It's clear as day that Etnies is on top of their game. If you don't think so, here's your reality check. They've got an amazing amount of materials, technology & models coming up for 2013 that we absolutely cannot wait to cover. If you've been following our coverage, you'll know that every guy & girl is already creaming their pants for the new Sheckler shoe that's scheduled to release for Fall '13. As much as we're looking forward to it, we can't let some other models fall beneath it's popular shadow.

One of those models in particular is the new Cairo Foster shoe called the "Gilman". It's been designed & currently tested by Cairo & by some of the hard working designers at Sole Tech. Aside from being one of the more sophisticated models in the coming months, it's got a certain old school allure that we just can't ignore. Maybe the fact that we're already homesick as hell for Accels causes us to look at the Gilman and think of it as a descendant of sorts. Whatever the case may be, we're excited for this model to hit shelves for Spring '13. From what we gathered from the good people at Etnies, the Gilman was designed with two things in mind. First, it has to look good. After all, a good-looking model in todays day & age is just as essential as it's peak performance. Secondly, the shoe obviously needs to tie in elements of performance & support.

Sp '13 Gilman models. Traditional Blk/Wht, Grey w/ suede & canvas combination & The Navy is all around Canvas.

With these two qualifications in mind, we couldn't ask for more, that would just be selfish. The Etnies Gilman is a superior performance cupsole & has a super advanced outsole that can detect all sorts of traction patterns. This outsole & shoe overall are equipped to take a beating, just like Cairo & it does not disappoint. To complement this complex outsole is the always dependable DTTF "drop-to-the-floor" Pro 1 footbed. The Gilman is definitely the ultimate package in the sense that you have all of the dependability & familiarity of the Pro 1 footbed but are skating something completely different in the same instance.

All and All, this cupsole pro model should be able to keep up with the likes of Cairo's skating. It'll consistanly throw caution to the wind, look good in the process & hopefully help you land your tricks as solid as Cairo has for the past couple of years. We'll keep you posted as more comes to light with the Gilman and hopefully we'll have a full review on them somewhere down the line. Also, we keep unintentionally coordinating with CBI on some of our posts. I think this happened last month as well. Nonetheless, after you're done reading this sentence, check out more of Cairo there.

Check out additional photos on the outsole, general POV shot & overall look of the shoe.
More sneak peeks to come next week. Enjoy the weekend.