The Axis from Gravis footwear.

    
While every footwear brand has recently traded in some of their vulcanized shoes for an army of cupsoles, Gravis seems to have missed the memo. It's really not a big deal but considering how "trendy" cupsoles have become, we just thought the most "trendy" brand of them all would be on board with a variety of cupsoles in their arsenal. Don't be mistaken, they've absolutely tried in the past. Gravis early on had Arto's Viking shoe, both in a high & low but since then nothing has surfaced. While checking out their product for 2013, we saw quality travel bags, a bottle of Hennessy & a cupsole. We nearly shat ourselves…a cupsole? I expected the Hennessy more than I did a cupsole. All things aside though, we've been hyping this model up as if it were Jake Johnson's pro shoe even though it technically isn't but with all things considered, it might as well be. He won't be caught in those damn club shoes.

RippedLaces Arto Review from Jeremy on Vimeo.

BA's in all White.

     
1 in every 20 skateboarders were smart enough to save a collection of their beloved skate shoes or decks from their youth. As simple as the task may sound, it's in our natural instinct to unfortunately destroy something we love instead of thinking it over for a sec & saying "Shit, this might be worth something one day". Featured today is a homie of ours who did just that. His alias on Instagram is Chocolate_Gears & he was nice enough to show us his collection of Savier footwear he's been saving up over the past few years. If you're unfamiliar with Savier, they were Nikes second attempt to penetrate the skateboarding market & died out after less than three years. Their first attempt was with Bam. For more on Savier, their ad's & more, check out skately's bio page on them.

The new Ka-One Vulc, due out SP '13.

Converse has been going through some massive fucking changes. The recent resurgence of the brand is thanks to some re-organizing of ambassadors and priorities on the brand side of things. After all, there was a huge drop in popularity after a lack of marketing on behalf of select members of their illustrious team. They simply weren't getting enough coverage and as a result, it left most of us, if not all, disappointed = Translation: We needed more Fowler 360 flips footage. With the recent addition of Jason Jessee & Mike Anderson, the momentum that Converse once had should resurface, if not double, so long as those dudes put out some quality footage or a full length video somewhere down the line. As for now, Converse does seem stronger than ever especially after announcing to us that they are strictly a skateboarding brand. All of their endorsed athletes from their Basketball history have since found a home with Nike with the exception of Dr. J & now Converse is dedicating their program fully to skateboarders. In few words, that's just fucking awesome.

Our Picks: These two colorways are must buys, whether you skate or not. The Linden on the left & the BB3 is on the right.

After all the debauchery and drinks stop flowing, we can comfortably crawl back to the keyboard and keep you guys up to date with whats to come. As blurry as our memory is, we couldn't forget what we saw at the Lakai booth. This year, there's a sick amount of new styles to look forward to as well as distinguishing colorways to complement each model. In this Brand Sneak Peek, we'll be highlighting one model we're absolutely fired up about and show you the rest of the catalog to feed your need.

DC skateboarding is practically bringing everything they've got to the table with the release of their Spring '13 catalog. We're still waiting on the Nyjah pro model but in the meantime we'll have the chance to be in complete awe of the new Mike Mo pro model, due to release in the Spring of 2013. Mike Mo has been seen in countless places rocking his newly developed pro model, Street League, the B.A.T.B. games & lastly, Walmart just to name a few.

DC's Centric S. Week 1 to Week 4. (top to bottom)

SKATEJAWN VIDJAWN from Skate Jawn on Vimeo.
Last night I missed out on a very impromptu Skate Jawn video premiere. To say the least, I'm bummed but just because I missed out on it doesn't mean you should. Much of my homies can be found fucking shit up in this video and had I not been busy writing reviews, I probably would've tried to get a front nose in this video or something. With the recent uproar of independent film makers, this Skate Jawn video can please everyones musical & skating pallet. It's got everything from The Who to Cam'Ron & anything else you can imagine in it. Watch this & go roll, it's a perfect way to start this week.

Coming this week, The DC Centric S review & coincidentally a blast into the past.

Pros & managers are releasing sneak peeks at an alarming rate on instagram. With that said, expect to see these "insta-gratification" articles more & more each week in case you can't keep up with your insta-feed. Although pros are always likely to promote themselves & their product, this time around it was sole tech's own @Don_Brown who released this photo onto da 'gram. If all goes well & falls into place, we'll be bringing you an exclusive review on this mysterious new pro model that everyone has been talking about down the line. For now, we'll bring you the info that has surfaced due to our investigative journalism & the fact that we're just as pathetically in love with Shecks just as much as this man. Future team handsome inductee anyone?

Flauge Lace Protectors display

While the DC Centric S review is coming out this month, we've had the time to develop an awesome relationship with the shoe for up to three weeks now. It's treated us great in every sense of the word with one exception.