Sophie x adidas Superstar 2 Platform Up; Sydney

Meet Sophie, an extremely talented Sydney based Dancer who I met through Instagram.  

She has a clear love of kicks that she displays on her feed (@sophraper) so I was delighted when she arranged to meet up to show off her adidas Originals Superstar 2 Platform Ups.

The shoes offer some old school adidas styling with a modern twist and in turn gave a real 'lift' to Sophie's feminine monochrome look that really takes a step up with these kicks, and gives another example of just why the brand with 3 stripes are killing it this year as they really do have something for everyone.

Pretty Puke x adidas ZX Flux; Melbourne

While some may find his work shocking, I find it intriguing and inspiring so I'm honoured to feature LA Photographer and Artist Pretty Puke today on IDYSM.
In Australia for the 2014 Carbon Forums as a Guest Speaker, he shared his story of how photographing the world around him in his hometown offered him artistic release, as well as an emotional and physical release as his raw work has seen him become a global phenomenon.
It's pretty safe to say that in Pretty Puke's world, pretty much anything goes as his work documents the lives of his mid-twenties friends and peers in LA, and it's a loose world where drugs, sex and hedonism are rampant.
He admits that he likes to shoot people without inhibitions, so I was intrigued that he was kind of shy when it came to taking his pics.  He had been rocking some fresh adidas ZX Flux's (owned by DJ Paul Devro apparently) and I was keen to get some shots to share his story, but when he came to shooting he was kind of aloof, which I loved as it's the complete opposite to the shots he gets (check out his work here).
He's quickly become a big fan of the Flux, and was rocking more pairs through the weekend, each with loud and bright colours, but I loved the understated nature of this silver/grey which seemed to sum up his reserved mood when the pic was taken.
A great talent and a great bloke - cheers Pretty Puke.

Ta-Ku x adidas ZX Flux; Melbourne

Musician Ta-ku and I have become good mates over the past few months via email and social media, so one of the highlights of this month's Melbourne Carbon Festival was getting to finally meet in person.

He is without doubt one of the nicest people I have met, has a great sense of humour and of course is an immense talent which is why he is blowing up right now, and he's becoming an ever-growing voice in music, fashion and lifestyle.

We took a moment out from the Carbon schedule to stage a couple of IDYSM shots to showcase with Ta-ku in his all-new adidas Originals ZX Flux in Infared/White.

Obviously the shoes look great, but he claims that they are without doubt some of the most comfortable shoes he has ever worn - a very important consideration when you take into account that he is also the person behind the hashtag that is blowing up Instagram for sneakerheads right now; #team_cozy.

He'll explain more about Team Cozy in an exclusive video piece later this week, but for now here he is giving his Flux some shine.

Double Up; Melbourne

Sometimes sneaker stories need a lot of explaining.  I don't think this one does.  Interesting commitment!

Alexei x adidas Y3; Melbourne

The high concept sneaker store Sneakerboy is a must see for any sneaker fan when visiting Australia, and when I visited their Melbourne store I was of course impressed by the array of high end kicks on offer, but I was equally interested to see what the staff were wearing.
Alexei offered to step up and share his style story, and despite the wealth of options on offer in front of him each day at work from some of the best brands available, he is strictly a creature of habit.
For apparel, he only wears Comme Des Garcons, a brand he has immersed himself in over the past few years and he won't touch anything else.
He shares the same purist approach for shoes too, as he will regularly wear adidas Y-3.  It's not the only brand he wears, but it's one he sticks too as much as possible, and in the Y-3 Qasa he feels he's found the ultimate shoe for fusing extreme style with extreme comfort.
He admits that working for Sneakerboy has influenced his style and given him a better understanding of trends and how the market works, and who knows, maybe it will do enough to push him outside of his comfort zone to try more brands too!

Carbon 14; Reportage

adidas ZX Flux Launch Party; Melbourne

Melbourne was awash with adidas fever on Friday night as the city partied hard to celebrate the launch of the ZX Flux in some style.

There was clear adi love as far as the eye could see as the event kicked off the 2014 Carbon Festival, so guests included some of the speakers (including Designer Mark McNairy, Frank 151 Founder Stephen Malbon, Photographer PrettyPuke, and Complex Chief Content Officer Noah Callahan-Bever) interwoven with a pumping crowd all showing their love for the brand with a sea of 3 stripe apparel and footwear.

The ZX Flux has got the world's attention, and it seemed to focus on Melbourne which coincides nicely with the start of the Carbon Festival.

I was in Melbourne to shoot the whole weekend will be shooting so I will have more features on it through this week.

Enjoy!