but this lady is gonna be on some next level hyped-ness!! The ladies of Club Zonder Filter made it happen…and it’s about damn time! Josine and Kristel are longtime lovers of L.A. Gears and have designed a limited edition version of “The Stardust”. It will be released in September at the world famous Patta store in Amsterdam and then availalble to other countries soon after. Read what the ladies have to say about it after the jump!

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