Does anyone remember the days of Speedwell Footwear? Take a look at Surfing, Skateboarding, Hip Hop, and other core cultures and you will notice they are backed by some substantial brands. Its cool to dress like a Skater or a MotoXer… If you don’t think this, well you have not walked into a PacSun in the mall lately. Everytime you go to a car show you notice all the super cheezy and lame clothing companies. Usually operated by a bunch of people that think there “tag lines” are funny. “Cum Drifting”. Yeah, um, NO. Its all basic American Apparel screen printed like we all do for shop shirts or what not. Where are the DC Shoes of the automotive culture? DC is bringing a brand to the automotive world with their shoes. That is what Speedwell set out to do. Alpinestars, Oakley, and that one other shoe company…um Piloti. I don’t think they are hitting the mark. One thing cool about the automotive culture is its diversity. G-Unit, Billabong, Polo, even the Suit and Tie people are part of it. But we are so all over the map that we need to have an identity at least for certain segments of the industry. I dont mind seeing people wear Ecko or Nike, but lets take what so many other industries have established and give this culture a look and feel. That way when you are at the mall, the movies, etc, you can say… “Hey that is a car guy/girl”.
Long live the visions of those that attempted this “feet”. If you know of a company attacking the automotive culture in a new innovative way, let me know.
